Hassleberry was doing his usual morning jog and was currently running through the woods. His mornings were normally quiet, but he heard movement in the bushes. He cautiously approached the bushes and saw Aaron lying there, bruised, shivering, and without his duel disk. "No soldier left behind." Hassleberry said as he easily lifted Aaron over his shoulder. Hassleberry started running to the academy building with Aaron over his shoulder and his PDA in his other hand; he was calling the others. "Guys, Aaron's in really bad shape. I'm running to the main building now. Make sure that someone knows that were coming." Hassleberry said before hanging up.
Aaron started stirring and groaning in pain as he felt the movement and started waking up. "Don't worry Aaron. We're going to get you some help." Hassleberry said picking up some speed.
"Where's my duel disk?" Aaron asked eyeing his arm where it usually rested.
"I don't know, but that should be the least of your worries. You need help right now." Hassleberry told him.
"I need my duel disk." Aaron groaned in pain.
"I'm sure that we'll find it, but your health is more important than dueling." Hassleberry said as he made it to the front of the school where a stretcher and several paramedics were waiting alongside Blair, Jaden, Syrus, and Alexis.
Hassleberry put Aaron down on the stretcher while one of the paramedics quickly did a preliminary examination. "It's a good thing that you brought him in when you did. He has some pretty serious injuries that would only get worse."
"He'll be okay, right?" Blair asked standing by Aaron's side.
"He'll be fine. He'll just be really sore for a while. Right now, he needs some rest and close monitoring." The paramedic said pushing the stretcher only for Aaron to motion for him to stop.
"Find my duel disk. Please." Aaron said hoarsely before closing his eyes.
"I promise that we'll find it. I hate to see a duelist without their deck." Jaden said making a fist. The paramedics carried Aaron to the infirmary where they were going to check him in and start treating his injuries.
"Let's go find his duel disk." Jaden said to his friends and his Winged Kuriboh duel spirit who all nodded their heads as they followed Hassleberry to where he found Aaron. After about a half hour of searching, Jaden's Winged Kuriboh had led them to where it found Aaron's duel disk. Jaden picked it up and examined it; it was completely intact. "Let's get this back to Aaron." Jaden said as he and his friends started walking back to the infirmary.
Jaden walked over to Aaron who was sitting up in his bed covered in bandages and handed him his duel disk. "Here you go." Jaden said sitting it in Aaron's lap.
"Thanks." Aaron said as he removed the deck from the holder.
"What are you doing?" Alexis asked.
Aaron sorted through a few of the cards and removed a few of them. He handed the remaining majority of the deck to Alexis. "Can you mail this to Orwin for me?" He asked.
"Why would you send him your deck? That's a part of you." Jaden said confused.
"Like me, my deck needs to grow. Right now a fresh start is best, so when I get out of here I'm going to build a new deck." Aaron said.
"I hope that I'll get to duel you soon." Jaden said smiling.
"Maybe." Aaron sighed.
"I'll go get this mailed." Alexis said walking out of the room with the deck in her hand.
Blair kicked everyone else out of the room while she sat by Aaron's bed. "Who did this to you?" She asked sternly.
Aaron sighed and unwrapped one of the bandages on his arm. There was a large cut that had been drawn in to a weird shape. "This is the mark of a local gang in my town. They carved it on to my arm to show who did this to me. They are a bunch of underground duelists who cheat and take people's cards. When I took some of their cards in a few duels, they grew angry with me and swore to have revenge on me. Sadly this is not the first time that something like this has happened to me. I guess going back home irritated them that I had the nerve to go in to their territory openly." Aaron said covering the wound back up.
"Why don't you go to the police?" Blair asked.
"Their gang is only a small part of a larger organization of crime. While dueling is a big thing, they also have thieves, gamblers, and dirty cops in their pockets. The cops don't help me sadly." Aaron said groaning.
"I better let you get some rest." Blair said kissing Aaron's cheek causing him to wince from the sting of the bruise on his face. "Sorry about that." Blair said.
"Don't worry about it." Aaron said as he closed his eyes to rest.
