The Calm Before The Storm
Jaden looked out at the ocean from the cliffside behind the Slifer dorm. The waves ebbed and flowed, smashing on the rocks below in a vibrant beauty. Looking off into the distance, the sounds of the ocean made him feel relaxed and serene, and the afternoon sun shone bright in the sky, covering the island in a calm and warm light. But nonetheless, a thought still weighed heavily upon him.
"I wish I didn't have to say this, but Chazz is in pretty rough shape." Atticus informed, standing before the gathered group of friends, a look of melancholy adorning his beautiful face as he looked over the group. "You see, he's been dealing with some really heavy stuff for quite a while now." he sighed. "His mental health is, well... not great, let's just leave it at that, I guess."
"How awful..." Alexis said, a small sigh of disbelief escaping from her lips. It was difficult to process, but from what she knew about his past and what they had seen of his brother's treatment of him, it wasn't too hard for her to believe, as much as she wished it was.
"What can be done?" Bastion inquired, an aura of concern surrounding him just as it had encapsulated the rest of the group as they listened to Atticus's troubling news. None of them had expected anything like this to befall one of their own, but given the circumstances, it unfortunately seemed much more likely to be true than any of them thought it would.
"Not much, I don't think." Atticus shook his head. "At least not by us. But what we can do is support him, and help him to know that we're there for him when he needs us."
"We'll do what we can, soldier." Hassleberry declared, nodding his head at Atticus's statement. "Chazz is our friend, and you'd better believe we'll do whatever it takes to help him get through these hard times."
Nodding in agreement with Hassleberry's declaration, the team pondered what they could do to be of help to their friend. The weight of the responsibility they had taken on was heavy indeed, but they were prepared to bear it together. But even so, Atticus's smile looked shaky. Forced even. Jaden glanced at him discreetly, studying his subtly sullen expression. It seemed his encounter with Chazz affected him more than he thought it would...
"I still can't believe it.." Jaden thought, shaking his head at the memory.
It had been about a week since that day, and even still, he was having a difficult time processing it all. Sure, he had seen Chazz have an attack right before his eyes, heck, his hand still had scratch marks on it for at least a day or two after the fact with Chazz frantically clawing at him like that. But still, it was a shock for all of them to learn the fate their friend had been appointed. And after all of that, from Atticus's emotionally pained tone and feel, Jaden still felt like there was something Atticus had decided not to tell them.
Recalling the fear he felt when he experienced one of Chazz's attacks first hand, there was something about those moments that put more fear into him than anything Jaden had experienced before. It was a different kind of fear than he'd ever felt in all his years. In a way, he understood how shaken Atticus was when he told them what the problem was, but in another way, the fear they both felt was different. But the memory of that encounter was etched deeply into Jaden's mind. Remembering it, he sank deeply into his thoughts.
"What's wrong with you, Chazz?"
Chazz nearly screamed at what he saw. Looking forward with his eyes widened in a panic, he looked upon his eldest brother, Slade, glaring at him with his hand clamped tightly around his wrist. Blinking quickly, hoping it was just a hallucination, the image didn't go away. Breathing heavily and yet quickly in a panic, Chazz struggled hard against him, only to have his grip tighten against his own tugs and yanks in an attempt to get himself free.
"Get off of me! Let me go!" Chazz shouted in fear, his heart pounding at the sight of his eldest brother sending him in a panic induced frenzy, pulling hard against him, frantically scratching at him with his free hand.
"What are you doing!? Have you lost your mind!?" Slade shouted back, seemingly disturbed by Chazz's frantic behavior. Grabbing at Chazz's free hand, he held him tightly and securely in his grasp, pulling him in a little closer. "This is exactly what I'm talking about! You need help!"
"No! Leave me alone!" Chazz yelled back, his eyes screwed shut as he pushed hard against the eldest Princeton, breaking his hold on his arms and causing him to stumble and fall down. Catching himself on the bed, Chazz turned and backed away from his brother before he could get back up and restrain him again. Covering his face with his hands, Chazz tried to keep himself from hyperventilating, making an attempt to control his breathing, but only failing. His heart pounded harder and harder, making his whole body tremble.
