It was a calm morning in the neighborhood. The sun had just barely risen over the horizon as the kids got ready for school today. What a certain duo was unaware of, was that they were going to be towing with them an extra guest.

Derek wandered down the sidewalk with his usual happy go lucky expression. He was wearing a white shirt and black pants with a dark green jacket. He wore his favorite hat as usual. He snuck out of the shelter to surprise Diego and Chase, take the same route he took to get there. It was long, but it was also safe. He learned from his mistakes of leaving unexpectedly and left Mrs. Johnson a note. Not that it would help, what with his handwriting.

He went up to the front door and tried searching for the spare key under the mat. Wasn't there this time. However, Diego did tell him about the other secret compartments littered around the house. So, he pressed a certain section of the wall and a compartment opened with the key sitting nicely in it. He took it and unlocked the door, making sure to put the key back. He walked in and locked the door behind him.

With a childish giggle, he wandered around the living room. Diego and Chase were nowhere in sight. He could hear them in the back, talking to each other. He looked around and smiled upon seeing Diego's bag. He walked over and opened it up, jumping inside. He moved some stuff around so he didn't accidentally break anything.

The duo came out from the back, with Diego holding some lettuce and tomatoes. "Thanks for helping out with the garden, Chase."

"No problem, dude," he replied as the oldest of the two placed the vegetables in the fridge.

"Once we get home, I'm going to use those for one delicious salad. And maybe make some pizza sauce later."

"Sweet!" He went over to his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Come on, the girls will be waiting for us."

"I know, I know." He walked over to his stuff and slung it over his shoulder. He stumbled a bit. "Huh, heavier than I remember." He shrugged as they walked out.

"So, right before that whole prank fiasco a couple days ago, I was designing a laser cannon!" Diego exclaimed.

Diana narrowed her eyes. "A laser cannon?"

"Yeah!"

"Why would you need a laser cannon?"

"Hey, you never know when you need to blast someone off your lawn."

She rolled her eyes. Rebecca giggled. "Well, that isn't nice. You should ask nicely, not use a deadly futuristic machine!"

Now Diego rolled his eyes. "It's not deadly. It'll hurt, but I designed it not to harm anyone."

"Does it work?"

He glanced to the side. "Uh…"

*Flashback, Yesterday*

Diego finished tweaking a few loose screw and bolts. He turned on the machine and aimed it at the target he set up. He placed on safety goggles and took a step back. The machine hummed as it prepared to fire. It glowed brighter and brighter before…it sputtered smoke.

He frowned and threw his goggles off in rage. "Oh come on!" He stomped over and kicked the machine. "Stupid contraption!" It sputtered again and exploded right in his face. He slammed against a tree and slowly slid down on his back. "Ow…"

*Flashback Ends*

"…more or less."

Diana shook her head, then took notice of his bag. She could see something…shuffling in it. "Uh, Diego…did you bring anything odd with you?"

He scratched his head, unaware of what she was referring to. "Odd as in what I usually bring or odd as in something I've never seen before?"

"That's a matter of perspective. There's something moving around in your backpack." The group stopped and noticed that, indeed, there was something moving around in it.

Adam tilted his head in confusion. "Did you bring a living experiment with you?"

"Oh don't be ridiculous," he reassured. "If I did, a mere bag wouldn't be able to hold it."

"Well, what is it?" Chase asked.

"Only one way to find out."

He kneeled down and slowly opened his bag. He never expected a Chespin popping out of his bag. He had a book on his head. "Hello!"

"Derek?!" Diego, Chase, and Adam shouted in confusion.

Diana was taken back. "You abducted a kid?!"

He glared lightly. "You can call me many things, but I refuse to be accused as a kidnapper!" He shook his head and pulled the toddler out of his bag. "Derek, why are you in my bag?"

He giggled. "I wanted to surprise you! So I used your spare key and hid in your bag! Did I surprise you?"

"Oh yes, you definitely did," he answer. He then mumbled under his breath, "I really need to stop showing him where I hide the spare keys." He shook his head and presented him to Diana and Rebecca, the latter being in stunned silence. "Diana, Rebecca, this is Derek, a child we typically visit at the local shelter. Derek, these are our friends, Diana and Rebecca."

He waved cheerfully. "Hello!"

