Chapter Thirty-Five
35
Chazz walked out at early morning. he had a knapsack tossed over his shoulder as he took a glance back at the school that had forsaken him.
"Good riddance, Duel Academy!" he huffed, "You demote me...you laugh at me...well that's it! I've had it!"
The images of Connar's shattered expression played before his mind's eye and he clenched his jaw.
And Connar...
He sighed and let out another huff as he adjusted the bag on his back and made his way toward the docks.
"So be it!" he scoffed,"You won't have me to kick around anymore."
XXXXX
Connar hadn't seen Chazz all morning, and it was beginning to worry her. She checked all of his usual spots, and even lingered on the shore for a bit since he also liked to show up there often. She had hoped she could get a chance to talk to him...maybe get an explanation. Or some closure.
she let out a heavy sigh as the time approached for class and she had not seen or heard from head or tail of him. She even attempted to call him and send him messages on the PDA but they were all "return to sender" or "This party can not be reached"
"Maybe Princeton just isn't feeling well today..." she said with a soft sigh and made her way back to class. She had taken her seat next to Norika while Jaden greeted her cheerfully. Though as she wore her heavy expression on her face, she didn't seem to notice him. Not long after, there was the mechanical sound of the sliding door and a panicked Syrus rushing his way down the steps.
"Jaden! it's awful!" he panted,"Chazz is missing!"
"What did you say!?" Connar gasped.
"Oh that got your attention, but the pencil in my nose was a bust." Jaden huffed and leaned on his hand as he responded to .
"Don't take it too hard, Jaden, I laughed~" said Norika "Anyway Syrus... How is that awful?"
"Norika" Connar snapped and gave her a punch in the arm. CLearly still hurting.
"Ow! Relax Connie, I'm kidding haha!" Norika teased gently patting her shoulder.
"Still...you're kinda cute when you're mad~"
"JADEN!" Syrus huffed.
"O...M...G... Jaden!" Norika giggled, "Are you flirting with our beloved little Connie-kins right now!?"
"...Trying to." Jaden muttered as his brown eyes narrowed on the pinkette whose attention was diverted to the door way, as though waiting for Chazz to just slide in at any given moment.
"Pay Attention To Me~!" he whined, waving his arms. Still it was a bust.
Connar was clearly not in a playful mood.
"Besides, Jay!" said Syrus,"Isn't Chazz like, your big duel rival!?"
"Oh! You're right!" Jaden gasped, "I need my competition!" not far away Alexis had been listening in to the situation.
"Say, ya know..." One of the Obelisk students started to mention, "I saw Chazz packing his stuff late last night."
"Yeah, ya know why?" said another, "Because he lost to that Ra."
"That's right...Bastion, wasn't it?"
"Yeah! And That Slifer Slacker too!"
"Yeah, if you can't beat the ketchup and mustard team, good riddance!"
The mutterings soon began and Connar had reached her limit with the insults. She slammed both hands on her desk as she stood and shot icy blue daggers at the responsible party, which just so happened to be Chazz's old crew, even from back in prep school.
"You should be ashamed of yourselves!" she snapped," Who are you to insult Princeton!?" she huffed," You called yourselves his friends but then you were quick to leave him high and dry the first time he had a bad day!"
"Man, what a bunch of jerks." Jaden stated, "I tell ya, if those were the only friends I had, I'd probably run away too."
" Hey, you shut up, little girl!" the blue haired Obelisk, who she had come to learn was named Taiyou, declared as he responded to Connar,
" It's not like it concerns you, Slifer Princess!" he huffed as he adjusted his frames, "What could a little girl whose daddy could barely survive a decent education for her even during prep school, so she wound up in red, even possibly comprehend?" Connar's blue eyes narrowed and she stood up straight. Clearly these Obelisks were very misinformed so they just took on whatever story they thought made them feel like know it alls and rolled with it. But Connar was taking no shit today. She rolled her shoulders back and walked straight up to this male student with her chest puffed forward and gripped him tightly by the collar, yanking him down immediately to her eye level.