"Chazz..."
Lifting his head back up, Chazz recognized the familiar voice. Jaden had returned to Chazz's panic distorted reality, looking back, he saw the brunette slowly begin to stand from the spot his brother had fallen, and that his brother was nowhere to be seen. Fully realizing what had just happened in the span of about four to five minutes, Chazz's eyes widened again for a moment before returning to normal. He couldn't let Jaden see him like this. Or anyone, for that matter.
"Get out." Chazz commanded, turning fully back to the brunette, his trembling hand pointing back to the doorway of the small dorm room, his head lowered so the brunette couldn't see the tears forming in his beautiful black eyes.
"But Chazz-"
"-I said GET OUT!"
Scrambling to get fully back upon his feet, Jaden scampered quickly past Chazz, consumed in his own small aura in fear of what he had unintentionally done. Ripping the door open, he stopped in the doorway, looking back at the trembling boy.
"Chazz, I-"
"-GO!" Chazz growled, storming over to the brunette and shoving him violently out of the door before slamming it hard in his face.
"Jaden?"
Snapping out of his memories, Jaden turned to the familiar, high pitched voice. His face softened as he saw his blue haired best friend standing a short distance away, a quizzical expression adorning his cute, boyish face.
"What are you doing out here all by yourself?" Syrus asked, tilting his head slightly as he inquired about his friend's current activities. "Something on your mind, Jay?"
"Just thinking about what Atticus told us the other day." Jaden answered, keeping his deep brown eyes fixed on the big gray ones looking back at him. "You know, about Chazz."
"About what happened?"
"Yeah, exactly." Jaden nodded. "You see Sy, I feel like maybe... Atticus wasn't telling us the whole story." he explained, thinking back again on the day he told them about it. It was clear that Atticus had been deeply affected by his time alone with Chazz in that state, not unlike Jaden had himself. But it was also like he knew more than he was letting on. Jaden could tell by the emotions in Atticus's shining chocolate eyes that he was shaken by something deeper than just Chazz being in such poor mental health and no one knowing about it until then. "Like, maybe there's something more to the whole thing, y'know?"
"You really think so?" Syrus asked, wondering exactly what it was Jaden meant by something more. "Do you really think Atticus would hide things from us about this? Seems a little strange to me."
It wasn't like the elder student to be necessarily secretive from their experience with him. It was odd to think of him hiding potentially important details about their mutual friend's health, mental or otherwise. But then again, Atticus was quite odd at times upon further observation of his habits and behavior. Especially his tendency to walk around in a Hawaiian shirt playing a ukulele all the time when they weren't attending class of any kind. That was normal, but he wasn't exactly known for keeping secrets.
"W-Well I don't know for sure or anything, Sy." Jaden answered, shrugging his shoulders in response to his friend's remark. "it just seemed like there was something more to the story."
"I guess so." Syrus shrugged back, thinking back himself to what Atticus had told them. But mostly he thought about what he had been told about Chazz's outbursts of panic beforehand. It honestly scared him to think about what Atticus and Jaden had experienced that day. He never thought one of his friends could be hurt so badly as to be driven to living at the mercy of attacks like that. Least of all Chazz... he always seemed so strong and held together before. But it seemed you never really could know a person completely, even a close friend.
"Either way, how's things?" Jaden asked, turning the subject away from Atticus for a time. No sense bumming people out with his speculations and theories when he didn't have the proof to make them hold water. "Still got that card crush of yours? Which one was it again? Thunder Nyan-Nyan?"
"J-Jaden!" Syrus's already massive eyes widened, his body stiffened and his face took on a color about as red as Jaden's coat at the mention of his one true 2D love. Besides Dark Magician Girl, of course. Not that he would ever be ashamed of his love for the lovely duel monster. But the subject had just come completely out of left field, catching him off guard.