Diana smiled a bit and kneeled down, patting his head. "Hey there, Derek." She looked at her sister, who was jittering with excitement. "Oh boy…"

"What?" Chase asked.

Rebecca smiled widely. "Oh my gosh…HE IS SO CUTE!" She picked him up and hugged him closely. He giggled and hugged her back. "Why didn't you tell us you had such a cutie as a friend?"

Diego crossed his arms. "We WERE going to tell you, but we were going to do it over the weekend. Guess he decided to come early."

Adam walked over and patted Derek's head. "Hey there, buddy."

He smiled. "Adam!" He hugged him. "Can I have a brownie?"

He chuckled. "I don't have any with me."

He frowned. "I am sad…" He smiled. "Kidding!" He let him go and ran around giggling.

Diana watched him run around with a perplexed expression. "Is he on twelve cups of sugar or something?"

Diego patted her back. "You get use to that after a while." He scooped Derek up into his arms. "Alright buddy, time for you to go home."

"Aww! But I want to stay with you guys!"

"Sorry little guy, but I can't be carrying you around the school all day." His eyes slightly widened when Derek's eyes shimmered. "No…no…not the puppy dog look…" Just don't look at it! Just don't look at it! He saw that the others were looking at Derek. Oh no! We're too late!

"That is so cute! Aww, can we let him stay, Diego?" Rebecca pleaded as she tickled the cute little Chespin, who giggled in response.

"But…"

"Come on, bro. No harm can come from letting him tag along with us," Chase persuaded as he patted his head.

Diego looked at Derek and saw him smiling. With a defeated sigh, he placed Derek in his bag. "Just stay out of trouble."

"YAY!" Derek, Chase, and Rebecca cheered.

Adam chuckled and patted Diego's back. "I can't believe you fell for that."

He smirked. "Aren't you the one who bought a bunch of toys for him after pulling that act?"

"…touché."

They agreed to trade Derek off to each other so he can hang out with all of them equally. Diego and Diana took him to their Physics class, being extra careful that Mr. Orion didn't notice him. Diego could already seem him lecturing them with that bored tone of his about bringing a kid into the school. Oh yes, that would be a good use of his day…

Anyway, he was reviewing with the class about the Scientific Method before their test in fifteen minutes. Diego barely paid attention. He learned this several times already. He didn't need to hear the same lesson again.

Derek carefully popped his head out of his back and tapped his leg. "Diego?" he whispered. He tapped his leg again. "Diego?" Again. "Diego?" Again. "Diego?"

He snapped out of his daydreams and looked down at the toddler. "What?"

"What's the Cinnamon-rific Mitten?"

He chuckled. "No, no, it's pronounced Scientific Method. It's essentially smart guys writing stuff down and making guesses while doing cool experiments."

"Ooohhh…like you?"

"Exactly."

"Ah." The Charmeleon went back to dozing off. Derek looked over at Diana, who was busy taking notes. He tapped her leg. "Diana? Diana? Diana?"

She looked down. "Yeah?"

"…I need to use the bathroom."

Diego overheard this and groaned. "I told you to go before we went to class."

"I didn't need to go!" he whispered loudly.

Diana looked at the Charmeleon. "Diego, just take him to the bathroom."

"Orion isn't going to let me go before a test! He'll probably think I'm using a cheat sheet or going to mess with the plumbing again!"

"Again?"

"Point is, he isn't going to let me go!"

Derek squealed. "I really need to go!"

"Be quiet!"

"Mr. Silverfang. Ms. Montoya." They looked up and saw Mr. Orion staring at them. Diego casually pushed Derek's head back into the bag. Thankfully, the Alakazam didn't seem to notice. "Perhaps you would like to share your conversation with the rest of the class. Obviously, it is SO much more important than our lesson." The two couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not. Probably sarcastic, but it was hard to tell with his tone.

Diego blinked. "…well sir, since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you. Diana said she needed to use the restroom, but was too embarrassed to say anything."

She glared. "Excuse me?!"

"Poor thing didn't want to interrupt your lesson, so she needed someone as modest and caring as me to calm her down."

She grabbed his jacket collar and pulled his face towards hers. "Oh, you are so dead!"

Mr. Orion stared with a look that almost looked like he found amusement in this. He sighed. "…just go to the restroom and be quick, you two."

