The Road Home

"BOSS!" Ojama Yellow cried, appearing beside Jaden as he inched closer into the room, laying his eyes on his kidnapped master. A waterfall of tears flowing from his eyes at the sight of his master's pitiful state.

"Let Chazz go!" Jaden demanded, stepping out past Atticus into the room, dismissing the yellow imp as his eyes burned with more anger than he had ever been exposed to before looking upon the man who had his friend chained and hooked up to so many machines both medical and scientific. He looked more like a science experiment than a teenage boy.

"Are you actually trying to make demands?" Drewer questioned, chuckling to himself as he raised his eyebrow at the smaller brunette. "Don't forget who has the upper-hand here, boy."

"You have no right to treat Chazz like this!" Alexis shouted, appalled by the state of their friend. "He's a human being, not a science experiment!"

"Oh contraire, my dear." Drewer exclaimed, angered by the presence of the children, but not exactly surprised by it. True, his plans would become complicated by their presence, but he was confident they wouldn't be able to stop him from completing his assignment. "You see, dear Chazz is the property of Slade and Jagger Princeton, his legal guardians. And they've ordered me to... shall we say... help him behave."

His chuckle darkened as he relished in the twisted treatment the poor boy had been dealt his entire life.

"So you see, children. I can treat him however I wish."

"You sick bastard!" Bastion shouted, letting his normally calm and collected demeanor crack in the presence of such a terrible man. "Release Chazz immediately!"

"That's enough, Bastion." Crowler asserted, extending his arm out in front of the Brit to quiet him. Taking a step forward, Crowler's eyes burned with a fire hotter and more intense than any they had seen before. "But as guardian of these children and the leading professor of Duel Academy, I cannot allow you to harm my students!'' The anger present in Crowler resonated within the room, startling everyone in all honesty. Glaring deeply at Dr. Drewer, Crowler's voice raised exponentially as he extended his arm swiftly in a menacing point. "I command you to hand young Chazz over to me at once!"

"Command?" Drewer questioned, raising an eyebrow at the angry professor before him. The man was practically trembling from how much anger was exuding from him staring at his dear student in such a condition, and at the man who was responsible for it. "I hate to break it to you professor but..."

Drewer chuckled to himself as he glanced back at Chazz, passing a moment silently to allow the unconscious boy's discomforted moans to carry through the room, only serving to anger Crowler and the others more.

"You aren't in charge here." Drewer's expression dropped almost instantly as his aides and the other doctors present stepped up to join him before the group of school children. "Seize them."

Complying to their boss's order, the others on Drewer's side quickly approached the children, apprehending the students as the anger built inside of the Slifer watching the despicable grownups lay their hands on his friends.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Alexis demanded, squirming as one of the doctors held her arms behind her back. Of course she wasn't thrilled.

"Jaden, help!" Syrus cried out as he was assailed by Drewer's male aid, bending over and wrapping his arm around the small boy's chest and arms, tightening his grip as he straightened back up, lifting the boy a small ways off the ground since Sy was so tiny.

"Sy!" Jaden called out, looking back and forth to his friends as one by one they were grabbed by the doctors and aids. Enraged by the assault on his friends, Jaden wasn't even thinking anymore as a doctor roughly grabbed his arm. "Don't even think about it!"

Attempting to shake himself free, Jaden swung his free arm up, landing his fist right on the doctor's face in a powerful anger filled blow, knocking the man back as he released his hold on the boy. Throwing another hit at the man, Jaden got the doctor away from him as he turned to his best friend, determined to free him as well.

"I've got your back, sarge!" Hassleberry declared, joining Jaden at his side before he could be apprehended like the others.

"Thanks, Hassleberry." Jaden nodded, taking a quick second to decide on a course of action before moving forward. "You free the others, okay? Leave Sy to me."

"You can count on me." Hassleberry nodded back, taking off to free the resident lady of the group, prying the aid off of her before throwing his own powerful punch to the man's face, escorting Alexis back over to the corner before proceeding to help the others.

"I've got you, Sy!" Jaden declared through the carnage Hassleberry was causing around them, anger seething through him now that his best friend was in trouble again. Through no fault of his own as it always was, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Syrus was in harm's way, and that was not okay with Jaden. "Don't worry!"

"You want him?" The aid asked, glaring at the Slifer as he tightened his grip on the whimpering boy he held. "Come and get him, kid."