Jaden chuckled at his friend's outburst. Trying to change the subject to something less depressing, he just said the first thing that popped into his head. He didn't mean to embarrass the precious boy, but his reaction was simply priceless. Smiling sweetly for a moment, his smile transformed into his usual cheeky grin as he walked over to the smaller boy. Patting his shoulder, Jaden continued to laugh.
"I'm just messin' with ya, Sy."
"V-Very funny, Jay." Syrus stuttered, still blushing up a storm from Jaden's question before. His shocked and embarrassed expression slowly evolving into a smile, the two friends shared a hearty laugh together on the cliffside.
Times like these were precious to Jaden, enjoying every moment he could with his friends for as long as he could was extremely important to him. Not having many friends growing up, he was overjoyed to have such a large group of incredible friends now. But even so, he was sad knowing that one of them was going through hard times. Looking back to the Slifer dorm, Jaden made a silent vow to do whatever he could to help him.
"That was a great duel, Bastion." Alexis said, smiling as she walked over to her opponent, extending her hand for a friendly handshake.
"Yes, I too enjoyed the match." Bastion agreed, smiling gently as he took her hand and shook it thusly in good sportsmanship. "You gave me quite the challenge. Your skills are quite exemplary! Perhaps a rival of my own."
"Yeah? Well she still beat you pretty bad for someone who might be as good as you." Hassleberry teased from the sidelines, chuckling to himself at Bastion's arrogance in that moment. Of course he was usually quite the gentleman, so he was kinda asking for the harmless jab.
"Y-Yes well..." Bastion stuttered, his face reddening as Hassleberry and Alexis continued to laugh at him. Though, it really was more with him than at him. In the most loving way of course for their dear disillusioned friend. "You're right. I must work harder if I'm ever going to defeat you, Alexis. It seems your natural dueling prowess surpassed my formulas."
"And that's the whole idea." Alexis said, taking her deck from her duel disk and holding it gently to her heart, pressing it against her chest. "You can't win with just numbers and science. It's about trusting your cards and your own abilities."
Smiling softly as she clutched her deck in her hands, she thought back on her time at the Academy and with her friends.
"Jaden used to always say things like that…"
"Yes, of course." Bastion agreed, looking down at his own deck for a moment. "Although, I can't simply abandon my own tactics."
"Well no, that's not what Alexis is sayin'. But you get the point, right?" Hassleberry asked, raising an eyebrow at their intellectually apt friend. Sometimes he was too smart to understand the simplest concepts. He tended to over think and over analyze these things, only deluding the concept and occasionally himself as well.
"Oh no, I understand the concept." Bastion nodded, aware of what the two were saying to him.
"I look forward to another duel, Bastion." Alexis said, smiling as she put her deck back in the duel disk situated comfortably on her left arm. "You really put up a tough fight. I'm impressed."
"Well thank you, Alexis." Bastion smiled, thinking back on the awesome duel the two had had before. Normally a practice duel wasn't something they did to pass the time, but it just seemed like a fun idea. Besides the two of them had never dueled each other before, and Alexis was keen on experiencing a new opponent, which Bastion was happy to oblige to. Especially since they had nothing better to do with their time at the moment.
They had been taking extra care around Chazz since they'd learned what was going on. Of course, trying not to be too overbearing or seem like they were going out of their way, which they knew he wouldn't like. That wouldn't do anything to help their friend, in fact it could probably make it even worse. But they had all done their best to take care of him over the past week, with the typical Chazz levels of resistance at first. But after the group kept insisting on collectively being his mother, to a reasonable degree, he gave in to their care. Nonetheless, they knew it was time to start transitioning back to their normal group dynamic. Or, at least as close to normal as they could possibly get. And that meant leaving Chazz alone for a while, not having anybody hovering over or around him anymore. But with nothing else to do apart from homework, a duel definitely seemed like a good idea.
"Either of you seen Chazz today?" Hassleberry asked, thinking for a moment about their friend after leaving him be all day.
"Yeah, I saw him taking a walk this morning." Alexis answered, deactivating her duel disk as she recalled the encounter from hours ago. "He's doing just fine. I think he might actually be doing better again. At least a little bit."