"You have no idea who my father is or what kind of man he is so I'll forgive your ignorance." she stated," However I assure you, had you any form of a clue in that thick numbskull of yours, you would soon find that he-nor I -are any form of push over." she stated, "In fact I could wring your blue cuffed collar so tight that you would choke on that southern twang of yours, So I do suggest that you, oh so kindly~ shove it!" with that she dropped him back in his seat and the rest of the mutterings had ceased. Even Jaden and Syrus were shocked into silence from a few rows down.
"Damn..." Norika whispered, "...Do I rub off on her too much?"
"Man Connar is definitely in some kind of mood today." Jaden blinked," Maybe I better keep to myself this time..."
"I've seen Connar is a bad mood before..." said Syrus,"But never that bad."
"Yeah she's definitely not herself." stated Norika "Hasn't been since that incident with Chazz." she sighed.
"Still though, something about Connar' behavior seems...familar..." Jaden blinked, "I swear I have seen something similar in someone else before but I can't quite put my finger on it.." he pondered, "I wonder who..."
"Say...Jaden?"
"Yeah, Sy?"
"Well...I know Chazz has been a pain in the past." Syrus said softly, "But what if he's in some sort of trouble...and needs us to help him?"
"Good point." said Jaden, "The right thing to do would be to go look for him."
"Yeah...so when should we go?"
"Right now, Sy." said Jaden,"Besides, Connar seems to be on a rampage today and I would rather be with her, not against her!" he laughed.
"Not only that." said Norika, " It's also a great excuse to sneak out of class!"
XXXXX
The slifer students quickly randezvoud with Connar in the hall, as she was already storming her way out to search for Chazz on her own. The four of them army crawled their way out of a hole in the building that they had discovered on one of their other skip days and dusted themselves off on the otherside.
"You know...this school does have regular doors!" Alexis greeted them on the otherside along side her two friends Jasmine and Mindy, startling the Slifers.
"Oh! Hey Alexis!" Jaden stammered,"I bet you're wondering what we're doing out here...we were just...uh..." he struggled to find a valid excuse, "Getting an early start on our homework!" Both Connar and Syrus gave him a look, as they were certain everyone knew that Jaden wasn't one for "keeping up with homework" let alone getting ahead on it.
"Yeah, right!" Alexis huffed, "You're looking for Chazz...and we're going to come with you." She gave a wry smile and glanced over at Connar who blushed awkwardly and averted her gaze.
"Really?" Jaden blinked, "Since when do you guys ditch class?"
"Chazz is an Obelisk Blue." Alexis stated, "And we take care of our own."
Alexis smiled as she approached Connar.
"What you did for Chazz today was pretty cool...the very least we can do is help you guys find him."
Connar acknowledged the female Obelisk's compliment and smiled.
"Thank you." she said softly.
XXXXX
As they wandered through the woods Jaden continued to call for Chazz but got no response from anyone and sighed.
"Say, Connar...?" Jaden blinked as he tried to get the pink haired girl's attention, "You acted pretty odd in class today." he said softly, "Are you feeling okay?"
"...No one insults my father and gets away with it." She stated firmly,"...And no one should insult Princeton either. Especially when he's not even here to defend himself."
"I agree with that." said Syrus,"After all, two wrongs don't make a right." he sighed and cupped his hands over his mouth as he continued to call for the missing Princeton, "Come on Chazz!" he sighed, "Come out already!"
"Yeah, we're worried about you...you...'scrub'!"
"Really? Jaden?" Norika blinked and gave him a narrow-eyed gaze.
"What?" Jaden blinked, "That's what he calls us...I figured that would get his attention."
"That's it!" Alexis huffed and took a deep breath, "LISTEN UP CHAZZ, IF THIS IS SOME SORT OF MESSED UP PRANK YOU BETTER HOPE THAT WE DON'T FIND YOU, GOT THAT!?"
The echo from Alexis's scream sent the surrounding birds flying and Connar blinked.