Accepting the man's challenge without a second thought, Jaden charged forwards, throwing punches at the man while trying to avoid hitting Syrus, who was freaking out being in the middle of an actual fight. Nothing would deter Jaden from protecting his friends, least of all his best friend. And besides, if he let even one of these people go, Chazz would be that much harder to help. Glancing to his right, Jaden smirked as he beheld Bastion and Alexis making their way over to Chazz, Atticus keeping Drewer busy so he couldn't stop them from reaching their friend in desperate need.

"Jaden!" Syrus called, squirming in the man's grasp in an attempt to free himself, which sadly was failing. "He-"

"-Be quiet!" The aid commanded, clasping his free hand over the small boy's mouth, irritated by his high pitched whining.

"Sy!" Jaden shouted, angrily charging forward back towards the aid, he threw another punch at the man's head, his own unguarded body sustaining a kick to the stomach as the man swiftly turned and kicked at the teen trying to hit him, doubling back for a moment as the wind was knocked out of him.

"Not cool, bro!" Jaden said, shaking his head quickly before charging forward again determined to free Syrus on his own. Carefully avoiding Syrus's small frame in the man's grip, Jaden threw as many punches as he could manage to the man's face, succeeding in hitting him in the nose enough times to draw the slightest bit of blood. Noticing the fatigue growing in the aid, Jaden mustered every ounce of his strength and administered a swift sweeping kick to the man's knees, knocking him off his feet and down to the floor.

Slamming hard on his back, the aid smacked his head against the floor, causing him to release his hold on Syrus enough for him to push out of his arms. With the speed of light, Jaden scrambled over to them, bending down and wrapping his arms gently and protectively around Syrus, pulling him up to his feet and away from the downed man.

"You okay, Sy?" Jaden asked, looking down at his best friend with a concerned glint in his lovely brown eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Syrus answered, nodding up at Jaden to reassure him that he really was okay, if not only a bit shaken by the experience. "Thanks, Jay."

"No problem, pal. I'm glad you're okay..." Jaden sighed in relief. Keeping his arms protectively around the smaller boy, he looked around the room, examining the scene as Hassleberry took care of most of the remaining doctors and aids and Atticus himself was taking on Dr. Drewer, Jaden's eyes locked on Dr. Crowler, who was standing not too far away having an internal battle with himself deciding which students needed his help the most.

"Dr. Crowler!" Jaden called, motioning for the professor to come over as his stormy purple eyes turned to the brunette at the mention of his name. "Take Sy and you two stay out of this! I'm gonna help Atticus and Hassleberry!"

"Oh! O-Of course!" Crowler stuttered out, hurrying over to the two friends as Jaden released Syrus from his protective hold, effectively passing the torch to Crowler before hastily joining the fight with Hassleberry and Atticus. "Come, my boy, this way."

Keeping his own eyes on the situation at hand, Crowler ushered Syrus over into one of the front corners of the room, taking him as far from the fight as he could as to honor Jaden's wishes for him to guard the small boy as well as himself while Jaden was otherwise occupied. Besides, he recognized how little use both he and Syrus would be in such a confrontation, and apart from the anxiety of worrying about the safety of his kids, Crowler had zero qualms about keeping out of the battle at hand.

"What do we do, Bastion?" Alexis asked, standing by the side of the table Chazz was shackled to she looked him over, noticing the small specks of blood on his wrists and ankles, which looked like they had been slightly mangled, most likely from struggling she figured as well as the bloody gash on his forehead, which was also very concerning. But what really worried her was how distressed he sounded, moaning and groaning in his unconscious state. Chazz sounded like a wounded puppy more than a teenage boy. And on top of that, all of the machines and equipment he was hooked up and attached to wasn't making her feel any better about what Jaden said about Chazz not doing very well right now... and what worried her the most was the device secured around his forehead and covering up his eyes, clearly marked by the monitor the device itself was matched with.

They were using it to wipe his mind clean.

"Well, clearly we have to stop that machine!" Bastion observed, gesturing to the device in question currently erasing their friend's mind in front of them. "If that thing finishes, then there will be no hope in rescuing Chazz. Not our Chazz, at least. Now, Alexis, I need you to monitor his condition while I try to stop this thing!" he instructed, moving over to the eraser's control mechanism. "And see if you can't find a way to unlock those shackles. We won't be taking him anywhere if we can't get him out of those things."

"Sure, sure." Alexis nodded, placing her hand gently on Chazz's arm, wondering just what it was she would be able to do to help.