"Well I certainly wouldn't expect too much after only a week." Bastion added, analyzing their friend's situation. "Recovery of this scale takes a great deal of time, and we can only offer so much help. That's all we can really do for him right now."
"Yeah, that's true..." Hassleberry sighed, shaking his head slowly in response to their friend's newly discovered situation. "I guess all we can do is hope that our help's enough for now."
Alexis and Bastion nodded in agreement. In truth, they were very worried about Chazz. Worried that their help wouldn't be enough to save him. Chazz was tricky to deal with even before they knew about the sorry state of his mental health, though the revelation was certainly a very potent shock for the friend group. None of them had ever really had to deal with issues like his before. Of course, there were all of Syrus's past issues, but that was different from what Chazz was going through. It was a scary subject for most of them. And in all honesty, they simply didn't know what to do, or what would actually be helpful.
As they stood there in the arena, the three friends thought about everything that had happened in the past week. They had all spent so much time taking care of Chazz, but they worried that what they had done and were doing wasn't enough, or wasn't even helping at all. Sure, he seemed to be doing just fine with their help, but he seemed fine to them before, too. And then, they didn't even know something was wrong at all...
"What if... what if we're not helping at all...?" Alexis thought, placing the nail of her right thumb between her teeth, pressing down gently to hold her finger in place as she wrapped her left arm around her waist. She harbored a great fear, not unlike Jaden or Atticus did. But the thought scared her nonetheless. More than anything, the three of them shared one common fear.
What if they couldn't save him…?
Far away from Academy Island, back on the mainland, a dark plan was hatching. Among the hustle and bustle of the city, a tall, dark building loomed overhead. The Kaiba Corporation wasn't the only major organization in Japan after all. The Princeton family had also placed it's HQ in the country, though their aim wasn't to be the world's largest gaming corporation. Instead, there was something else completely on the minds of the Princeton group's current leaders.
Complete world domination.
Sitting in the immaculate office atop the organization's highest floor was Slade, the eldest Princeton brother, and now head of the family. Accompanied by Jagger, the middle brother. The atmosphere about the office was heavy, to say the least. The two had been discussing a very important matter, the subject matter, however, wasn't quite desirable for a typical exchange.
"And you've thought this through?" Jagger inquired, raising an eyebrow at his elder brother's proposal. "I agree, but what of the risks involved? It wouldn't be in our best interest to endanger our reputation."
"I know. But no one is going to find out." Slade stated, his eyes cold and focused, completely void of emotion almost. "And if they do, it'll already be too late. Besides, as much as I hate to admit it, we need Chazz to reach our goal and take over this world! And that little 'ability' of his could be the key to the whole plan!" He slammed his fist down hard on the surface of the ebony desk as his eyes narrowed, the sound reverberating through the large room. Grabbing the report he was given on their youngest brother and clenching it in his fist, Slade glared back at Jagger.
"He won't just come to us on his own, so we'll bring him by force."
"I agree." Jagger nodded, smirking along with his own twisted thoughts. "I already took the liberty of hiring some... professionals, if you will. They're on their way to meet us as we speak." Chuckling deviously, he thought about what the they had planned for their youngest. "Chazz will be back in our possession by tomorrow. Then, we can do whatever we need to with him."
"Good." Slade said, swirling his desk chair around so that he was overlooking the view of the city from the large window serving as the wall behind his desk. "It's time we put Chazz back in his proper place."
"Of course." Jagger agreed, turning to the sound of the heavy double doors to the office swinging open, revealing a small group of three individuals.
A large and quite muscular man, a smaller scrawnier man, and a skinny woman of average build. Letting the doors slam together behind them, the three entered the room as Slade swirled back around in his chair in response to the heavy sound of the slamming doors.
"So, you hired us?" The woman asked, crossing her arms and situating her weight on her right leg, leaning slightly as she examined the two suits in front of her. Scoffing quietly, she lowered her head for a second before looking back up, glancing at them through her platinum blonde hair. "What's the job?"