And I thought I was in a bad mood today...
Connar thought to herself.
Remind me never to get on Alexis's bad side...
"Yeah, threaten him." said Jaden, "That will bring him running."
Connar blinked and let out a slight giggle.
"Ya know...maybe there's a good reason Chazz ran off." said Jasmine.
"Yeah, like maybe he just snuck out to get me flowers~" Mindy giggled, "My Chazzy is so romantic~"
Your "Chazzy"!?
Connar twitched and shot a subtle look at the giggling Mindy. She was always known to be boy crazy, but it didn't make Connar feel any better thinking that it was possible that she and Chazz ever could be a thing. Norika picking up on Connar's notice, quickly tried to find a way to change the subject.
"Ew..." Jaden cringed awkwardly.
"Chazzy?" Even Syrus felt a little woozy on that one.
"You like Chazz?" Jasmine blinked. And Connar continued to get more discomforted, "Last week it was Bastion..."
As Connar began to squirm awkwardly Alexis quickly stepped in and pointed just ahead.
"Look! Something's moving in those bushes!" she stated. This caught everyone's attention.
"I don't see anything..." said Jaden, then suddenly the bushes shook.
"Chazzy?"
All right now it's getting annoying!
Connar huffed to herself as she shot an icy glare towards the supposed love sick Mindy.
Stop calling him that. already!
He'd never stand for it...!
...Would he?
Suddenly she was starting to feel a sort of sickly sad pain in the pit of her stomach at the possibility.
"It must be him!" said Syrus.
"All right," Jaden sighed, "Game's over, we found you- Come on out!"
"P-Princeton?" Connar blinked as she tried to approach the shaking shrubs but soon they all let out a death scream as a helmeted beast leapt from the bushes right for them. Through all of the scuffle and commotion, Jasmine found herself swept away by the beast in running.
"Not Chazz!" Alexis huffed.
"Not human, either!" said Syrus,"What was that thing!?"
Was that...a monkey?
Connar blinked and thought to herself in confusion.
"Whatever it was, it made off with Jasmine!" She stated.
Though I wish it would have made off with Mindy instead...
She huffed.
"What did you say!?" Alexis asked, but before Connar could explain, a group of men in suits also came out of the bushed from the same direction startling them anymore.
"We've lost the specimen." One of the suits muttered.
"What? Specimen?" Connar blinked and soon the caterwauling of Jasmine's screams echoed all around them.
"That was Jasmine!" said Syrus.
"There! Up in the trees!" Jaden pointed
"It's what she always wanted." Mindy swooned, "Some guy to sweep her off her feet~"
"Yeah, some guy, not some monkey." said Alexis
So it WAS a monkey!
Connar thought to herself and took off in the same direction.
"Wait!? Connar!" Norika called out, "Shouldn't you be running AWAY from the damsel snatching monkey!?"
"What are you waiting for, an invitation!?" Connar called to her friends, "Or perhaps you would rather wait for some other monkeys!?"
"Connar's right!" said Jaden, "That thing's got Jasmine, we have to go after it!"
The men in suits also wasted no time.
Finally they reached a clearing and the Monkey had placed Jasmine out on a limb. She cried and pleaded for help leaving the men no choice but to lower their weapons.
"We can't tranq him!" they huffed, "Other wise, he might drop the girl."
"Jaden!" Connar grasped her friend's arm and pointed ahead, "Look! That monkey has a duel disk on!"
"That's an odd thing for a monkey to accessorize." said Mindy.
"That's no regular monkey!" the shorter of the men huffed. He seemed to be an older fellow with a face full of beard, "His name is Wheeler...and he's a trained duelist!"
"Wait...you mean...he's...a dueling monkey?" Connar blinked.
And his name is Wheeler!?
These guys don't know uncle Jo-Jo, do they...?
She had to struggle with herself to keep from breaking out a giggle.
Aw man...Tristan would never let him hear the end of this!
I should definitely write them a letter about it when I get back!