Looking over the unconscious boy lying before her, her heart tore at the sound of his quiet discomforted moans and the sight of his bloodstained skin. Never had Alexis seen Chazz in such a fragile and vulnerable state before, it tore her heart in two seeing him like this.

"Hang in there, Chazz... your friends are here for you now, and we're gonna get you out of here." She soothed, curling her fingers in between his own on his left hand which was positioned palm up since there was an IV sticking into his veins on that arm underneath a layer of thick bandages keeping it in place.

"That thing's definitely not helping things." She thought, glancing up at the IV in question for a moment before looking back to Chazz. "Well, it's gotta come out sooner or later."

Keeping her fingers entwined with his own in a show of comfort, Alexis placed her free hand on his arm beside the spot where the IV was stuck into his arm, ready to slide it out of the puncture, though not without removing the bandages overtop it first. Taking great care, she unwrapped the thick cloth, very carefully removing the needle from his flesh. Wincing herself seeing Chazz unconsciously wince at the feeling of the needle exiting his skin, Alexis cursed under her breath as blood began to seep out of the tiny hole the IV had created in his flesh. Looking around, she spotted a fresh roll of bandages on the table beside them, quickly snatching up the material and securing a clean strand around Chazz's arm, figuring it would do for now until they got him back to the Island for Fontaine to make sure he was properly cared for.

"How's he doing over there, Alexis?" Bastion asked, speaking slightly louder over the noise of battle around them, his eyes still glued to the mechanism he was fiddling with trying to stop Chazz's mind from being erased. "Any luck getting him free?"

"No, not yet." Alexis answered back, shaking her head as she slipped the IV out of Chazz's extremely pale skin. "What about you?"

"I'm afraid things are going rather slowly." Bastion sighed, doing his best to continue his work swiftly. "It seems this... Dr. Drewer, as this equipment says, is smarter than I anticipated. The override sequence is much more encrypted than I first thought..."

"That's not good..." Alexis sighed, looking back to Chazz, her heart sinking as she saw the discomforted grimace on his otherwise peaceful face.

"No, it's not." Bastion asserted. "If I can't stop this thing in time, then our Chazz may very well be gone for good." he sighed, shaking his head as he took a moment to collect himself before he lost his cool thinking about the worst case scenario. "But if I can stop it before his mind is completely erased, well, theoretically everything that was taken from him should return in time."

"Well hurry up then!" Alexis commanded, worry growing in her heart as she watched the percentage of completion for the device slowly climb as more and more of their dear friend was taken away, and his whimpers only continued on.

"I'm trying!" Bastion called back, just as frustrated and worried as she was. "But like I said, it's more complex than I anticipated!"

"Hold on, Chazz…" Alexis whispered quietly, her mood dropping exponentially as she gave his hand a small comforting squeeze. Starting to worry if they would be able to rescue him in time to get their real friend back.


Chazz had long given up his struggle against the darkness overtaking his body. He felt weak and helpless bound by the dark force wrapped around him, watching all of his precious memories shatter and disappear around him as well as his own body. His right arm was already gone and now without a good amount of his legs he was forced down to his knees. By then, Chazz's eyes were dull and empty, almost dead. Losing himself more and more every moment, drowning in a sorrow that was weighing so heavily down upon him, Chazz was falling deeper and deeper into despair. His vision overcoming with darkness, it felt like all hope was truly lost.

"Hold on, Chazz…"

The familiar feminine voice echoed quietly around him, reaching his ears, the voice sounded muffled and whispery. Like it was barely there, but it was. Glancing around slowly for the source of the voice, Chazz's dying, glassy eyes locked on another memory, taking in the sight of the blonde girl in the image.

"A-Ale...xis…?" Chazz thought, unable to speak through the dark mass covering his mouth, and subsequently what felt like it was draining the energy from his slowly disintegrating body. What little memory he had left was weak and fuzzy, but it was there all the same.

The voice had to belong to her.

"Just hang in there, okay...?" The voice said again, reaffirming Chazz's weak thoughts as he kept his fading eyes on the image of the girl by his side along with who he assumed were also their friends. But he just couldn't remember. "If you can hear me, Chazz, we're all here to help you. You'll be safe with us... so don't give in, okay...? You've gotta pull through."

"Help me... Lex…" Chazz thought again, trying his best to move his only remaining arm away from the darkness. His instincts were directing him to reach out to the voice, but the darkness would not release its hold on the boy.