They blinked, then dashed off with Diego's bag. "Thanks!" The physics teacher shook his head and turned his attention back to the board. I'm not even going to ask why there was a Chespin in his bag.

Diana waited outside the boy's restroom, making sure no one was nearby. After a few moment, Diego walked out with Derek, who was drying his hands on a paper towel. "I feel better now!" He announced.

"SHH!" they hushed harshly. He made a motion of zipping his lips shut, locking it, and then flicking the key away. He got back into Diego's bag and closed the flap over him.

Diana sighed, then glared at her friend. "Modest and caring? Yeah right." She marched back to class.

He shrugged. "Hey, we needed an excuse." He followed her back to class.

Third period came and Diego traded Derek off to Chase. He brought him to his Algebra class with Adam. The child sat quietly in Chase's backpack, which was hanging off his chair.

They took notes with bored expressions as the teacher, a female Reuniclus, taught them like terms. "2x plus 10 equals 3x plus 8. To solve this, you must first subtract the terms that are the same. 3x minus 2x is x and 10 minus 8 is 2. X equals 2."

Chase nearly hit his head against the desk from boredom. He reached into his backpack for his water bottle. He whispered, "Hey Derek, can you hand me my water?"

The Chespin looked around and found it. He handed it to him. "There you go!"

He flinched from his shouting, bringing forth the attention of the teacher. "Who said that?"

The Pikachu chattered nervously, trying to find an excuse. He looked at Adam for some help. "Uh…look, a distraction!" he shouted, pointing at the wall. This didn't faze the teacher. He looked at his pal. "That's all I got."

He sighed. He pulled out his phone and held it up. "It was my phone, ma'am."

"Why did your phone say 'There you go'?" she questioned.

"Uh…very, very good question. Why did it say that?" He laughed nervously. "Well, the answer to that question…is a very good one, actually." He wasn't sure how long he could stretch this out.

The teacher tilted her head. She sighed. "Just turn your phone off or I'm taking it."

"Yes ma'am!" he shouted nervously. He pretended to shut his phone off, as it was turned off the entire time. He looked down at Derek. "Derek, please be quiet. You're going to get me in trouble."

He nodded. "Okay," he said quietly. Chase smiled and placed his phone in his backpack before turning his attention back to the front. Derek reached for Chase's phone and turned it on. Keeping to his word, he silenced it. He pressed an app called 'Sweet Smash'. "Ooh!" he admired quietly as he played, switching around the bright, colorful sweets into matching rows. He giggled. "This is fun!"

They gang eventually met up at lunch. However, they ate somewhere more secluded so Derek was free to run around and play. They gave small bits of their lunch to him, which he politely thanked them for. He sat down and nibbled on the apple Chase gave him.

Diego sighed. "We had some close calls today."

"No kidding," Adam added. "Derek's sweet and all, but he's doesn't know the meaning of inconspicuous."

The Chespin tilted his head. "I'm not a spy."

Diana patted his head. "Inconspicuous, not incognito."

Chase pulled up his Sweet Smash app and tilted his head in confusion. "Who beat my high score on Sweet Smash?!" Derek giggled and fell on his back.

Rebecca bounced in front of Diego. "Can I take Derek with me now? I want to spend time with him."

Adam tapped her shoulder. "Rebecca, we have gym later. How are you going to spend time with him if you'll be busy exercising?"

She pouted. "You're no fun."

"He has a point, sis," Diana reminded. "You can't keep him in the locker room during class."

Diego leaned back against the wall with a smile. "Hey, if she wants to take him to P.E., I'm cool with it. But he's staying in your bag, Adam."

"Yay!" Derek climbed into Adam's bag. "I'm ready!"

Adam chuckled. "How about a ride?" He placed his backpack on and ran around.

"WEE!" the child squealed. "Faster! Faster!" The gang chuckled at him.

Diana looked at Diego. "He's a sweet kid."

He nodded. "Yeah. He practically part of our small family. If anything happened to him…well, I'm not sure how I would react." He ate some chips. "Still, nice to have him around. He really lightens up the mood."

Derek climbed on Adam's head and covered his eyes. "Whoa, Derek! I can't see!" He tripped over his feet and fell face first into the ground. He sat up, allowing the toddler to roll off. He smirked. "Very funny, you little prankster." Derek smiled and giggled.

