On My Own

Chapter 24

Author Notes: Been awhile since I last threw myself into this story. Though not for a lack of trying with my schedule. With that, shall we do a bit of a perspective change? I do not own Yugioh.

3rd P.O.V

Jack couldn't help sighing as his girlfriend started pacing around in front of him. Her frustration growing with each step. "UGH! I can't believe that guy! Did he really have to be such a-" Honestly he couldn't say he was surprised with her reaction.

"Chill out Carly." She whips her furious gaze towards him, not that he could see them with her glasses. "How can you defend him!? Since the moment we found out about him, he's been an absolute asshole!" She may be a reporter with a nose for a good scoop-but she didn't deserve how Yusei treats her.

Always glaring at her with an untrusting stare, a venomous tone-even when he's apologizing and admitting he's being a prick. "Has he always been like this!?" She has been trying to help him and Blister the last couple days while he and Jack have been going through the competition.

The least Yusei could do was thank him or drop the rude attitude. "No Carly...he's never been like that. But considering what's going on-I can't blame him." At that she pauses, looking at her boyfriend for the first time since she walked in.

His gaze was so sad, and so full of remorse. "What he said wasn't true, right Jack!?" Yusei's words despite it being days ago, still haunted her thoughts. What he said after they discovered why Yusei had come to the underground.

"Fuck off Carly-I don't trust either of you! Jack took my busted duel runner and made the big leagues here in the underground after I got into a coma! He knew Kalin backstabbed me and when I needed him most, ditched my broken ass."

Even when she first met him, Jack's always kept his thoughts and past to himself. Where he lived, his family, why he came to the underground in the first place. All of it was a mystery. Sure she's been wanting to know-but with how busy they were and just because she knew what kind of guy Jack was...hadn't asked.

And he appreciated that. "Crow, Kalin, Yusei and I were really close, practically a family since our home lives weren't the best." He never thought he'd ever be talking about them...ever. But then again he never believed he'd run into any of them.

Of course he was proven wrong years ago when he had competed against Crow and Kalin for the first time. Though it was obvious by the look in their eyes that their friendship no longer mattered, if it ever did.

"We had big dreams of entering dueling tournaments and making it big. Kalin wanted to leave his abusive father, Crow needed money to take care of his younger siblings, I wanted to live a life where my parents weren't breathing their life expectancies down my neck."

At this point Carly had sat down next to him, her brows furrowed in concern. "What about Yusei?" Gently she took her hand in his, giving it a soft squeeze. Feeling a squeeze in return, she waited.

Giving those seconds to find the words. "He wanted to pay his aunt back for taking care of him and his adopted brother. In general he wanted to make life easier for all of us." It was incredible how determined he was even back then.

Every day he would go to the library and take out tons of books. "All of us dreamt big, but we had no money and no connections entering any sort of dueling competition. Yusei...he refused to keep it as a dream."

Cooking and mechanical engineering were just some of the various things he studied. Anything that caught his eye or that he felt could've been useful in some way he absorbed like a sponge. Wasting no time in putting that newfound knowledge into practice.

"One day, all of our friends went to go hang out with him, only to find his room an absolute mess. Books and junk parts everywhere." The memory brought a small smile to his lips. Even after all these years, the image of a clean freak like Yusei surrounded by so much clutter and him forcing himself to endure it was still hilarious.

His expression was priceless. "He told us that he was going to try and make a duelrunner. Going to the junkyard, doing oddball chores around the neighborhood for money or things people didn't want. His aunt and little brother watched him toil whenever he had free time to make it work."

To say Yusei inspired him and the others was an understatement. "We all decided to pitch in money and parts ourselves, filled with hope of making our dreams a reality." Slowly but surely, things went wrong. So slow, that Jack couldn't even find where it exactly started happening.

"As time went on, our friendship started splitting apart. When the duelrunner was finally finished, there was a serious fight over who would ride it in the competition." His mouth twisted wryly as he looked back.

God he was such an immature ass. To an extent he still was, but now he just didn't give a shit about what most people thought about him. He's a champion, he's had his share of fans and haters. He was immune to what people had to say.