"Jaden's here, I'm here... Atticus is here…" Alexis sighed. "Everyone is here for you. I'm sorry we let this happen to you... it's our fault you're in this mess, we couldn't protect you like we promised... but we're going to get you out of it, and bring you back home to Duel Academy safe and sound. I promise!" she continued, Chazz's eyes slowly regaining their life and sparkle. "I don't know if you can hear me or not... but cling to those memories, okay? Can you do that for me?"

"But... I-I can't…" Glancing back at his much smaller body, Chazz fell from his knees to his side, unable to hold himself up anymore without the entire bottom half of his legs. Hitting what served as the ground with a thud, a loud grunt exited him, reduced to a muffled sound through the darkness covering his mouth. Focusing all his strength on listening to Alexis, Chazz realized there was an urgency to her voice as the light returned to his eyes, just in time to register everything he saw and heard.

"If you let them erase all of your memories, then you go with them, Chazz. Then there won't be anything left of the real you for us to save! Bastion's trying to stop it, but please, you have to hold on, Chazz! Can you hear me!? Hold on!"


"You'll never get away with this!" Atticus shouted, sending a powerful roundhouse kick into Drewer's side, anger fueling him much to his chagrin, knowing what could happen if he accepted his inner darkness. But if it meant saving a friend, he was fully prepared to do whatever it took. "As soon as we get Chazz out of here, you better believe you're all going to jail for this!"

"You'd like to think so, wouldn't you, boy!?" Drewer asked, his own voice raised while he took a moment to recover from the bow before grabbing Atticus's arm as the brunette threw a punch at him. Spinning him around and holding his arm tightly behind his back, Drewer held Atticus in place in front of his own body. "But who said I was going to just let you leave here so easily?"

Hastily shoving his free hand into his pocket, Drewer drew out his taser, flipping it on and shoving it into Atticus's back before the brunette could act, sending his cries throughout the room catching the attention of all the others present.

"Atticus!" Alexis screamed, whipping around in her brother's direction as soon as his pained screams reached her ears.

"Hey!" Hassleberry shouted, anger continuing to seethe through the youngest present, his eyes shifting from normal to their reptilian form. "Get away from him!"

An enraged growl escaping from his lips, Hassleberry charged forwards, slamming his shoulder into Drewer's body and causing him to drop the taser, his body reverberating from the shock of the powerful blow, releasing Atticus from his grasp the elder student doubled forwards. Coughing as he stumbled down to his knees.

"W-What the hell!?" Drewer exclaimed, his eyes widening as he beheld the eyes of the boy now assaulting him. They looked inhuman to him, which was a correct assumption since they really weren't human at all. "What are you!?"

"Hassleberry's got dino DNA!" Syrus explained proudly from the corner of the room, lowering Crowler's arm which was held out protectively in front of the smallest student. "You're no match for him!"

"Dino DNA…?" Drewer questioned, raising an eyebrow in intrigue at the boy before him, quickly widening his eyes as he attempted to dodge an attack Hassleberry sent his way, but instead took a strong blow to the face, knocking him down to the ground where the enraged dinosaur child took his chance to wail on the good doctor while Jaden rushed to Atticus's side.

"You okay, Atticus?" Jaden questioned, concerned for his friend's wellbeing as he kneeled down beside the elder brunette, placing a hand gently on his back.

"Y-Yeah." Atticus coughed out, nodding before looking up at the Slifer, the glint still ever present in his eyes as he offered a thumbs up to the younger boy. "Never been better."

"I've almost got it!" Bastion declared, glancing back at the scene behind him his eyes fixated immediately on Chazz still unconscious on the table, not looking any better than before. "How's he doing, Alexis?"

"Not any better." She explained, looking around for anything that could possibly be helpful in this situation. Glancing around, her eyes were drawn to the counter on the opposite side of Chazz with a certain collection of cards resting on it thusly. Gasping, she remembered what Jaden had said about Chazz's deck being missing from his duel disk when Jaden found it in the woods.

"His deck!"

Finally letting go of the pale hand she held, Alexis rushed over to the counter, scooping up the deck in her hands, holding it close before returning to Chazz's side.

"Hey, Lex!" Jaden called, catching her attention as he looked away for a moment, reaching into his pocket and fishing out a certain card. "Catch!"

Swinging his arm out in front of him, Jaden tossed her the card he held.