"You've been hired to bring this boy to us." Jagger informed, pulling a photo of Chazz out of the manila folder he carried in his arms, extending it to the group as it was grabbed by the smaller man. he examined it for a moment with the bigger man before handing it to the woman, who examined the photo herself with a stark frown on her face. "By any means necessary."
"So you want us to kidnap some kid?" The smaller man asked, raising an eyebrow at the two businessmen before them, placing a hand on his hip in turn. "Not a problem."
"That kid is our little brother." Slade informed, narrowing his eyes at the scrawny man opposite him and Jagger. "Chazz Princeton."
"I figured." The woman said under her breath, her hard expression retaining its strength as she stashed the photo in her top, sliding it in between her bra and her breast, as she didn't have anywhere else to put it on her person at that moment. "Snatching a high profile kid like him? That's asking quite a bit, you know." She crossed her arms again, keeping her eyes narrowed, and fixated on the elders. "Lots of time and effort. Not to mention patience. I don't take kindly to spoiled brats."
"I can assure you, you'll be paid very handsomely for your services." Jagger said, nodding back to Slade who nodded in return.
"That's right." The elder agreed, standing up from his desk and joining the middle brother before the hired goons, his tone more serious and harsh than before. "But he is not to be harmed." He commanded, letting the warning in his tone show. "We need him in optimal condition when you deliver him back to us. If he's been harmed, you'll be lucky if we pay you anything at all."
"It sounds more like he's an object to you than a little brother." The bigger man deduced, looking over to his partners, wondering what they were thinking about all of this. Not that the situation was anything unlike other jobs they'd had before. They were professional criminals after all.
"Doesn't matter." The scrawny man added, shaking his head at his partner's statement. "As long as we get paid, It doesn't matter what the job is, or why. Ain't that right, boss?"
"Agreed." The woman nodded, her own hard expression somehow even harder thinking about the possibility of not getting paid. "Fine. We'll leave the boy unharmed. Mostly."
"Mostly?" Slade's eyebrow raised suspiciously at her statement. "I gave you an explicit order."
"Well, you know how it is." She continued. "Kid's bound to fight back. And if we have to rough him up a little to get him to you, then that's how it'll work. Besides, there's no fun in it if we don't have a struggle."
"That's the best part of the job after all." The smaller man added, chuckling quietly to himself, shaking his head as he thought about the thrill of the hunt so to speak. Looking back at their leader for a moment, he turned his gaze back to the two brothers. "But of course, we'll abide by your conditions. You being our clients and all that technical nonsense."
"Good." Jagger said, pulling a form from the aforementioned manila folder, extending it to the woman, recognizing her as the boss of the three kidnappers. "Now, I've taken the liberty of having a contract drawn up."
After the woman snatched the form from his hand, Jagger pulled a pen from his suit's chest pocket, extending it as well to the woman.
"Sign it."
"An actual contract?" the muscular man observed, glancing over his feminine boss to catch a glimpse of the legally binding document. "You're very serious about this kidnapping, aren't you?"
"The contact states that if you break our deal, you'll forfeit your compensation. And if we deem it necessary, my brother and I will have you turned over to the authorities. After all, you kidnap for a living, among countless other crimes. Highly illegal acts. The bounty on your heads is quite substantial." Jagger explained, his own tone as serious as his brother's.
"Blackmail? I hate people like you." the woman murmured, rolling her eyes as she signed the form, since she really didn't have any other choice.
After all, they had been hired, terms had been set, and they had to abide by their client's wishes. Handing the form and pen back to the middle Princeton, she crossed her arms again, frustrated with how picky they were being about one kid.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you." Slade said, taking the contract from Jagger, folding it and placing it into his own suit coat pocket for safe keeping. Not about to let something as powerful as that out of his sight. "Now, I want the job done. Tonight."
"You don't play around, do you?" The woman observed, crossing her arms again as she looked on with disdain for their employers.
Though she'd hated clients far more than them, the two brothers just frustrated her. Not that that would stop her from doing the job she and her lackeys had been hired to do. With a handsome sum of money on the line, there was no choice. Though they wouldn't turn the job down no matter how much or little they were to be paid. After all, money was money, and money makes the world go 'round as most people would say.
