Author's Note: This chapter was originally going to be two separate chapters, but it ended up being way too short by the time I had gotten what was originally going to be the end point. Plus it started to feel like the story was getting a little slow.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's and the character of Raven is the creation of sammycrusinix.
Chapter 9: The Secret's Out
Things had calmed down a great deal the morning after Kiryu's brief descent into madness. Yusei and the others were very glad to have an ally like Grieger to help them fight the Skeleton Knight and help Kiryu keep the darkness of his Earthbound Immortal from taking over. That morning, Greiger took Kiryu out at the crack of dawn to start his training, leaving everyone else at the mansion. Yusei had woken up only an hour or so later. He had ended up spending most of the morning in the garage attempting to tune up his D-Wheel. After about two hours, Yusei decided to take a break and went out for some fresh air.
"Morning Yusei." Crow greeted as he walked up to him on the driveway. "Nice day out, huh?"
"It's pretty quiet out." Yusei agreed. "What are you up to?"
"Well, since Raven went with Sect and the twins to go site seeing, I decided to go out for a ride." Crow explained. "What have you been up to?"
"Just tinkering around." Yusei replied. "Right now, Aki and Bruno are out looking for Jack?"
"Jack! Why the hell do we need him?" Crow protested. "He made it clear when you dueled him that he wants nothing to do with us."
"Like it or not, we need Jack's help." Yusei told him. "And not just against the Skeleton Knight. We have to worry about Z-one too."
"Oh yeah, Aporia's boss from that future." Crow recalled. "Well I still think we can handle both him and the Skeleton Knight without that jerk's help."
"There's one other thing… I don't want to leave things with Jack the way they are now." Yusei admitted.
"Fine, whatever." Crow huffed as he headed for the garage. "I'll be back in an hour."
As Carly finished getting dresses for the day, her cell phone rang as it sat on the dresser. She picked it up and looked at the caller ID, it was her boss. Carly had been dreading this call. Her editor was most likely calling to know the status of the interview with Jack she was supposed to do. And besides helping Jack sneak out of the hospital, she hadn't lifted a finger to get it.
Seeing no other choice, Carly answered the phone. "Uh, hi chief."
"Carly, where the hell is that interview?" the chief shouted through the phone.
"I'm uh, I'm working on it." Carly half lied. "It's just that Jack has been very hard to find."
"I don't care!" the chief bellowed. "Either have some kind of story on Atlas on my desk by 7:00 tonight or your fired!" With that, the line went dead.
Carly sighed heavily as she put down the phone. She had more or less run out of time and had to make a decision. Her choices were either to tell Jack who she really was and risk losing him, or do nothing and lose her job. Carly didn't like either of those options, but it was either one or the other. And she had come to realize one thing. It wasn't right to keep who she really was from Jack. If she had any hope of what she had with Jack becoming something more, Carly had to tell him the truth.
Once she had finished getting dressed, Carly walked out to the living room. Jack was sitting on the couch watching TV. It was now or never. Carly's heart was pounding. She took a deep breath, but just as she was about to speak there was a loud knock on the door.
"Mind getting that?" Jack requested.
"Sure, no problem." Carly sighed.
She went over to the door, and as soon as Carly opened it a crack it burst open, knocking her to the floor. Mikage barged in just as Carly got back to her feet.
Jack immediately noticed and got to his feet. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Do you have any idea how worried I've been?" Mikage scolded as she put her hands on her hips.
"What are you, my mother?" Jack smirked.
"Excuse me, just who are you and why have you barged into my home?" Carly demanded to know.
"I'm Mr. Atlas' personal assistant, and I've come to get him out of this rat trap you've lured him into!" Mikage told her.
"First of all, I don't see why you're making such a fuss. After all, I'm not champion anymore." Jack pointed out. "And second, Carly didn't lure me anywhere! Coming here was my idea, and I have no intention of leaving!"
"Well then you should probably know the truth about who the girl you're staying with really is." Mikage told him. "She's a reporter, and not a very good one. I'm sure the only reason she's letting you stay here is because she was hoping for some big scoop."