Catching it between her fingers as all duelists were somehow able to do, she took a look at the card she now held. And just as she suspected, it was Ojama Yellow. Smiling for a quick moment, Alexis placed the card back into Chazz's deck, taking a moment of pause before sliding the stack of cards into Chazz's limp hand, closing his fingers around it. Hoping that the presence of the boy's deck would help give him the strength to keep holding on while Bastion finished his work.

"Boss..." Ojama Yellow worried, appearing beside his master for the first time since Chazz had been taken from him. It tore his little heart in two seeing Chazz like that, so helpless and vulnerable. He hated every second of it. Tears lining his little eyes, Yellow grabbed onto Chazz's shoulder, clinging to his master for dear life. "You've gotta make it, boss! You've just gotta! We couldn't bear to lose you again!"

"Bastion, hurry!" Alexis ordered in urgency, her eyes widening as she watched the percentage of the machine's progress finally begin to tick past 95%, their time just about run out.

"Great scott!" Bastion exclaimed, a slight hint of triumph detectable in his voice. "I've got it!" Turning to his friends, a smile was present on his face.

Proud of his work, Bastion quickly turned back to the machine, executing the command to stop the memory erase sequence. A suspenseful moment passed, and the hum of the mechanism quieted and stopped, the percentage of progress of what had been erased from Chazz's mind shot back down to zero. The device stuck to Chazz's head unlocking automatically, Alexis hurriedly slid it off, taking Chazz's face in her hands almost like she expected him to wake up right then and there. Sliding the oxygen tubes off and out of his nose, she began finally looking for a way to free him from his bonds.

"Bastion, you've done it!" Crowler praised, more than proud of his student's genius that allowed them to save Chazz's mind. But he knew the boy was still far from being saved.

"Hear that, boss?" Yellow asked, gently shaking Chazz's shoulder in excited hope at the declaration. "You're gonna be okay!"

"Right, now we must get these shackles off of him!" Bastion declared, joining Alexis by Chazz's side, he examined the iron clamps keeping him down on the table. "I can't say how soon or not, but his memories should return in time. They weren't completely erased, after all, so thankfully we shouldn't have to worry about that too terribly."

Locking his eyes on the shackles, Bastion discovered small clasps keeping them locked in place. Prying and pulling at the first of the four they had to deal with, he looked up at Alexis, imploring her to help him free their friend.

"Here, let me help." Atticus said, swiftly joining them by Chazz's side, prying open the manacles around the boy's ankles. With the unlocking of the shackles, Chazz's rubbed raw and slightly broken skin from his struggles was revealed, only sending more sadness through the friends as Chazz laid before them, hurting, and so vulnerable. "We've gotta get him out of here."

"Here, I'll carry 'im." Hassleberry offered. Panting slightly, his eyes returned to their normal state as he held his arms out, offering to carry Chazz as they made their escape.

Being extremely gentle with the fragile boy, Atticus slid his arms under his back and legs, lifting him off of the table. Pausing for a second, Atticus was frankly concerned that Chazz felt lighter than he recalled from the last time he'd lifted him. Taking a mental note of that, he turned to the younger student, gently passing him over to Hassleberry, his heart ripping from his chest upon seeing the small specks of blood that remained on his sleeves from where small opened wounds collided with the white fabric.

Hassleberry took Chazz in his arms, securing him against his chest. Doing his best to keep him supported, he shifted Chazz so his head was resting on his shoulder, wrapping his arm around Chazz's back and the other under his legs, holding the unconscious teen gently but firmly in his grasp.

"Come, children." Crowler said, opening the door for them to leave. "I think it's about time we got out of here."

"You can say that again..." Jaden sighed, shaking his head as he looked over at his friends. To his joy, they were all alright from their encounters just now. Of course, Chazz wasn't completely fine, but he would be now that they had him in their own hands.

Having taken Chazz's deck back, Alexis handed it to Bastion, who in turn slipped it into his pocket for safekeeping. Walking over to the wall opposite the door, she took care to unhook Chazz's coat from the hook it was hung on, folding it carefully before grabbing the rest of his clothes from the chair beside it.

"Alright, let's go." She said, nodding to her friends as she headed quickly towards the door, the others following suit. Following Alexis, the group hurried down the corridors, hoping not to run into too much opposition on their way out. After all, they needed to get Chazz back to Duel Academy and out of danger as quickly as they could. Running a few moments more, they reached the entrance to the laboratory complex.

