*dodges rotten fruit* Sorry for the delay, but I just returned home after being away for a month! Hopefully updates will be sooner. I have the next three chapters already. So, without further delay, here you go!
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The man smirked as he pressed the send button on his phone, and his short message was quickly whisked away into cyberspace. The boy should have already gotten the message, and the man could only imagine the look on his face.
He took a sip of his iced tea as he sat quietly on the small patio of the diner. He knew well enough what would set Yugi Motou off, what his buttons were. All he had to do was threaten the boy's friends, and he would come, weeping like an infant, in some twisted sort of way to protect them.
Jack couldn't help but let out a soft growl. Yugi Motou had almost gotten him arrested. He still didn't know how he survived; a head injury that severe should at the very least leave someone a vegetable the rest of their lives.
But Yugi Motou had beaten the odds. Jack had heard of him in the paper, shortly after their last confrontation. Yugi Motou had been hospitalized, requiring emergency surgery to fix a fractured skull. He had been comatose for precisely three days. Doctors were prepared to pull the plug, saying that the odds of him waking up were astronomical.
But Yugi Motou woke up.
Then the doctors said that, more than likely, Yugi Motou would never be the same. He would become distant, apathetic, more machine than human.
But Yugi Motou did stay the same. He kept his emotions, he kept his sense of humanity. The only problem he was left with was some simple short term memory loss. But even that would begin to clear up with time.
So Yugi Motou had beaten the odds.
Jack counted himself lucky that he had managed to escape from the police this long. He still had that domestic violence warrant out, and it would only take one swipe of a debit card and sirens would be going off at every police station within the general vicinity. The day Yugi Motou almost died was the day Jack had to die.
These days he had to go by an alias, one he despised, but one that had served him well over this last year. He was now Mark Simmons these days, or at least to his employer. He was amazed at how easy it was to create a fake identity. All it had required was stealing a neighbor's utility bill and he was able to get a driver's license, and then use that to sign any paper work he would need in the future.
Mark Simmons was the name he rented his apartment under. It was the name that had been on the utility bill he'd stolen.
Mark Simmons used to be a neighbor.
He hated Mark Simmons.
Jack was almost disappointed when he looked at his phone and saw that Yugi Motou had not replied. He imagined that the poor boy was very frightened, and had refused to continue the conversation because that would only insinuate his fear further. But Jack was fine with that. He wanted Yugi Motou to be scared. Yugi Motou should be scared.
After all, Jack had hurt both his friends. He saw the idiotic blonde walk out of the court house that day. He hadn't meant to hurt him; in fact, Yugi Motou's friends had never been part of his plan for revenge. But that day, Jack saw him and recognized him instantly. He had a file under his arm, and it was no mystery to Jack what file that was. Before he knew what he was doing he had picked up a rock and threw it towards the blonde. He heard the loud smack that the collision of rock and head had made. Apparently the blonde's head was harder than Jack had originally thought.
He quickly ran away for fear of being caught, but stopped at a corner where he could still see the blonde. He was holding his head, blood dripping down onto the concrete. Jack felt his old smirk come back, one he hadn't used in over a year.
` He then proceeded to the diner where he knew Yugi Motou worked. He was surprised at how easy it was to simply walk past the booths where customers sat and into the employee only areas. Nobody seemed to pay him any attention. He walked into the storage room, knowing only the manger was allowed in there. And the manager just happened to be a special, little, whore.
Jack grabbed one of the nearby butter knives, and used it to loosen the screws on the shelves. He grabbed the bars and gave them a shake, pleased with how loose they had become. It wouldn't take much for the entire structure to collapse. He put the knife back down and walked out of the room, once again not being noticed by anyone.
Jack smiled as he came out of the memory, savoring another sip of his tea. His plan was working out quite well. He thought he would be done with by now, but was surprised to see that Yugi Motou had made another…more special…friend recently. Jack had been there that day they were in that shabby old restaurant, watching them from the window. And he had been there earlier that evening, watching them lying down on the grassy hill.