Rebecca and Adam entered the gym and went to their respected locker rooms.

Adam waited a bit for the room to empty out of students before setting his backpack down and looking at Derek. "Okay Derek, I need you to stay in the locker room until class is over."

"How long is that?"

"An hour and a half." Derek frowned. Adam patted his head. "Have fun!" He changed into his gym cloths, which were a gray shirt and dark yellow shorts. He took off his necklace and placed it in his gym locker before running out to warm up.

Derek looked around the locker room. "…it smells bad here." He climbed out of the backpack and walked around. He searched through people's backpacks out of boredom. He even found a comic book with blood on the picture. "What is this?" He opened it up, then immediately closed it with wide eyes. "I didn't know you could rip off an arm like that!" He placed it back and continued searching.

When he went back to Adam's backpack, he looked inside his locker and saw Adam's gold necklace. "Ooh! Cool!" He tried to open the door, but it was locked. He didn't know it was a combination lock. "Aww…" He looked around for something to open it up. "Where's a key…oh, there's one!" He walked over to something he didn't recognize. A fire extinguisher. "This could work." He walked back over to the locker with it and slammed it against the locker door. The lock broke off. "Yay!" He tossed the extinguisher away and took the necklace out, placing it around his neck. "Cool!"

He peeked outside the locker room, seeing that the gym was completely empty. "Hello? Adam? Rebecca?" He waddled around the gym with a curious expression. "Did they forget me?" He smiled. "Adventure!" He ran out of the gym.

Unbeknownst to the child, the gym class was taken outside. They had to run around the track. Most of the students were panting in exhaustion. Rebecca was the exception, who was hopping quickly around the track, even passing a few people twice.

Adam panted and stopped to catch his breath. "I'm…so…exhausted…"

Rebecca bounced up to him and patted his back. "Silly Adam, you can't take a break now."

"Becca, I'm on the verge of passing out…"

"Oh…well in that case…will a hug make you feel better?" With wide eyes, he sped away from her, having found newfound energy in his legs. She watched him running with surprised eyes. "Wow…he's really fast."

Later, the school bell was about to ring and they went to the locker rooms to get their stuff.

Adam crawled over to his locker, feeling great pain in his legs. "Well…I won't be walking for a few days…" He picked himself up and started messing with his lock. However, due to his exhaustion, he didn't immediately comprehend three things wrong with the area around him. His eyes widened. "My locker!" He looked at his backpack. "Derek!" He looked back in his locker and gasped in horror. "MY NECKLACE!"

Rebecca skipped out of the girl's locker room and waited patiently for Adam. She heard screaming in the boy's locker room. "What the? Did someone die or something?"

Adam ran out in his regular cloths and shook Rebecca. "Someone stole them!"

"S-t-o-l-e w-h-a-t?!" she yelled dizzily.

"Derek! My necklace! Missing!" He sounded panicked.

The Buneary slapped him across the face twice. "Snap out of it!" He rubbed his cheeks, feeling relatively calmer. "Now, what happen?"

"My necklace and Derek are missing…"

"…oh…" She started shaking him with a scared look. "YOU LOST DEREK?!"

He pushed her arms off and shouted defensively, "Hey, it wasn't my fault! And there's the problem with my missing necklace!"

"We can get you a new one!"

He grabbed her shirt collar and brought her close to his face. He said in a dark tone, "That necklace is priceless…it's a family treasure of mine…it's irreplaceable. It's not something you can just replace!"

Rebecca blinked. "…okay, I can see why you're slightly upset."

"I am more than SLIGHTLY upset! We need to find my necklace!"

"And Derek."

"Him too!" They ran out of the gym to look for Diego and Chase.

"What is the meaning of this, you two?" Principal Torrent asked angrily at the Paxton brothers. His car was covered with spray paint, featuring crude images of Torrent and their usual taunting words, such as imprudent and mediocre.

Malcom shouted, "We had nothing to do with this!"

Dexter rolled his eyes. "We are far too civilized for acts of vandalism."

"Then show me that you aren't covered in the evidence!" Torrent shouted.

"Very well, you worthless fish." Malcom and Dexter held their hands out, perfectly clean. "See? Now, let us go before we call our father that you were holding us up for accusing us of crimes we didn't commit."

