Nothing But Grief

"Where is he?" The woman questioned, chuckling to herself as she beheld the vast array of students surrounding her and her men. "You went through all this trouble, just to ask me that?"

"So they did take him..." Jaden thought, keeping a close eye on the criminals as he and the others stood resolute in a barrier to keep them from getting away, also keeping an eye on all of his friends. Just in case.

"I will go through whatever trouble I must to protect my students, madame." Crowler asserted, raising his voice as if he had been scolding a child. His eyes narrowed in anger and fury as he interrogated the criminals. "Now, I'll ask you once more. Where is Chazz Princeton!?"

"The brat?" the small man asked, a slight chuckle on the end of his breath as he scoffed out his words, as if he were mocking the professor's concern and anger. "Doesn't matter where he is. Those brothers of his won't be so willing to hand him over. You won't be getting him back any time soon."

"They won't stop us! We'll save him! Whatever it takes!" Atticus blurted out, ignoring the one rule that Crowler had laid down before they got into their positions. That they were not to speak a single word to the kidnappers, and let him take care of everything.

Crowler shot a disapproving glance at Atticus, shaking his head at the boy before looking back to the criminals before him.

"I'm prepared to do whatever I must to ensure the wellbeing of my students." Crowler stated, sparking surprise in the group of students as the professor's fists clenched, and they saw a hot burning fire of rage burning in their dear teacher's normally calm eyes. It was honestly scary to see Dr. Crowler so genuinely angry. "And if that means taking on the entire Princeton family, well then so be it!"

"You're serious?" The woman asked, raising her eyebrow at the eccentric looking professor. Never in her life had she found herself faced with someone looking for a person she and the others in Tantalus had kidnapped. Most of the cases she was involved in had never been solved, or ended up with someone dead on the news. But this time she was faced with not just a man, but a teacher, so devoted to his students that he was willing to go through all the trouble of tracking her and her men down even just to ask her where his precious student had been taken. It was an odd sensation to be certain. "Those brothers mean business, you know. I hate to tell you this, professor. But you're wasting your time trying to find that kid."

"Yeah. Who knows what they wanted him for." The smaller man added. Glancing around at the students surrounding him, he shrugged his shoulders and let out a dark smile. "Kid's probably dead by now."

"Shut up!" Jaden shouted, his own anger beginning to boil alongside Crowler's. If he hadn't the sense to obey his teacher, Jaden would have punched the man right then and there. And he wouldn't be alone in the line of thinking, Jaden knew the others would be right there with him on that.

"That's enough, Jaden!" Crowler scolded, already frustrated enough without his students disobeying his one rule to stay out of the conversation. He didn't want them provoking the kidnappers or doing anything that could potentially bring danger their way. "I told you to let me handle this!"

"So you're telling me, that all this is for one spoiled little brat?" The woman questioned, gesturing to the assembly of students surrounding her and her men. It baffled her how one kid could cause so many people to lose their shit. Never in her life had she seen such a thing happen around her. Still, her cold indifference didn't change as she looked at the school children around her. She was honestly more annoyed than anything else. "I knew he was going to be more trouble than he's worth."

"Tell us where he is, and I assure you, we'll kindly let you go on your way." Crowler offered, not wanting to look at her any more. He couldn't stand the sight of the criminals. He'd never been angrier in his entire life than he was right now, staring into the eyes of the people who kidnapped one of his precious students.

Most of the students wouldn't have the man pegged as one who really cared too much about his pupils so much as he cared about his job. But in truth, Crowler held a deep love for his pupils, and cared deeply for them, and was willing to do anything to ensure their safety and future where he was able to offer his aid. He would never forgive Tantalus for what they had had a hand in doing to his dear student. And he would do whatever he had to to make them all pay if he could.

"Or, if you'd rather, I could turn you over to the police and collect the information that way."

"You touch us, and we can't guarantee the safety of these kids of yours." The muscular man commented, turning his eyes to the smallest among the children. Syrus in turn, whimpered quietly in fear at the man's glance. He knew what it meant, the intention in the man's eyes was clear as day. "It'd be a shame if anything untoward were to happen. Don't you think?"

"J-Jaden…" Syrus whimpered, his small body trembling despite how he was determined to stand his ground.