It was pathetic. Yugi Motou was still that same, naïve, child he had been the day Jack met him. He was foolish to believe in something as idiotic as love.
That's what Jack told himself was wrong. Deep down, he felt anger at this 'Yami' fellow. Yami was helping Yugi, he was trying to convince the poor boy that he was loved, and that no one would hurt him ever again.
He was erasing all the damage Jack had inflicted during that painful year. That angered Jack more than anything. He had been delicate and methodical with how he broke Yugi Motou. It was a slow process that required the utmost care. It took a lot to completely break someone.
Jack thought he had done that. He thought he had Yugi wrapped around his finger; he was sure the teenager was on the verge of suicide. Jack was hoping to try a different approach this time than the way he had taken with the two teenaged girls.
But that day…Yugi had almost ruined everything. That day, Jack had to make a split second decision in order to keep himself safe, and that only barely worked out. He still remembered that day, and every time he thought about it, his anger at Yugi Motou only intensified.
-Day of The Incident—
He wasn't expecting to see anything out of the ordinary when he walked in through the doors of his apartment that day. Which is why he was surprised to see Yugi Motou sitting on the couch, alongside two suitcases. It didn't take Jack long to put two and two together. Angered, he slammed the door behind him. Yugi Motou didn't even wince as the sound echoed throughout the apartment.
"What is the meaning of this?" Jack said, pointing to the suitcases lying on the floor as he walked towards the smaller boy.
Yugi stood up, but avoided eye contact as Jack came closer. "I'm leaving." He said, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm done. I can't take anymore. I'm going away and there's nothing you can do to stop me."
He reached down for his suitcases, but Jack grabbed his wrist, noticing it was swollen badly, and taking pleasure in seeing Yugi wince and hiss in pain.
"Like hell you are." He said, enunciating every word. "You're staying right here."
Yugi violently ripped his arm away. "I'm leaving."
Jack reached out again and this time caught Yugi by his hair. He pulled the teenager closer to him. "You're staying here," he whispered into Yugi's ear, "if I have to tie you up and keep you in the closet." He then began to drag Yugi towards the closet. He could feel the teenager stiffen in his grip and he smirked. He knew that Yugi hated the closet worse than any other punishment.
Yugi kicked violently, reached his hands up, scratching at Jack's face and body. The reaction was unexpected—Yugi had never fought back before—and Jack dropped the teenager, who crawled on the floor a few feet before standing. He was breathing rapidly, but did not move from his spot. Perhaps it was out of fear. Perhaps it was out of stupidity. Whatever the case, Jack was sure that this was going to be an easy fight.
He walked over to Yugi and raised his hand. Before he knew it, Yugi was on the ground, clutching his eye. He removed his hand slowly to see a trickle of blood falling from a scratch Jack's fingernails had caused.
"I called Joey." He said, and Jack froze. What had the little bastard told his friend? Yugi seemed to see the fear in Jack's eyes and he smirked himself. "I didn't tell him anything; just that we were fighting. I'm going to stay with him."
"You are not leaving."
"Joey's not as stupid as you think he is. If I'm not at his place at the time we agreed on, he's going to get worried. He's going to come looking for me, and you're secret is going to come out. Or," he said, tauntingly, "you can let me walk out now, and nobody but us has to know about what happened between these four walls."
"You're lying."
"If I wanted you gone, I would've called the police, not Joey."
Jack clenched his hand, sweat dripping from his eyebrow. This wasn't supposed to happen. Yugi was supposed to be a broken, sniveling child. Instead, he was confident, almost arrogant. This wasn't supposed to happen. He wasn't going to let it happen. Jack knew in that instant what he had to do.
He kicked his foot out, hitting Yugi in the shoulder. The teenager's head collided with the edge of the couch. He screamed in pain, but managed to get to his feet. Blood was now running from his eye and head. He was feeling disorientated. He ran into the kitchen, Jack quickly following him.