Jack gave Carly a surprised glare. "Is this true?"
"…It is true that I'm actually a reporter." Carly admitted with a big gulp. "And I should've told you that the moment we met, but…"
"So this whole time you've been using me to get your next big story." Jack assumed. "You're just another vulture hoping to catch in on my downfall."
"Jack, that's not true!" Carly insisted on the verge of tears. "I mean… I was supposed to try and get an interview with you. But things changed!"
"Spare me." Jack coldly told her. "You must take me for a fool. I suppose all the things I told you about my past are all going to be in your little report."
"Mr. Atlas. Director Goodwin does want you to come back. You may not be champion anymore, but you're still an important figure." Mikage informed him. "If you'll just come back with me, I'm sure we can figure things out from there."
"…Fine." Jack finally agreed. "There's something I've been meaning to ask Goodwin anyway."
"Jack, wait!" Carly tried to beg, but stopped when Jack glared at her.
"I think we're done here." Jack told her. "This little interview is over."
With that, Jack walked out of the apartment with Mikage. The two of them slammed the door shut as they left. Carly fell to her knees, sobbing.
It had been a fairly short ride over to the Goodwin mansion. Once there, Jack was escorted to the drawing room to wait for Rex. As he waited, Jack thought about what he had said to Carly before he left. And the more he thought about it, the more he felt guilty. Even if Carly was some cheap reporter, it never once seemed like she was using him to get a story. In all truth, it actually seemed like she really cared about him. And Jack couldn't help but like Carly. There was just something about that girl in glasses that seemed to stir some kind of feeling in Jack that he couldn't quite place his finger on.
"If you ask me, you're better off without that useless wench." A familiar voice spoke, startling Jack. "She was only holding you back."
Jack looked across the room. Leaning against the wall with his arms crossed was the dark twin of himself from his dreams. A mocking grin was on the twin's face.
"How are you even here?" Jack demanded to know as he stood up from the couch.
"Since last night, I'm now able to appear outside of your dreams." Dark Jack explained. "And I'm no figment of your imagination, I assure you."
"So what are you then?" Jack asked.
"I've gone by many names throughout the centuries." Dark Jack chuckled. "But for now I prefer to keep my true name a secret. What matters is that my offer from before still stands. You said before to that girl that you didn't want to challenge Yusei until you had the same kind of power he has. I can give you that kind of power. Power that can more than match Yusei's and surpass him ten fold!"
"What's the catch?" Jack asked.
"What makes you think there's a catch?" Dark Jack asked innocently.
"I'm not the fool you take me for. I've made a deal like this once before and got burned." Jack reminded him. "So answer me this, what's in it for you?"
"Let's just say it's been awhile since I've been out and about." Dark Jack replied cryptically. "Anyway, I'll let you think it over for a while longer. I'm sure Goodwin will be here before long. He'd find it odd to see you talking to yourself. I'll be back later."
"Then before you go, at least tell me what I should call you." Jack requested just as his dark twin began to leave the room.
Dark Jack stopped and chuckled. "I suppose that's only fair. For now, just call me the Crimson Devil."
With that, Dark Jack walked out the doorway and vanished. Jack sat back down on the couch and sighed. He couldn't help but wonder if he wasn't starting to lose his mind. It was one thing to see his birthmark light up like a flare and converse with the spirits of Carly's Fortune Fairy cards. He could buy those things, as he wasn't the only one to see them. But a being calling itself the Crimson Devil and offering him power seemed like something else all together.
At last, Rex walked into the room. "Ah, so you've finally decided to return. Welcome home Jack."
"I won't be staying for long." Jack told him as he stood up again. "I only came back for some answers."
"And just what sort of questions do you have?" Rex asked as he went over to a cupboard and pulled out a bottle and a wine glass.
"In our duel, Yusei said that his D-Wheel malfunctioned when I faced him in the Pit." Jack replied. "I want to know, did you have something to do with it?"