Torrent was about to give them a piece of his mind when Mr. Croc tapped his bowl. "Yes, Mr. Croc?"

The Croconaw walked over to the boys and turned them around. They had orange and green paint on their backs. "WHAT?!" they shouted.

The principal glared. "Detention, both of you."

"But-!"

"No 'buts'! Mr. Croc, lead us to the detention hall." He nodded and wheeled Torrent back inside while the brothers followed with crossed expressions.

Behind a car was Diego, snickering. "Oh, who knew framing two of the biggest jerks in school would fill me with such glee? Oh, that's right, I did!" He laughed loudly and held his stomach.

Diana stood there with a deadpanned expression. "That wasn't really nice, you know."

He wiped a tear from his eye. "Oh relax, sissy. A quick trip to the car wash and it'll be good as new." He picked up the two spray cans he used and threw them in the garbage. "Can't believe those two completely missed me leaving paint on their backs."

She sighed. She knew this was wrong, but, after the trouble the Paxton brothers caused last week, she couldn't care less. She looked around. "Where are the others?"

Diego stood up. "Don't know. Chase needed to get some books from his locker, but he should have been here by now." They then saw Chase, Adam, and Rebecca running out of the school with panicked expressions, confusing the two. They ran over and started speaking gibberish from how fast they were talking. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down! Where's the fire?"

Rebecca shook him harshly. "We have no time to worry about a fire! Derek's missing!"

"Rebecca, it was a figure of spee-DEREK'S MISSING!?" Diana jumped back in surprise. This was the first time she saw him truly scared. Now it was his turn to shake her. "HOW COULD YOU LOSE HIM?!"

"It's not my fault! It was Adam's!" she blamed.

He looked offended. "How is any of this my fault?!"

"He was in YOUR backpack!" she shouted.

"By that logic, it would be your fault if we left him in yours! Besides, we have other things to worry about!" He began panicking again. "My necklace is gone!"

Diana deadpanned. "A piece of jewelry is more important than a toddler?"

Diego whispered, "You might want to cut him some slack. He really loves that thing. Last time he lost it, he turned his entire house upside down. Turns out he left it at our place by mistake and Chase returned it."

Rebecca slapped the panicking Oshawott across the face. "Get a hold of yourself!"

"Why do you keep slapping me?!" he shouted as he rubbed his cheeks.

"EVERYONE, SHUT UP!" Diana yelled. They quieted down. "We'll find Derek and your necklace. We just need to split up and search around the school."

Chase nodded. "Right. Adam and I will check around the gym."

"Rebecca and I will search the classrooms," the Flaaffy offered.

Diego nodded. "And I'll check around the school just in case he went outside. And remember, we can't let any of the staff find us. If they realize we brought a kid here without them knowing, we're all screwed." He ran off, mumbling, "Please don't be a kidnapper….please don't be a kidnapper…"

Diana still couldn't believe how worried he was, but shrugged it off for the time being. The groups ran off to search for the young Chespin…and Adam's necklace.

Chase and Adam searched around the gym for any indication of Derek being around. They checked as thoroughly as possible, searching the ground for any footprints or Chespin furs.

"Derek?!" Chase shouted. He searched through a bin of old gym clothes. The only thing he found was old gum and a few quarters, which he swiped. "Adam, did you find him yet?"

"No!" He searched through a trash can. "Just a bunch of bottles and other useless junk!"

The Pikachu groaned and got out of the bin. "Where could he be?"

His friend walked over. "Okay, let's calm down and think. Did you two ever teach Derek what to do in case he got lost?"

"Not really. He has a pretty good sense of direction." He suddenly snapped his fingers. "But, he does like to eat. If that nose of his picks up on something delicious, he'll go to it. He might be in the cafeteria!" He ran off on all fours.

Adam followed, saying, "I thought you said he would go to good food! Our cafeteria food is anything but that!"

They raced to the cafeteria and peeked into the kitchen. The cafeteria workers were cleaning the dishes and getting ready to leave. The two nodded at each other and snuck in. They were careful not to get caught by the workers, sneakily hiding behind tables and other obstacles.

The cafeteria workers finished with their work and exited the kitchen. Chase and Adam sighed and started searching more openly. "Okay, now where could he be?"