"O-Oh no...I forgot that was top secret..." the old man muttered.
"Hold on...if he duels then let me duel him!" said Jaden stepping forward.
"Uh, Jaden?" Syrus blinked, "Are you feeling okay?"
"He's not sick." said Alexis, "Just crazy."
"Seriously." said Norika, "The man straight up wants to duel a monkey." she sighed, "Connar...what's with you always drawing in strange guys?"
"Come on, guys!" said Jaden, "I bet if I beat this monkey, he'll hand over Jasmine! I mean it's only fair."
"One thing about your logic though, Jaden." Connar blinked, "He's a monkey!"
"What do you say, Wheeler? Ready to get your game on!?"
"Well...gotta hand it to Jaden." said Syrus,"They seem to be communicating."
"But can that monkey really understand him?" asked Mindy.
"Maybe spending time with people helped him understand human." said Alexis,"...Or Jaden's really a monkey."
"I could follow that logic." said Connar.
"Look if I win this duel! You let Jasmine go!" Jaden declared, though Jasmine had her own doubts.
"And if you lose?" She blinked.
"If I lose? Hmm..." Jaden blinked,"I never really thought about it." he stated, "I guess then we let him go?"
"Which leaves me where!?"
The bickering between these two continued for a few minutes until it was finally settled that Jaden dueled the monkey. It was even agreed upon by the suits. Which were not friendly environmentalists.
More like Experimental scientists.
It was man versus beast in a battle of beasts thanks to Wheeler's DNA Surgery. Doubt was held on both sides as the monkey held the lead for a while. Eventually though, with the help of Jaden's luck of the draw and a spell card called Courageous Charge, victory was his in the end.
"Fair's fair!" said Jaden, "Now it's time you let Jasmine Go."
"He reaked of Bananas!" Jasmine cried as she ran into the welcoming arms of her relieved friends who were happy to have her back.
"Only at Duel Academy can searching for your missing classmate turn into a match against a Dueling Monkey..." said Norika
Connar sighed.
Still...I'm glad that Jasmine is okay.
Admittedly enough, the entire fiasco did help to calm Connar down from her boiled over emotions from earlier in the day. And for that she was grateful enough.
Lately my emotions feel like they haven't been entirely my own...
She thought to herself as she flashed back to the image of her threatening the Obelisk blue student.
I feel like I'm losing more and more of my control...
She sighed as she looked into her trembling hands that earlier on were gripped tightly around the collared neck of a blue blazer.
Then the image of the boy she met at the abandoned dorm flashed in her mind once again.
"You can't lock me away forever!"
That's what he said...
"The more you continue to hold me back...the more it will hurt you when you finally break!"
Chills shot through her and she quickly shook back into her senses.
Lately...I feel like I am losing more and more of myself, too...
"Thank you for saving me..." Jasmine said. "But what happens to Wheeler now?" she blinked, "Maybe he shouldn't have snatched me, but he still deserves better than needle pokes, probes and prodding..."
"Yeah..."Connar sighed as she had glanced back at the gathered primates that collected during the duel. Helping something else helped serve for a meaningful distraction from trying to help herself with something she still couldn't understand...
"Enough's enough!" said the men in suits as they readied their tranquilizers.
"Hold it!" said Jaden as he held his arm out defensively to protect the helmeted creature, "He doesn't belong with you! He belongs in nature!" he said,"And that's where we should leave him!"
"That's right, we won't let you take him back to the lab!" said Syrus.
"Because if you do, I'll call the tv stations!" said Alexis.
"And I'll call the newspapers!" said Jasmine.
"You think your threats scare me!?" The short old man huffed while his assistants shot a net at the defenseless monkey,"You're just kids, who's gonna believe you?" he scoffed, "Not only will my lab work continue, but it will grow larger while I take them all!"
Connar clenched her fists and suddenly her eyes shifted a different shade. The phenomena caught Jaden's attention and he gasped trying to reach out and stop her when suddenly she had thrown her hands over her face and got down on her knees to take in deep breaths.