"Oh no!" Syrus gasped. "We need a keycard to open the door, don't we?"

"No problem, Sy." Jaden said, smiling as he pulled a small rectangular piece of plastic. "I took it off that Drewer guy after Hassleberry knocked him out. Guy came in handy after all."

Chuckling quietly to himself, Jaden swiped the card, opening the door before them. Cursing quietly to himself at the same time, knowing full well that they probably wouldn't get out of the actual building without a fight of some kind, which is exactly what Chazz didn't need to be in the middle of right now.

Making their way forward in haste, Jaden took note of the suspicious lack of guards around the place. Or rather, a lack guards that were actually pursuing them. The growing possibility of a trap concerned him, but that was something they were just going to have to risk if they were going to get Chazz and themselves out of there and back to Duel Academy in one piece. Looking back at his friends, Jaden's eyes focused on Chazz. Unconscious in Hassleberry's arms he looked so frail and vulnerable in contrast to his usual self. Without his usual dark shroud, the light color of the thin hospital gown he was dressed in made him look even paler than he already was. It was almost scary how thin and ghostly he looked now.

Suppressing his worries if only to keep his focus on keeping his friends safe, Jaden shook his head, turning back front as he led the group on their way to the exit.

"The exit should be just up ahead!" Bastion instructed after a short while, looking at his map he'd pulled out to be sure they didn't lose their way, he glanced around at his friends, glad that they were all doing alright considering everything that had been happening around them.

Rounding the next right, the friends came upon the front foyer of the building. Eyes fixated on the large double doors constituting as the entrance, Jaden stopped in his tracks, holding his arms out to stop his friends as his eyes were locked forwards, glaring at two fixtures blocking their path.

Slade and Jagger.

"You kids didn't actually think we wouldn't know you were here?" Jagger asked, chuckling to himself as he thought back upon the moment the students had appeared on the security feed.

"Hand Chazz over." Slade calmly demanded, extending his arms out to take his unconscious little brother from the safety of his friends. His eyes cold and unfeeling as he looked upon his youngest brother.

Angered beyond all plausible belief, Atticus took a step forward. Moving to stand in front of Hassleberry, his eyes narrowed as he stood tall and resolute shooting daggers at the elder Princeton's with his fiery eyes.

"Over my dead body." He said, clenching his fists as he stared at Chazz's brothers, angrier than he had ever been in his life seeing with his own eyes just how low they were willing to sink. How far they would go to harm their little brother. No self respecting older brother in their right mind would ever do anything to harm their younger siblings. That's what Atticus had always believed, and yet the two brothers ahead of him had done just that.

The fire in Atticus's heart burned and flared hotter than any before, he would make them pay if it was the last thing he did.

"Atticus, calm down..." Alexis whispered, concerned for her older brother when she saw the anger resonating within him. Glancing over to the boy in Hassleberry's arms, her heart seized up again. Chazz moaned quietly, shifting unconsciously while still in discomfort from all he had been put through since he was taken from the island. It just wasn't fair.

"You misunderstand, kid." Slade said, his eyes narrowing at the younger brunette, lowering his arms though he still had the intention of taking back his youngest brother. "I am not asking. Hand Chazz over to me. Now."

Overflowing with fury, Atticus took swift strides up to the two brothers. Standing tall, he took a deep breath as a silent moment passed. Taking only a moment's pause to glare again, Atticus sent his first directly into Slade's face, knocking him back.

"Atticus!" Jaden gasped, his eyes widening as he watched the scene unfold before him, squeezing Syrus's shoulder which his hand was resting on as they stood back. He knew Atticus harbored hatred for Chazz's brothers for what they'd done to him, but the almost savage nature of the blow was entirely unexpected.

"You stay away from him!" Atticus shouted, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles had begun to turn white. "An older brother is supposed to protect his younger siblings! And you -both of you- have done nothing but abuse him! I would never hurt my little sister like that!"

Pointing back to Alexis for a second, Atticus delivered the same savage blow to Jagger as he had Slade. Nothing angered Atticus more than seeing older siblings harm their youngers. It sickened him and especially in this case, it made him hate. His friends only watched in silence and shock as he continued.

"We're going to make sure that you never so much as touch even one hair on Chazz's head, ever again!" Shouting angrily, feeling the darkness within him begin to flare up in his rage, Atticus punched Slade again.