"You will not touch one hair on their heads, you bastards!" Crowler shouted, pointing his finger at the criminals as his eyes narrowed again, the fire in his eyes burning brighter and hotter than it was burning before. An audible gasp escaped from the students, taken aback by hearing their professor swearing so openly in front of them. Of course, they weren't back at school so it's not like he could be punished for cursing in front of students. But it was still a surprise all the same for the kids. "If you want to harm anyone, you'll have to go through me first!"

"Sounds like a challenge to me." The smaller male chuckled, looking to his boss for what in his mind would be the good word to go. As he took a step forward towards the stalwart professor, the woman did not interfere in her partner's attempt to assault the man before them. Crowler in turn took a step back, instinctively making an attempt to defend himself, no matter how small the gesture. "I could straighten the ruffles right out of your coat, teach."

"Don't you touch him!" Alexis shouted, running from her spot in the circle, stopping between the criminals and her dear professor, arms outstretched in Crowler's defense as her own eyes narrowed in hatred.

"You heard the woman!" Hassleberry added, leading the rest of the group to join Alexis.

Forming a protective barrier between Tantalus and Crowler the students stood firm, unwilling to let any harm befall their beloved professor. Sure, they were all simultaneously disobeying the professor by involving themselves any more than they were told they were allowed to, but they simply couldn't stand by and allow the bastards who kidnapped Chazz to make any attempt to bring harm to Dr. Crowler. It just wasn't an option for them.

"What are you doing?" Crowler asked, flabbergasted at the blatant disregard for his orders. "I told you all to stay back!"

"And allow you to get hurt?" Bastion asked, turning his gaze back on the professor, a slight glare present on his face that was meant for the kidnappers who had threatened both Syrus and their teacher within the last three minutes at least. "I'm sorry, Crowler, but I'm afraid that just won't do."

"Well, isn't that cute?" The woman chuckled, amused by the children's willingness to protect their teacher even if it cost them their own safety. "The students protecting the teacher."

"Look lady." Jaden said, positioning himself as far front as he could to become the first line of defense against a potential threat to himself or his friends. "Just tell us where Chazz is already! We don't want any trouble we don't need to have. We just want our friend back."

"And... what would be in it for me and my men?" She asked, gesturing to her two partners before crossing her arms once more as she kept her cold, icy eyes trained on the brunette. There was something different about that boy, a fire that burned brighter than any she had seen before. And she wasn't sure if she should enjoy it or not. "You know I can't give you information that important for nothing."

"I assure you, the Academy would gladly pay any sum should Chazz be returned to us safe and sound." Crowler assured, pushing through the protective wall of students to stand before the woman and her entourage again, extending a hand to her his anger and hatred subsided if only for that one moment. "Please. Just tell us what we want to know, and you can go about your business."

There was a long moment of silence between the two groups, a silence that almost felt like torture with all of the building anticipation that was going on at the same time. But after a few moments, the woman slapped Crowler's hand away, and let out a deep sigh.

"Alright." She said, holding her arms out to stop her men as they were appalled by her compliance with the school children. But even so, the heartless and ruthless appearance never once left her face as she spoke. "I think you'll be pleased to know, he's not that far outside of Domino." she explained, placing her hand back on her hip before shifting her weight again. "The Princeton family HQ. Apparently there's some secret lab or something in the basement somewhere in there, they've got the kid stashed away in there. Who knows what they're doing with him. Like we said, he's probably dead."

"A lab...?" Jaden thought, raising an eyebrow in confusion at what he and the others had just been told. "That doesn't make a lot of sense... why would they be keeping him in a lab of all places...?"

"There's no way." Atticus growled, refusing to accept even the possibility that Chazz could be hurt at all, much less killed. Sure his brothers had abused him, beaten him relentlessly and ruthlessly until his body was covered in scars and plagued with ailments that tortured the boy at every turn, almost as badly as his brothers had done before. But killing him would be going much too far, even for them. "Whatever they want him for, they have to want him alive."

"When they gave us our orders, they did explicitly state that he was not to be harmed." The muscular man added, recalling that fact with the help of Atticus's refusal to accept the possibility that their friend could be dead.

"Well, whatever." The woman interrupted, shaking her head quickly before anything else could be said. "I told you what you wanted to know. Now if you'll excuse me, my partners and I will be taking our leave."

"Very well." Crowler nodded, content with the knowledge of his student's prison. Now there was that much more hope for his swift rescue. "But I'm warning you." Crowler's fiery rage returned to his eyes. "If you ever lay a hand on one of my students again, I will personally deliver unto all of you a reckoning most severe!"

