A/N – Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it a ton! Anyway, next chapter will be the first death(s) of the story so I hope everyone is ready!

Aster knew from the very start that they probably were not going to find the prisoners in the ICO building. The people who ran the organization were not stupid enough to imprison people in their headquarters. They would know that kidnapping is illegal, and therefore be more secretive about it. However, Aster also knew that having everyone look together for information was simply not an option. For many reasons. So he pretended that his group was in search of the victims.

Jim was the only one among all of them who seemed to recognize that Aster was not in charge. He was actually quite a bit younger than most of them, and by no means did they have to follow what he said. But Jim went along with his plans anyway because he did not want to cause trouble and, besides his arrogant demeanor, Aster seemed like a decent guy.

"How long do you think we'll be in this place?" Jim asked, noticing how Jaden seemed half asleep and probably could not make it much longer.

"Dunno. You getting tired already?" Aster replied with his usual brisk wit.

Jim ignored the jibe, "Not at all. I was just curious. I mean if we do find any of the people who were kidnapped, it could take forever to break the lock to whatever they're being kept it."

Aster did not like the slight accusatory tone of his voice, and decided to deflect it immediately, "If we find them unfortunately I think we'll have to alert the police as opposed to rescuing them ourselves. We don't have the equipment for that." Jim nodded, his eye remaining trained on Aster. Zane was watching Jaden, although no one seemed to notice.

"Hey, hey, watch it!" Aster scolded, yanking Jaden by the arm to the side of the hallway, "You almost walked directly into that alarm. What's the matter with you?"

He watched as Jaden tried to wake himself, "Sorry." Aster wondered if maybe he should have put him with Jesse, if only for Jesse to make sure that he didn't go around walking into things and falling asleep.

"You have to be alert," Aster said sharply, "I told you that already." Jim debated defending Jaden and decided against it. He did need to be alert.

Suddenly, Aster opened the door to a janitor's closet and ushered them inside, without any explanation.

"May I ask what we're doing in here?" Jim asked, slightly annoyed. His foot was stuck in a bucket and he had to duck in order not to hit his head on the abnormally low ceiling.

Aster shrugged, "Sometimes you can hear things through the vents. Also, I think there might have been someone coming up the stairs." He must have been correct, for there was then a pattering of feet outside the door.

"You don't think that could be the others?" Jim asked.

"Even if it is, we can't risk opening the door. And anyway, if they're being chased, we don't want whatever it is to chase us too, now do we?" Aster replied. Jim bristled slightly, finding Aster's disloyalty to the others to be appalling. Now he wasn't so sure he trusted him. Before they could say another word, Aster's PDA buzzed in his pocket.

"What?" Aster said angrily when he picked it up, "I told you to only contact me if it was an emergency. It's too dange-"

Atticus's fear filled voice interrupted, "It is an emergency. Aster, listen, there's something you have to see."

Aster sighed, "What? You found something explaining all of this?"

"No," He heard Atticus's voice shake a little, "This is bad news."

"Are you the ones running up and down the hallways, making all the racket?" Aster asked.

"Yeah. Where are you?"

"In a janitor's closet on the second floor."

"Damn, we were just there. Alright, meet you by the exit."

"The exit? What makes you so sure we have to leave?" Aster did not like decisions being made for him.

Atticus began pleading, "Please, Aster. I'm begging you, you're going to regret it if you don't listen to me."

"Well then why can't you just explain it to me now?"

Atticus flushed, he seemed embarrassed, "I don't think I can."

"FINE!" Aster exploded, a little louder than he had planned, "We haven't found anything anyway. I'll meet you by the stairs." He hit the off button angrily. The others were all at attention now, including Jaden, and they looked worried. Aster was too, although he would never admit it.

They left right away, hearts beating manically in their chests. It was when they were about halfway there when they ran (literally) into Alexis.

"Oh thank god!" She managed, bestowing a relieved hug on Jim.

"What are you doing here?!" Aster said angrily, now deciding that the Rhodes were troublesome in general. "You were supposed to be buying time for us!"

"We were," Alexis said, "But Aster, the guards are armed!" She sounded terrified. Jim and Jaden both looked shocked, Zane slightly surprised and Aster irritated.

"Is that what your brother was trying to tell me?" He spat at her, "Because you know he could have just told me that instead of demanding that we leave immediately."

Alexis seemed confused, "I didn't talk to Atticus. And I don't see how he could have known about the guards, unless they ran into them or something." They all shuddered involuntarily. What if someone had been killed and that's what Atticus couldn't bring himself to tell Aster? "But even if it's something else, I think it's good that we get out of here." Jim and Jaden nodded in agreement.

"You're all a bunch of wimps, you know that?" Aster said furiously. Alexis noticed that this wasn't exactly an objection to the idea.

"What happened to Syrus and Chazz?" Jim asked, as they headed in the direction of the trapdoor.

"They want to go call Sy's parents. They should be waiting with them outside." She heard what sounded like a suppressed laugh from Zane, and smiled to herself. She hadn't heard him laugh since the graduation duel, and was elated to hear the sound of it again.

She grinned at him, "I know. The first thing I could think of was your mom asking Chazz what his favorite class was at school." Since Atticus had been friends with Zane even before Alexis had joined them at Duel Academy, the kids knew the others' parents fairly well.

Zane's lips twitched in a dangerous hint of a smile, "I hope they don't embarrass my brother too much. It will be hard for him to live it down if Chazz overhears." He then remembered Atticus's earlier comment about his "destroying" Syrus and the smile vanished completely. Alexis was disappointed.

The others suddenly appeared in front of them, and Alexis was relieved to notice that they were all there. Aster opened his mouth to yell at Atticus, but Atticus shoved the paper from the file room in front of his face before he got a chance. Watching Aster's reaction to it was painful. It changed quickly from disbelief to fear to fury, and then to a terrifying mixture of all three.

"Let's go." He said. This was all it took for them to dash up the stairs.

Alexis grabbed her brother's hand, "Atty, what's going on?" He slipped her the paper and she read it, sympathy for Aster immediately filling her heart after she saw it said. They passed the paper down the line so that everyone might know what was going on. So that everyone would know that this wasn't just about dueling anymore. There were real dangers, and no one was going to come out unscarred.

Relief soon washed over the fear, when they spotted Syrus, along with an agitated looking Chazz, standing in front of the Truesdales' van.

"You're all okay!" Syrus exclaimed happily, "We were worried that –" He and Chazz were than handed the paper, fright registering on each of their faces as they read it.

"Dad!" Syrus called to the man sitting in the driver's seat, "We have to go!" They sped away, suddenly caught in a race against time.

A/N – So, do you know who it's going to be? Or have I totally just confused you by dropping false hints? … You'll have to wait and see!