Adam shrugged. "Beats me. Derek's so small, he could fit into anything. Even the dishwasher."

Chase's eyes widened and looked at a running dishwasher. "Derek!" He ran over and forced the washer open.

Adam, who didn't noticed, searched around as he talked. "Then again, he could be in the oven." The Pikachu gasped and ran over to it. Adam chuckled. "Then again, with his love of sweets, he could just be in the freezer."

Chase screamed, "DEREK!" He ran over to the freezer and opened it. "Are you in here?!" He leaned in to get a better look, but he fell in and, accidentally, closed the freezer on himself.

The Oshawott's head shot up. "Chase?" He looked around. "Buddy? Where'd you go?" He sighed and crossed her arms. "Chase, this is no time for hide and seek. We need to find my necklace…and Derek, too." He heard banging on the freezer. "Derek?" He ran over and opened it.

Chase's head popped out with an annoyed glare. He was covered in shaved ice and he was shivering badly. "I-I-I d-d-d-don't think he's in h-h-h-here…"

Adam helped him out. "Hopefully the girls and Diego are having better luck."

"Find him, yet?" Diana shouted as she searched under a teacher's desk.

"Nope! Just gum under the desks! Eww, this one's fresh!" Rebecca screamed as she jumped away from the desk, rubbing her hands against her sweater. "Gross, gross, gross…" She sighed and checked the cabinets, where the science equipment was.

So far, they've already checked the Math Hall, History Hall, Tech Ed Hall, the Language Hall, and English Hall. They were wrapping up their search at the Science Hall and were checking the rooms with dangerous equipment first. If Derek was in one of them, they don't want him to get hurt.

Rebecca pouted. "This is my fault. I'm the one who suggested to bring him to the gym. There was no way I could keep track of him. What was I thinking?" Her eyes watered a bit.

Diana sighed and walked over to her sister. She patted her back. "Sis, don't be like that. Look, I'm sure Derek is fine. He's probably just playing around somewhere. The only thing we can do right now is not panic." She sniffled and hugged her, which she gladly returned. Still, the Flaaffy could have gone without her shoulder being used as a tissue. She patted her back with a semi-annoyed expression. "Better?"

Rebecca pulled back and wiped her tears away. "Y-Yeah…I'm good."

She nodded and they continued their search. "Now, where could he be?"

The Buneary opened the cabinets and looked inside. "Well, we can rule out the labs. He's nowhere around here."

Diana groaned and rubbed her temples. "We checked all the halls. Where else could he be?"

"We might need to call Diego." Diana nodded and pulled out her cellphone.

"Derek!" Diego screamed as he kicked over trash cans and tore through bushes like a madman. He left a path of destruction everywhere he went. He was in such a fright that he didn't care about his surroundings. His mind was dead set on locating the small Chespin at any cost. "Derek! Can you hear me?! I have brownies for you!" It was an obvious lie, but he'll make it up to him with a fresh batch when they get home…after he punishes him for running off!

He was nearly in tears, having found nothing so far. His phone suddenly rang and he answered, feigning a cool and collected attitude. "What's up? You found the kid yet?"

Diana could just tell he was faking his calm composure, no matter how convincing it sounded. "No, not yet. We checked all the learning halls."

He rubbed his temple in worry. "I've checked everywhere outside. All I found was Brick playing football. He even threw a ball at me." He shook his head. "People these days are so rude." Diana rolled her eyes.

Diego's phone rang again and made a three way call. Chase was on the other line. "Hey man, we checked the gym and cafeteria. He's not in either of them."

"Well maybe you aren't looking hard enough!" Diego shouted angrily.

"Diego, calm down!" Diana shouted back.

"I'm perfectly calm! CAN'T YOU TELL BY MY PERFECTLY CALM TONE!?"

Chase blinked. "…yeeeeah-No…"

The Charmeleon sighed and breathed to calm himself down. "S-Sorry…I'm just worried. What if he's hurt?"

Rebecca to Diana's phone and said, "Diego, listen, I know you're worried. But shouting at the top of your lungs isn't going to help."

"I was hoping her could hear me…" he mumbled.

"Still, is there anywhere you haven't checked yet?"