Keeping his eyes focused on the eldest Princeton, he failed to notice as Jagger came up alongside him, dealing the brunette his own hit to his gorgeous face. Turning hastily to the middle brother after taking a moment to recover from the blow, Atticus rammed his fist back into Jagger's face in retaliation. He wasn't about to let either of the two brothers get away without receiving punishment.

Chazz laid limp and frail in Hassleberry's arms, his head resting gently on the younger's shoulder, positioned as such so he would hopefully be a little more comfortable. Groaning quietly in discomfort like he'd been doing the whole time, Chazz's eyes began to very slowly and slightly crack open, still under the influence of the tranquilizers that had been pumped into his body.

Unable to move his limp and sleeping body, Chazz's extremely blurry and tired vision was all he had to rely on. Unable to open his heavy eyelids anymore than they were, only supplying him with a slight sliver of sight, the boy glanced around all he could. Taking a moment to register what he saw the best he could with his fried brain and slowly recovering mind, Chazz found himself thankfully able to recognize the boy carrying him.

"H-Hassleberry….?" He thought, unable to voice his thoughts into words as he glanced around, his slight line of sight not offering him much. But through his peripherals, he did see who he needed no moment to recognize. Though, his eyes were unable to stay open any longer, slowly closing as Chazz began to lose consciousness again. "...A-Atticus... you came for me..."

Crowler stood with his students, proud of them for saving Chazz and getting him out of harm's way, but as he stood watching Atticus unleash his fury and rage upon the elder Princeton brothers, his heart seized. Seeing his student commit such an arguably savage act of violence hurt him so deeply. Closing his eyes for a moment, Crowler closed his hands into lightly clenched fists of his own, taking a deep breath before reopening his bluish purple eyes, locking them on the Obelisk Brunette. His voice stern and unwavering as he commanded the young student.

"Atticus. That's enough."

Their beloved professor's serious voice reaching his ears, Atticus halted his assault. His fist still gripping a weakened Slade's shirt which he had grabbed before, turning his gaze to his friends and dear teacher. Panting as he came down from his rage in this moment of quiet.

"It's time to leave." Crowler said, taking a step forward towards his emotional student.

"We can't leave now!" Atticus protested, turning back to the brothers he had laid waste to in the past few minutes, his anger still running high. Though it was slowly declining during his inaction. "They have to pay for what they've done!"

"I know, Atticus." Crowler agreed, extending his hand to the boy in a steadying gesture, while his tone softened to that of an adult speaking to a child. And that's just what his students were in his eyes, no matter how close to adulthood they were.

They were still just children.

"I know. And I can certainly understand your anger, make no mistake. But now it's time to put that aside and take care of Chazz." he soothed, further approaching his precious student, gently laying a comforting hand on his trembling shoulder. "Atticus, it's time for us to go."

Atticus's anger was strong, but in that one single moment as Crowler's caring tone reached his ears, speaking directly to his heart, he felt calmness come over him. Looking back, his chocolate eyes locked on his fragile, broken friend in Hassleberry's strong and protective arms, surrounded by Jaden and the others in a protective barrier. Atticus's hand released Slade's shirt, though giving the eldest a small shove as he did so. Knocking the weakened political tycoon to the ground, taking down with him his business inclined brother, landing with a thud on the floor. Turning around and looking back to his professor, Atticus lowered his head to the floor in shame of his anger controlled actions.

"Okay." Atticus nodded, keeping his gaze down, afraid of how his friends would think of him now.

"They'll get their punishment." Crowler reassured, motioning for the rest of the kids to come along as he led Atticus over to the front door, wrapping his arm around the boy's shoulder. "Chancellor Sheppard and I will see to that. Don't you worry, my boy."

Looking back up as Crowler's hold on his shoulder tightened, Atticus caught a glance at his professor's own angered facial expression before he opened the door to the Princeton Group HQ.

"I promise you that."

Following Dr. Crowler, the group of students stepped out of the building, realizing the realism of everything that had all happened. Chazz really had been abused and hurt by his brothers, he had been kidnapped and hurt again, put through terrible pain all his life only for it to continue because his brothers had deemed it necessary to potentially destroy his mind just for the possible chance of gaining more power.

Walking down the sidewalks on their way to the train station to return to Domino so they could sail home to Duel Academy, the students ignored the stares and gasps of passersby concerned by the bloodied, unconscious boy they carried along with them, focused only on returning home. But even so, their thoughts and hearts weighed heavy with the events they had all witnessed there.