"Whatever, teach." The smaller man scoffed, turning on his heel as his boss began to walk away. They had no further business with each other, so she saw no reason for them to stay. Besides, they had other things to do with their time. And more jobs to get to work on.

Crowler and his students watched quietly as Tantalus walked away from them. Satisfied with the outcome of the meeting for sure, but with anger burning in their hearts having spoken to the people who took their friend away. Of course, they knew who was really responsible, but they were angry nonetheless. But that anger was soon replaced with an unfathomable urgency.

"We have to hurry!" Atticus declared, the worry in his heart overtaking all other feelings he could have felt. "Chazz needs us now! Who knows what his brothers are doing to him!"

"We know, Atticus." Bastion sighed, taking a moment to consider all they had heard, crossing his arms as his eyes closed in thought. "But we must have a plan before we go rushing off. We can't just charge in there, it would only serve to put Chazz at even greater risk. We have to be smart."

"Bastion's right." Syrus agreed, nodding at the older boy with his own worried expression on his adorable boyish face. "I mean... if we don't have a plan, we could end up getting Chazz really hurt ourselves..."

"Or ourselves…" Alexis added, concerned as well for their actions moving forward. Of course, they all were. They were faced with a very difficult situation to find themselves and Chazz a way out of. But knowing that he was locked away in the heart of his brothers' operation, that only escalated the severity of the situation at hand. But no matter where he was they had all agreed that they would do whatever it took to rescue their friend.

No matter what.


"S-Stop... please!" Chazz pleaded, his eyes screwed shut as he found himself curled up against the wall, arms out to block his face from another blow. His body was sore and bruised, it hurt even to hold his arms up in defense of himself. Everything hurt. Glancing down, Chazz saw a few droplets of blood rolling down his stomach through his torn shirt. "I-I did my best...!"

"Not good enough!" Jagger shouted, his eyes void of remorse as he rammed his foot into the side of his little brother's head, knocking him down fully to the ground in a pathetic heap. "You lost!"

"I-I'm sorry...!" Chazz whimpered, slowly propping himself up from the floor, disoriented by the strong blow to his head. Looking up from the floor, he saw the heartless eyes of his brothers peering down at him, staring into his very soul with their dark intentions.

"You have no excuses, Chazz!" Slade scolded, his voice raising and filled with disdain for the boy before him. "You're supposed to win! Be the best! And take over the dueling world!" Before Chazz could say another word, the eldest Princeton let out a frustrated half shout before bringing his belt back down on the teen like he had before, striking him hard on his back, tearing a pained cry from the boy's battered, trembling body.

"Swear it to me!" He shouted further, bringing it down once more on the teen's back as he had fallen out of his slightly propped position back onto the ground, where he laid, his arms still covering his head in defense as he cried out from the pain. "Swear it to me that you will never lose again!"

Chazz screamed and cried from the cold metal smacking against his soft, silky skin, turning it from flawlessly fair to a painful red, staining the boy with blood from broken skin. Tears flowed from his eyes as he tried to push himself through the pain, but it wasn't the first time. And it was growing to be too much. Unleashing another blow, Slade's voice rose high over his brother's agonized cries and strained coughs as the breath was knocked from his chest.

"SAY IT!

"I-I swear! I swear!" Chazz coughed out, his face now red and stained with tears. Sprawled out weakly on the ground, unable to push himself through the pain of curling into a protective ball with the tender, broken skin, effectively starting to stain the floor beneath his body with drops of slowly falling blood. "I-I'll never l-lose again...!"

Chazz knew that wouldn't be enough to stop them, but he hoped his compliance would be enough to spare him from being hurt too much more. But no matter what he did, the tears wouldn't stop flowing through his eyes. He was always like that. The poor boy wasn't built to withstand such horrible treatment, his body just couldn't handle it, and he often cried for a while during and after a beating like that.

"You'd better not break that promise, Chazz." Slade threatened, taking one more swing at the boy before finally lowering his arm as a sign of stopping, though his eyes still shot hateful daggers into the young boy's soul.

"You know what'll happen if you do." Jagger added, reaching down and grabbing the teen by the collar of his shirt, yanking him up from the ground and lifting him into the air as he hung limply in his brother's grasp, whimpering and crying through the pain shooting up and down his body. "You've failed us far too many times already. We won't be so forgiving next time."