Diego scratched his head. "Well…"

Malcom and Dexter stomped out of the detention hall with frustrated expressions. "The nerve of that confused simpleton! Accusing us of such heinous acts!"

"I concur, dear brother! But, if not us, who did such a deed?"

Malcom glared. "Diego…only he would be sneaky enough to pull this off."

Dexter clenched his fist. "Grr, that confounded fool! How dare he make a mockery out of us?!"

The Nuzleaf patted his back. "Calm yourself, dear brother. We'll just simply have to get him back."

"And how, brother of mine, are we going to do that?"

Their eyes widened when they heard a flush in the bathroom. They turned and saw Derek walking out, wiping his hands clean on a paper towel. He still wore Adam's necklace around his neck. "I feel much better!" He looked up at the two rich kids and paled. "Oh no…" He started running.

Malcom glared. "It's that stupid kid!"

Dexter smirked. "Perhaps we could use this to our advantage. This'll make Diego think twice about framing us!" They nodded in agreement and chased after the fleeing Chespin.

Derek glanced over his shoulder, not slowing his pace. Sure enough, they were still chasing him. He quickened his pace and made a sharp turn down the Math Hall, to which they followed. Unknown to them, Diana and Rebecca ran past that hall to meet up with Diego, Chase, and Adam.

Derek shot through an Algebra room and threw rulers and pencils at the brothers. They swatted them away with ease and charged at him. The Chespin squeaked and hid under the teacher's desk. He looked through the drawers and found some confiscated items.

Malcom and Dexter smirked as they inched toward the desk. "Got you now, you little brat!"

Derek popped up and blasted an air horn in their faces. They cringed and fell back, slamming into the desks. He threw the horn away and ran out.

Malcom rubbed his head. "GET HIM!"

"WHAT?!" Dexter shouted.

"Grr…just come on!" They ran out.

The Chespin looked around for another place to hide. Unfortunately, they were gaining on him quickly. He turned into the Science Hall and went into a chemistry lab.

The brothers ran in and looked around for him. "Where are you, brat?"

"Not in the cabinets!" he shouted, trying to throw them off.

Dexter smirked and shook his head. He grabbed a scale and walked over to the cabinet. "Oh no, Malcom!" he shouted in mock surprise. "We must have lost him. I guess we'll never find him. He could be anywhere…" He reached for the handle and opened it, ready to bash him with the scale. Surprisingly, he wasn't there. "Huh?"

"ATTACK!" Derek screamed as he jumped onto Malcom's shoulders and covered his eyes.

The Nuzleaf shook angrily. "Hey! Get off me!"

"No!"

Dexter ran over. "I got him!" He threw the scale at them. However, it only nailed Malcom in the head. "Oops…"

"Hit the brat, not me!" Malcom shouted.

Dexter nodded and reached over. He grabbed him and pulled him off. "HA! Not so smart, are you kid?" Derek smiled sweetly before biting his arm. "OW!" He let him go, allowing Derek to make a beeline out. "HE FREAKIN' BIT ME! WHY WOULD HE BITE ME!?"

"Quit crying and follow him!" They chased him again.

Derek reentered the gym and looked around for a weapon. He saw that the storage room was opened. He ran in.

Malcom kicked the door open and marched in. "Where are you, kid?!" He looked around, cracking his knuckles. "We're not going to hurt you."

"I think we made it obvious we do…"

"Shush!"

Derek peeked his head out of the storage room. "Hey!" They turned and saw him sticking his tongue out at them before ducking his head back in.

Malcom smirked and ran in. "I got you-"

Words could not describe the pain he felt when he felt the metal bat strike between his legs. A single tear slid down his face as he fell to his knee, clutching the sensitive area in agony. He screamed so loud, he could join the opera.

Derek stared with the metal bat in his hands. "Sorry. Diego told me, 'If someone tries to hurt you, fight dirty'." He dropped the bat and ran past Dexter, who tended to his brother.

"Malcom, are you okay?"

"I GOT NAILED IN THE CROTCH WITH A BAT! WHY WOULD I BE OKAY?!"

Derek ran outside and shut the doors behind him. He ran towards the football field, not really paying attention to where he was going. He just wanted to get as far from them as possible. However, his erratic running allowed him to slam into something…or someone.