Rex chuckled as he poured himself a glass of red wine. "Now Jack, I think the answer to that should be obvious by now."
"So it really was you." Jack realized. "You rigged it so that I'd win that duel!"
"I needed you to become champion." Rex explained. "And I couldn't afford to leave anything to chance against such a strong opponent like Yusei Fudo."
"You had no right to interfere in that duel!" Jack protested. "I could've beaten Yusei back then without you meddling!"
"Spare me your duelist's pride, Jack." Rex indifferently replied. "I made you a champion, that's all that should matter. But then I suppose that your pride has been a serious problem from the beginning. It's little wonder that the people of this city grew tired of you."
"So what, you're saying that you arranged for Yusei to come here and beat me?" Jack asked.
"In the end, he makes for a much more fitting champion." Rex replied. "He's a shining example of someone who lost everything and crawled back out of a hole to get it back. But don't worry, I'm sure I can find a much more suitable role for you."
"I'm through being your puppet!" Jack declared.
"Consider your position Jack. You have nowhere else to go." Rex pointed out. "In fact if it weren't for me, you'd still be rotting down there in the Pit. I advise you to think hard about what you do next."
With that, Rex put down his glass and walked out of the room. Jack clenched his right hand into a fist. He didn't have to think at all about his next move. There was an old friend that he had to see.
Carly was lying face down on the couch crying her eyes out. The whole situation wasn't fair. Carly had wanted Jack to know the truth about what she was, but not like that. She had wanted to tell Jack herself. And now because of the way things had turned out, she had lost Jack and was about to lose her job. The Fortune Faries had appeared to try and cheer Carly up, but they were having no luck.
"C'mon Carly, cheer up. I'm sure there's a way to make things right." Hikari told her optimistically. Carly only responded with more sobbing.
"Will you give it a rest already, runt?" Ann told Hikari. "Nothing you can say or do will cheer Carly up right now."
"Well at least I'm trying!" Hikari pointed out.
"You know, this was inevitable." Swee remarked as she sipped from a cup of tea. "Even if Carly had told Jack she was a reporter from the start, he probably would've reacted the same way."
"But what's Carly going to do now?" En wondered. "The way things are, she's going to get fired."
Carly only half heard what her six spirit companions were talking about. She was too consumed by heartbreak, not to mention anger. She was angry at that woman who came and took Jack away from her, and at Jack for actually thinking that she was just using him to get a story. As Carly dwelled on that anger, her head suddenly started to feel like it was in a vice. The pain caused her to suddenly cry out, causing the Fortune Fairies to worry. Then Carly felt as if her right arm was on fire, just like it was the night before when she and Jack were trying to track down that duel.
Before long the pain died down, and suddenly something went off in Carly's mind. It was like a switch had suddenly been flipped. It had become very clear what she had to do next. Carly rose from the couch and picked up her glasses.
"Are you okay Carly?" a worried Hikari asked.
"…I know what I have to do now." Carly answered as she put her glasses on. "My boss wants a story on Jack. So I'll give him something much better than an interview. I'll show the whole world the kind of guy Jack really is by finding proof that he really did cheat the first time he dueled Yusei. And I'll find proof that he was put down in the Pit too!"
"I don't know Carly, that doesn't seem very nice." Hikari pointed out.
"Yeah, this doesn't seem like you at all." En agreed.
"Oh can it, you two runts!" Ann told them. "This is the first good idea Carly's had in years."
"I'm not sure if I like this idea either, but we should all try and be supportive of Carly." Chee pointed out. "Remember, her job is on the line right now. We should all do our best to help her."
"Whatever. Jack was kind of a jerk anyway." Hu indifferently replied.
With a plan decided, Carly gathered her things and left the apartment with the fairies. One way or another, she was going to get the scoop of a lifetime.
Author's Note: I had originally planned for "Dark Jack" to appear in the story a few more times before this point. There was going to be at least one other dream sequence, but I ended up cutting it because it didn't seem like it really added anything. Anyway, things are going to take a major turn in the next chapter. So stay tuned.
In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.