"L-Let me go..." Chazz pleaded through his tears. His arms hung weakly at his sides, otherwise he would have tried to pry his brother's hand off of him, but the best he could do was beg for mercy. He hated feeling so helpless, but that's simply how he was then. Helpless against the tyrants ruling over him and his life, more or less enslaving him into their own twisted regime.

Narrowing his eyes at the boy in his grasp, Jagger growled under his breath, roughly tossing Chazz aside, slamming his back into the wall adjacent to him. Leaving faint marks of blood from his back as he fell away back onto the hard floor, smacking his head on the cold stone.

"You'll always be a slacker." Slade scolded, his eyes narrow and heartless as he raised his arm again, ready to whip the boy one last time. "You're not worthy of the Princeton name!" swinging his arm back down, Chazz braced himself for the impact, letting out a fearful cry as he turned his head away.


Chazz's eyes shot open at lightning speed, remaining wide and terrified as an agonizing cry escaped from his lips. Struggling and pulling hard against his bonds, Chazz's breathing was quick and frantic as he screamed and cried, a full sense of panic taking hold over the boy from the memory he had just dreamed of.

"Sir, he's reacting violently to the stimulant!" An aid called to Drewer, observing the boy's panicked behavior, concerned with the affects the drugs were having on the poor imprisoned child.

"Do something about it then!" Drewer commanded, taking his own place beside the boy, clasping his hands down on his shoulders to stop him from squirming about, and effectively harming himself. "That's enough now, boy! Stop this!" Smacking the boy promptly on his face as his eyes began to water from being held open so widely, his breath hitched and caught in his throat resulting in a fit of coughs to follow suit with his cries and fearful fit.

"Is there a problem, doctor?"

Drewer turned his head to see Jagger enter the room, a quizzical expression on his face as he looked towards the crying boy on the table before him.

"Oh! Mr. Princeton, sir!" Drewer exclaimed, not expecting either of the brothers to drop in unless he called them to. Working to subdue the convulsing child in his grasp, he leaned down on him, holding Chazz down with his arm across his chest and clasped his free hand over the boy's mouth, muffling his screams. Chazz's eyes had screwed themselves shut when Jagger entered the room, fearing the elder with the fresh memories in his mind, flashing across his vision in a stream of trauma. "Everything is coming along, we've introduced a stimulant to place him in somewhat of a state of limbo, making it easier for you and your brother to do with him as you wish. But it seems that his condition and interference with the medications in his system have caused a violent mental reaction."

"Then get him under control." Jagger commanded, glaring at the doctor as he tried to subdue the teen. Walking over to the two of them as the aids scrambled around the room looking for something they could use to help subdue the boy, Jagger lowered his head down so that he could speak directly into Chazz's ear, his tone low and dark. "If he can't, then I will."

Chazz cracked open his right eye, widening them thusly, trying to retreat back at the sight of his elder brother, but Drewer's hold on him along with the iron clamps around his wrists and ankles kept him more or less locked in place on the table. The memories fresh in his mind shot fear throughout Chazz's entire body, causing his body to stiffen and freeze in terror, but he still breathed quick and unevenly. Blinking for a moment, he could feel himself growing lightheaded, unable to get enough oxygen into his lungs through just his nose, even with the oxygen tubes stuck in it while he was unable to use his mouth with Drewer's evil hand clamped tightly over it to keep him from screaming anymore. His breath intake was too fast and erratic to do him any good.

"Get this under control!" Jagger demanded, his hardened expression hardening even more as he noticed his brother's slowly closing eyes. "Pathetic."

Tempted to deliver own smack to the exposed skin on the boy's normally paper colored face, Jagger turned on his heel gracefully before storming out of the room, leaving the doctor to his own work. Just the sight of the youngest brother disgusted him enough without seeing him in such a pathetic state of being. The boy was unfit for the task they had entrusted him with, and no matter what was done to him now, Jagger would never see Chazz as worthy of the Princeton name. It sickened him how much time and effort was being wasted on the hopeless child. Would that he had never been born, then they wouldn't have to deal with him at all. That would have been the ideal circumstances for the two older brothers.

"Alright, Chazz, that's enough." Drewer said, keeping his secure grip holding Chazz down to stop him from moving, knowing that if he kept squirming and struggling it would be that much harder to calm him down. And with the oxygen tubes in his nose he didn't necessarily have to worry about his breathing, he thought at least, but of course that would only hold true if his breathing slowed down even just a little. "Stop this right now or I'll have to do it my way. And we all know you don't want that."