At least that was until Yusei came back into his life. "Ironically enough Yusei wasn't involved in the argument. Even though he should've, it was his idea, he made that duelrunner with his own two hands. And he was the best rider with how often he was testing it for safety."

If anything he was the one trying to make the fighting stop. Physically keeping him and Crow apart. "Couple of our other friends went up to bat for him and in the end we all agreed he would enter. He made it to the finals." Jack should've been happy.

All of them should've, they were so close to victory. "He mentioned Kalin backstabbing him? What did he do?" Yet there was a painful churn in his stomach, full of jealousy. And it turned out he wasn't the only one who had felt that way.

"I didn't see him actually do it, but I thought Kalin was acting weird that day." Everything from his fake smiles and nonchalant comments rubbed him the wrong way. "When Yusei had gone to the bathroom Kalin mentioned checking to make sure the duelrunner would be good for when Yusei came back."

Looking back on it now, it was so obvious. "Not even an hour later Yusei was comatose from it malfunctioning during the match." Carly knew inevitably that Yusei fell into a coma, but she wasn't expecting this.

Still despite feeling sorry for the mechanic, she still couldn't forgive his behavior. "But that wasn't your fault! You didn't know Kalin would do that." He appreciated her trying to make him feel better...but he's had years to think it over and move on. It was too late for him to feel anything but remorse.

"But I did abandon him. Instead of worrying about him being in critical care and never waking up, all of us were fighting. Pissed off that Yusei failed, only to start pointing fingers when the idea of the duelrunner being messed with came up." A shiver ran through him then.

Remembering the blue haired doctor and just how scary he was when he caught them all causing a ruckus. "After getting kicked out of the hospital I headed out, intending to head home when I saw some guys getting ready to toss out the busted runner."

It was by sheer chance that he saw them, and when he did, it gave him the opening to leave his life for good. "I took it and with what little knowledge I had, fixed it up. Originally I had planned of giving it back to Yusei...but I didn't." He turns his gaze towards the window.

"You know the rest. I made my way to the underground, ran into Crow and Kalin, made my way into the league and became famous. If I'm honest though, you were the only good thing that came out of coming here." Honestly after everything he's done to get this far, he SHOULD be happy.

He had all the money he could ever dream of. People knew and loved him, he never had to worry about his parents forcing him to follow a path he didn't want. All those were what he craved more than anything when he was a teen.

Yet here he was, wishing that he could've changed things so that they didn't happen the way he did. "I burned any and every bridge to Yusei, he's got every right to feel bitter towards me. And with how badly he's been screwed with left, right and center, I can't blame him for stressing."

Even now that he's had a few days to digest the things going on. People going missing, Yusei being threatened to play secret agent, that Blackrose chick part of an evil terrorist group...it was way too much to unravel.

Carly at the very least didn't look like she was going to commit murder if her salty pout was anything to go by. "Yeah...I guess." She was most certainly letting her bias cloud her judgement on Yusei, but she could understand why he is acting the way he is.

Still, she'd still be much happier dealing with him if he actually gave them a little faith. Suddenly Jack's phone starts ringing. "Who is it?" Her boyfriend sighs as his face pinches in annoyance. "Crow...what does he want now?"

If there was any sort of amusement or irony in this crazy life it was that there were some things that never changed. "What is it birdbrain?" The first and foremost being the childish rivalry Jack and Crow had. Though...they both knew nothing would ever be the same.

to be continued

Author Notes: Gonna be real. Don't like Jack-he's like Kaiba, but not as likely to laugh like a madman and has an accent. It's funny since my eldest niece is into Yugioh(thanks to yours truly) and she got his structure deck-dude has his own cards made in his likeness. And here I thought Kaibaman was bad!

Honestly-ridiculous. If it were up to me...you know what, gonna stop there since I can't say that since this story was up to me. I will say, Jack doesn't deserve a whole lot in my opinion. And I hope to make him suffer in the near future.

Sadly that means I gotta stop it there. Ladies and gents, thank you all so much for reading. If you like the story so far, please feel free to fav/follow/review as it always makes my day to see people enjoying my work. See you next time. Tchao for now.