"You're asking a lot from us, you know."
"We'll send you to the island in one of our helicopters. It's been outfitted to keep the noise to a minimum, for stealth purposes, of course." Jagger explained, his face retaining an ever stoic expression. "Now go. We want him by tomorrow at the latest."
"Fine, fine." The scrawny man conceded, shaking his head as a small sigh escaped from him. "But you'd better believe we expect a fat load of cash for this. Kidnapping a rich brat from a swanky prep school in the middle of nowhere isn't exactly a part of our usual clientele."
"As I said before, I assure you." Slade reassured. "You will be paid very handsomely for your work. Of course, provided that our terms have been abided by."
"Shouldn't be a problem." the bigger man nodded, looking to the others in his company, expecting the same response from them. Following the orders of their clients was never really an issue for the titular group of kidnappers.
"If he doesn't tempt my patience too much, then sure. The kid won't get hurt." She agreed, patting her right breast where she had placed the picture of Chazz for safekeeping before turning away from the two older brothers. Raising her left arm into the air, she used her hand to signal to the double doors before taking a few steps forwards. "Let's go, boys." she chuckled. "We've got a kid to catch."
Nodding quickly, the two males in her company turned quickly on their heels, the smaller of the two shooting off a cheeky salute to the two men earning a disapproving sneer from the both of them in the process. Taking her sweet time with her haste, she led the group out of the office, rolling her eyes at the thought of how the brothers looked so far down upon her and her merry band. As the last of them exited, the doors slammed together as loudly as they had when they arrived, the sound reverberated through what felt like the entire building. Slade and Jagger looked to one another, nodding in approval of what they had just done. Returning to his desk, Slade swirled his chair back to the large window accenting the back wall of his office, enjoying the feeling of a plan well hatched in his eyes.
"What do you plan to do once we have Chazz in our possession?" Jagger questioned, not familiar with the entirety of Slade's supposed 'master plan' apart from kidnapping Chazz from Academy Island and bringing him back to them. He wasn't yet informed on what Slade was actually planning to do with him.
"I plan on taking advantage of that power of his." Slade explained. "Once I know how he can communicate with duel monsters, that could be our ticket to ruling the dueling world! And once we've accomplished that, the entire world will belong to us!" Slade's expression in that moment turned more sinister than it had before. In a way that could convey his dark intentions to anyone in the world if they only looked at his face.
"And I'll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Even if it costs Chazz his own life, his power will be ours. I'm going to have him studied, to determine where it comes from, and how it works and if it can be potentially harvested." his explanation continued, Jagger listening intently to what his elder had to say. "I've had our scientists compile a series of experiments and tests to perform on him. And if damage is done, then so be it. We've inflicted enough damage on him ourselves, what's a little more?"
"And as you said, if it kills him?" Jagger asked, raising an eyebrow at his brother. "What then?"
"Then we were never involved." Slade stated plainly. His voice was flat and emotionless as he spoke. "If it comes to that, then he was kidnapped by an evil, heartless woman and her entourage, and murdered. And therein lie his poor, distraught older brothers, who were too late to save him."
He chuckled darkly, swirling his chair back around to face Jagger, his expression turned slightly softer than before.
"Of course, I highly doubt it will come to that. Besides, it's not in our best interest to let him get killed."
Jagger nodded in agreement with his brother's contingency plan. But also the idea of not actually killing their little brother. Their past treatment of him was one thing that didn't quite phase either of them at all, but the idea of killing someone wasn't exactly a pleasurable thought to either of them. In all honesty, it was more trouble than it was worth.
The office went quiet, the thick and dark atmosphere hung heavy about the space. There was an almost sinister presence about the two brothers as they stood and sat in silence until the sun began to slowly descend from its place in the sky as evening set itself upon the city, inviting an entirely new evil feeling into the malevolent space. A malevolence that would only invite even more pain and misery for the youngest and most fragile Princeton brother, who was completely unaware of the fate his brothers had in store for him.