"Please help me!" Chazz thought, unable to use his mouth to speak with Drewer's hand still covering it tightly, reducing anything that came out to a mere muffled and mumbled mess of quiet unintelligible sounds. "Atticus! Where are you?"

Chazz thought back to the last time he had found himself in this position, in the middle of a panic attack with someone trying to stop him. Only the last time, that person had been Atticus. A good and trusted friend, one he would gladly trust his own life to. Not a man who had brought him harm, and whose job it was to hurt him. In that respect, it was difficult for him to listen to the man, but Drewer was right, Chazz didn't want to be subdued Drewer's way. Chazz knew that that way would only mean getting hurt again, but he also found himself struggling to calm his racing breath and pounding heart.

Growing impatient with the panicking child, Drewer motioned to his closest aid, beckoning her to hand him his taser from the counter beside them. He was more than prepared to harm the boy if that's what it took to calm his attack. And with the boy unconscious, he would be that much easier to work with. Though the boy had spent enough of his time there either unconscious or on the cusp so for Chazz's taste. Taking the device from the young lady, Drewer swiftly jammed the electric current into Chazz's side. Keeping his hand clasped tightly over the boy's mouth, Chazz cried out from the pain, his cries transforming into a muffled mess like the rest of the sounds he had been making thus far. Unable to move hardly at all, Chazz pulled against his bonds, tearing small cuts into the skin of his wrists and ankles, drawing small bits of blood from the miniature wounds he was inflicting upon himself through his struggles.

"Move on to phase two." Drewer commanded, taking another jab at the boy, ripping another muffled cry out of his body along with another electrical shock to his system. "We'll empty that head of his one way or another. Even if I have to erase every single thing his mind myself! Now hurry up!"

Hurrying, the two aids followed their boss's instructions. Taking the IV bag pumping foreign substances into Chazz's body, they swiftly replaced the liquid with another that had already been prepared for the various stages of their many possible plans, restarting the flow of foreign drugs into his already contaminated system.

"Mr. Princeton wants this boy under his control, and I will do whatever is necessary to see it done! What better way than to brainwash him, I'd say?"

"Y-You're insane…!" Chazz shouted weakly, Drewer having had removed his hand from the boy's mouth, his voice was soft and hoarse from screaming and crying, not to mention how fried his body felt from the myriad electrocutions he had suffered since he'd been brought into their captivity.

"Don't blame me, boy." Drewer spat out, a metaphorical venom permeating through his words as he shot a deep glare at the child. "I only do as I'm ordered to do. And those brothers of yours have left it upon me to get you under control!"

"N-Never...!" Chazz protested, putting as much strength into his hurting voice as he could. He couldn't let them get the better of him, and he knew it better than anyone. Even more than just knowing that if they got him into their tyrannical grip, that he wouldn't be able to get out again.

If Chazz had the strength to fight still, he would have kept struggling, but the pain he felt throughout his entire body was growing to be too much in his already weakened physical state. His arms and legs were sore from pulling and even yanking against the iron clamps around his wrists and ankles, and now with the torn skin around them, his pale skin was stained with a deep red from the self-inflicted wounds. Apart from that was the burning sensation in his chest from the previous electrocutions, and the throbbing headache he had just realized he had acquired, no doubt from the intense state panic that he had been forced out of. Chazz simply felt too weak to physically fight anymore. But even so, he tried his best to stay strong.

After all, Jaden and the others couldn't save him if there was nothing left to save, and Chazz didn't plan on becoming a mindless puppet anytime soon. They just wanted him to become an undefeated dueling machine, and apparently Slade figured that with Chazz's ability to communicate with duel monsters, they could force him to use that to tip the scales in his favor. But of course, Chazz knew better than his brothers that that wasn't how his ability worked. Honestly he wasn't sure why he could do it anyway, or what the point of it even was, since it didn't seem to be all that helpful most of the time, especially since it got him stuck with the Ojama's all the time. But perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. After all, regardless of his annoyance and dismissal of the little creatures, they loved him anyway. And he had seen it by then, they would give anything to have a chance to protect him from any and all harm that came his way.

Yes. A blessing in disguise, indeed.

"Oh you misunderstand, my boy." Drewer chuckled, looming over Chazz with a dark expression plastered on his honestly not so attractive face, only adding to his sinister nature. "Who said you were being given a choice?"