Brick was staying after to practice some catches. He did it after school for some privacy, so Principal Torrent was aware of this. So, he didn't expect a little kid to ram into his leg. He pulled out the remote to the football launcher and shut it down.

He crossed his arms with a glare. "Kid, what are you doing here?"

Derek opened his mouth to speak, but squealed when he heard the doors open. Malcom limped out, seething with rage. "That kid…has a death wish…" He and Dexter walked over to the bully and the child that has been tormenting them. "Brickford, nice to see you. If you don't mind, we'll take that kid off your hands."

Derek hid behind Brick's leg, shivering. The Ursaring raised a brow at this before turning toward them. "Any reason you want him?"

Dexter rubbed the arm Derek bit. "As a matter of fact, yes. We want that kid so we can teach Diego a lesson. You hate him too, so you wouldn't mind handing that kid over?"

Brick looked back at Derek, who looked up at him with worried eyes. They were filled with panic. He glared and looked back at the Paxton brothers. "Yes, I hate Diego." They smirked, then frowned when he raised a claw. "But I also hate punks like you who fine enjoyment in torturing kids."

Malcom glared. "Coming from the school bully of all people! Please, you love causing people misery!"

The Ursaring growled. "Just leave now and I won't hammer you into the ground."

"Hand over the brat and we'll oblige!" Malcom retorted.

Brick glared deeper. "…no…" He picked Derek up and carried him off the field.

The Nuzleaf growled. "I'm giving you an order, you simpleton!" Brick ignored him, angering him even more. "Pay attention, you idiotic jock!" He fired Bullet Seed into the back of his head.

Brick stopped and glared back at them. They shrunk and backed away. "That's it…" He set Derek down and cracked his knuckles. Derek tilted his head as he watched the giant grab the two brothers, knock their heads together, and hook their shirts onto the trees. "Have fun getting down." He picked Derek back up and walked towards the front of the school.

Malcom flailed wildly. "You can't do this to us! We'll sue, I tell you! SUE!" Seeing how his words didn't reach him, he sighed.

Dexter awkwardly looked around. "So…how long until someone comes and finds us?"

"…shut up, Dexter…"

The group met up at the front. They searched just about everywhere, twice. "I can't find him anywhere," Chase said.

"Me either," Adam added.

Diego dropped to his knees and hugged his legs. "Ms. Johnson is going to kill me…"

Diana awkwardly patted his head. "I'm sure he'll turn up."

He stood up with a mocking smile. "Oh yes! I'm sure he's just going to come running up to us, perfectly fine!" he shouted sarcastically.

"HI!" They turned and saw the lone Chespin waving at them with a big grin. He was perfectly fine.

"DEREK!" Diego ran over and hugged him closely. "I was so worried about you! Where were you for the past hour?!"

"I had an adventure! I went to a closet with a bucket! And I went to the bathroom! I played with the toilet paper!" He giggled. "The bathroom looks like a mummy now!

He blinked in confusion, but ignored it as he rubbed his head. "Don't ever run off like that again, understand?"

He nodded with a large grin. "Okay! Ooh, and look at what I have!" He presented the gold necklace around his neck. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"MY NECKLACE!" Adam ran over and pushed Diego out of the way. "Derek, that's mine!"

"Really? It's really cool!"

He held his hands out. "Can I have it back?"

Derek giggled. "No!"

Adam frowned. "Please? It's really important to me…"

The Chespin tilted his head in thought. "Well…okay!" He handed it to him.

"Thank you." He placed it around his neck.

Rebecca hopped over and wrapped her arms around Derek, squeezing him tightly. "Aww! I'm so glad you're alright, you snuggly, wuggly, little cutie!"

Derek slowly turned blue. "I see a light…"

Diego separated him from her, allowing him to breathe. "You're in big trouble, mister." He frowned. Diego rolled his eyes. "However…considering I don't want Ms. Johnson knowing about this, I'll make you brownies if you keep your mouth shut about this. Deal?"

He smiled. "Deal!" He hugged him. Diego smiled and patted his back.

He placed him on his shoulder. "Alright gang, let's get moving." They trekked home, relieved that the child was safe.

Brick stared at them from behind a corner. He sighed, but smiled that he was safe. He could have just brought him over without the secrecy, but he rather not have a fight with Diego. He placed his hands in his pockets and walked off to collect his things.