Yugi's vision was getting fuzzy, and he felt like he was about to throw up. He grabbed onto the nearby counter for support, but couldn't move his legs. He felt Jack hit him again in the head, and he fell down.
Jack watched as Yugi hit his head on the tile. He didn't move. Jack watched with no remorse. He hadn't loved Yugi. He didn't even like the kid. This had only been a part of his ruse for blood.
He bent down and picked Yugi up. If he wasn't dead yet, then it was only a matter of time before he would be. He needed to get rid of him, and fast. He needed to clean up the evidence quickly.
"Where to put you?" He wondered aloud.
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He continued to scrub at the tile, panting heavily. He had gotten all the blood off the tile. Luckily none had gotten on the carpet; that would've been a helluva lot harder to clean up.
Yugi Motou was lying in a dark alley somewhere, slowly bleeding. If anyone found him, he would already be dead. Nobody walked around much at time of night. Jack looked over at the suitcases he had packed. He needed to get out of here fast. People could easily tie him to the murder and he did not feel like spending a life sentence in jail. He carried the bucket out dirty water into the bathroom where it dumped it down the tub. He ran the faucet to rinse it clean, and then exited. He picked up his suitcases, (he already got rid of Yugi's earlier) and walked down the stairs to the front desk.
"I'd like to nullify my residence here." He said, trying to charm the landlord. She looked at him scrutinizing him.
"I'm going to need the rent for the entire month."
Jack quickly wrote a check and handed it to her. "There you go. One month's rent two weeks early."
She took it slowly, unsure. "What is your name?" She said as she turned to the computer.
He hesitated for a moment, then gave her his name. It would do him no good to lie. It would only get him in trouble somewhere else.
"Okay sir. You are no longer a resident of this apartment complex."
"Perfect."
-0-0-0-0-0-
It had been a good thing he left. Police were at his apartment a few days later, searching for him. By then Jack had gotten the news that Yugi had survived. He didn't know what to make of the knowledge. He was angered by it; he had no idea how Yugi could've survived a head injury that severe. But he had.
Luckily for him, Jack had managed to avoid detection from the police. He was sure Yugi hadn't said much, and that had attributed to his ability to stay a free man. But still…
Yugi had to go. He was a liability. Jack had watched him these past few weeks with that Yami person. He was opening up more. Jack could see it in Yugi's eyes. The boy was smitten for the older man. Surely by now Yami would know, and then perhaps he would come after Jack. Perhaps he would bring Joey along.
Jack smirked. It would be fun, taking out the both of them. He was older by only a few years, but still wiser. Joey was still an impulsive brat. Yami was obviously blinded by his love. As far as he was concerned, Jack had an advantage over the two of them.
But no…he wouldn't hurt them…badly. His fight was with Yugi and that's where it would remain. Nobody else needed to get hurt. Jack was a lot of things, but someone who goes out and picks a fight just for the hell of it? No. He was calculating. He was precise. He only hurt those whom he knew could not fight back. It was only a game to him. He played the games he knew for a fact he could win. There was no point in trying to risk something. He wasn't a gambler. He wasn't going to risk going to jail, or even Death Row. He would only do what he knew he could get away with.
Jack took another sip of his tea, noticing the waitress giving him a nasty look. Jack glanced at his watch and saw the time. It was near closing, and all the other customers had left. She hadn't asked him to leave.
Jack dug into his pocket and pulled out enough loose change to pay his bill, along with a measly tip. The service here really did stink.
He exited the diner and saw a man he recognized driving out in front of him. He was the Yami man Yugi had been hanging out with lately. Jack smirked. He knew what he had to do now.
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Since a lot of people have been asking, I will answer here. Jack is NOT Jack Atlas from 5D's.
Sage: You just picked the most generic name that came to mind for the story's antagonist?
Yup.