Phew...she seemed to stop it herself...
Jaden thought as he kneeled down beside before her.
But...what was that just now?
He blinked.
...Was she even aware of it?
Luckily no one else seemed to notice it.
As the suits began to raise their tranq guns a four legged beast named Pharaoh leapt from the shrubs and went for the assistant's face, soon making his way back to a familiar pair of dark trousers.
"Tsk~ Tsk~ Pharaoh!" a familiar voice chuckled as he lifted the cat up into his arms, "Naughty kitty!"
"It's Professor Banner!" the students all said in unison as the pony-tailed head master took a step forward toward all of the commotion.
"Who are you!?" the old man huffed.
"Oh, I'm no one special." Said Professor Banner, "I'm just your average teacher...duelist...animal lover ...but I'm sure you gentlemen catch my drift!"
Now under adult super-vision the men were now forced to do nothing but watch as the students helped unstrap Wheeler from his devices and set him free into the wild where he belonged.
"Hey! Let's duel again some time!" Jaden waved, which was soon greeted with the beastly squeals of Monkey cries.
"Me too!" Jaden laughed, "That was a fun match!"
"Uh...guys?" Norika blinked,"...Jaden is still talking to the monkey."
"Uh, Jaden?" Syrus blinked, "You are aware that his talking helmet is gone now..."
"I'm glad Professor Banner showed up." said Mindy, "Other wise they would have taken him away for sure!"
"How did you find us, Professor?" Alexis asked.
"Well, like I said." he chuckled, "I love animals...that and, it helps when you have a cat who can track as well as Pharaoh."
"Yeah, but, why were you looking for us in the first place?" Jaden asked.
"Well...I wanted to tell you that Chazz is okay." said the Professor, much to the students's relief.
"That's good news!" said Jaden.
"Sure is!" Syrus grinned, and even Connar let out a sigh of relief.
So Princeton is okay...
She thought to herself.
I'm so glad...
Though the Professor shared a half hearted smile.
"Of course...with good news, usually comes bad news as well." he sighed and motioned for the students to follow him, "Come with me."
They took about a 20 minute trek back to the docks while Professor Banner explained the situation.
"You see...Pharaoh tracked him here to the docks...but by the time I arrived, he was already leaving on his family's Yacht." he sighed and placed a gentle hand on Connar's head, as she gazed out into the ocean with a distraught look on her face while her hair blew wildly with the ocean wind.
"I am sorry, Connar." he said softly,"I know you were looking for him all morning...I was trying to tell you sooner, but I just couldn't catch you in time, and kept missing you."
"I see." the students muttered together.
"So Connar was looking for Chazz since this morning?" Alexis stated, "That means Professor Banner must have been tracking Connar when he found us...and we just happened to be with her." she sighed as she watched the pinkette put her head down, and rested a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Well...that's a shame..." Jaden sighed as he gave a side glance to the girl who wore a look of complicated emotions.
"Yeah I guess it is." Syrus said, "He did make things interesting."
"My Chazzy..." Mindy whimpered.
Connar twitched at the sound of it and quickly turned, shoving her way through the teacher and the rest of the group as well, all but running from the crowd back toward the shore line.
"Connar!" Norika called out, eyes narrowed sadly as she watched the pink haired girl run as fast as she could away from everything.
"Ah! Mindy!" Jasmine huffed, "You know Connar's had a thing for Chazz since Middle School...you really shouldn't talk like that in front of her!"
"Wait, still!?" Mindy blinked, and let out a small huff, "I didn't see her making any declarations or claims...!" she huffed, "Besides I thought she had a boyfriend all that time...!"
"Wait? Connar has a crush on Chazz?" Syrus blinked, "Hahaha, not likely!"
"OW!" both of the girls winced as Alexis gave them both a knock on the noggin and shifted her glances between them.
"...Don't worry about Connar." Jaden said softly," Norika will take care of her..." he shrugged, "Besides...I'm sure Chazz will come back here someday..."
To Be Continued...