Chapter XIII: Intervention

Welcome back, everyone, to Peach and Ani's version of the Yugi-verse and Darkness Falls. We'd first like to thank the people who have read and reviewed, however you have reviewed. We disagree strongly with the accusations of racism and homophobia, because they are simply not true. First, how can duel spirits logically have an intimate relationship with humans? It is not logical. Secondly, Peach is heterosexual but has a gay relative and gay friends, while Ani herself is bi-curious. And as RGZ Archer pointed out, just because one writes heterosexuality or an assumed "throwaway line" doesn't mean that one is a homophobe. You are welcome to your own interpretations of our characters; we just might disagree with them.

Ani offers this… "I just have a few things to say. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's fighting of any kind. Especially so if it has to do with something I've made. Please, please, people. If you don't like what you read, simply leave the story and go read something else. Please don't start fights or shoot off insults. It's a waste of energy...and it hurts feelings. That's all I have to say."

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Last time on Yu-Gi-Oh GX: Darkness Falls… Yubel and Alexis had a heart-to-heart about what went on in the past. And then Jaden had nightmares that saw a timeline in which his friends were lost to him, and it resurrected his post-traumatic stress disorder that he got as a child due to the traumas he experienced. The group realized that they had to rally around him, Tyson and Axel explaining that they all needed to be patient.

As usual, the disclaimer. We don't own GX. We just own our interpretations, OCs and this version of the Yugi-verse. If we owned the Yugi-verse… would we be posting here? Maybe… or maybe not…

About four hours later, a Kaiba Corporation helicopter was flying over the Pacific toward the academy. "It's finally happened, Hisoka," Jayda Yuki sighed. "It's the one thing we were both afraid of when he started talking to the duel spirits again..." Jayda looked nearly identical to her 17-year-old son except for obvious feminine characteristics. And right now, she looked like what she was… a very worried mother.

Hisoka Yuki nodded, putting an arm around the love of his life. "But it's taken longer than we thought it would...maybe that's a good thing." He was a Japanese-American man with raven-black hair and soft brown eyes with the lanky frame Jaden had inherited. He was a lawyer by trade and had been responsible for the adoption proceedings that had made Chazz Princeton into Chazz Rhodes.

Dr. Karen Otani looked up from her notes, brushing her raven bangs out of her plump Asian face. "Jayda, Hisoka, from what Dr. Yancy said, Jaden may have pulled out some coping mechanisms. This is related to his earlier episode and he's had more traumas since. When he was with Alexis when the kids were in Domino, I could tell he was hiding something... I think we can get him through this..."

"We'll do whatever it takes to help him through this, Karen. We want him to get better," Hisoka replied, sometimes wondering if he should have become a doctor instead of a lawyer.

Scout Rhodes, a woman who looked like a plump version of her daughter, except for her dark hair and eyes, nodded. "He's such a sweet young man. We're all going to hold him together through this, right, Jack?"

"Of course. If there's anything we can do at all, we won't hesitate to help," Jack, a man who looked like an older Atticus, but with blonde hair and hazel-brown eyes like his daughter, stated.

Jayda sighed again. "Jay-Jay... that he's scared of being abandoned again..."

"Jayda... On some level I feared it when I was Jaden's age," Yugi Muto explained, sitting in his seat and unconsciously rubbing at his wristbands. "Jaden has been through much of what I experienced. He's watched friends be kidnapped and injured, and like me, he blames himself. For a while, I told myself that it wasn't my fault, but another voice inside me said otherwise. And that darker, less rational voice is a hard one to overcome. But it can be overcome," he concluded.

"Yugi is right, Jayda. We have to believe that Jaden will overcome this and we'll be there to support him. His fears won't become a reality...not again," Hisoka added, keeping an arm around his wife.

Jayda sighed again. Kisara Kaiba shifted in her seat. "Jayda, Hisoka... right now, he's terrified. And this may have been a long time in coming..."

And then Jayda's own guilty feelings hit. "Am I that dumb? Why didn't I..?"

"Jayda, don't do that to yourself!" Scout exclaimed suddenly, cutting her off. "When Atticus came home after having been missing, he acted like nothing had happened at first. 'Hi, Mom! Miss me?' he asked when he came through the door. We hugged him, Jack and I made his favorite dinner... And then a few nights later, I woke up to hear him crying. He'd wanted to forget about Nightshroud, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. But he hid what he was feeling. It doesn't make you dumb or, like I thought at first, a bad mom..."

"And the same applies to dads. I know you must be thinking something along those lines, Hisoka. I know I did. That I should have been able to protect him, to be his support. But sometimes there's nothing we can do to prevent what's going to happen. And we can't change it. All we can do is help them get through it and overcome it," Jack explained, remembering the nights he'd stayed in his now-eldest son.

Hisoka sighed, recognizing the other father was correct. "You're right...they both are, Sugar Jay."

Jayda bit her lip, fighting her emotions, trying to hold in the tears of frustration and pain. "I just wish... I could fix it."

Karen sighed gently and smiled. "But you are. Just by loving and supporting him. And you have given him a soft place to fall. He knows he can come to you and talk things out. He'll make it through."

Yugi nodded in agreement. "He's got a wonderful young woman in Alexis."

"And a lot of good friends," Kisara added, reiterating the point.

"He has far more support than before, Jayda. I think this time we may finally get him through this ordeal," Hisoka said reassuringly.

"I hope so," Jayda answered as the helicopter got close to the school. It landed 15 minutes later. Chancellor Shepherd and Dr. Crowler were waiting at the landing pad in the early November sunshine.

"Hello again, everyone," Andrew Shepherd greeted. "I wish the circumstances were different. Jaden's okay and he's sleeping right now."

"Hello, Andrew, Vellian. That's good to hear," Hisoka greeted, the slight strain in his voice evident.

Vellian Crowler took a breath, hearing the strain. "Hisoka... we're all figuring out a plan for him and we'll do what we can to minimize stress."

"Yes, I know that you are and I thank you for it..."

Vellian nodded. "I owe your son my life... He saved me," the Obelisk boys' headmaster explained. "I'm sure he told you about it..."

Hisoka nodded. "Yes, he did. We're very proud of all he's done..."

"Jaden's done so much for this school and the world... We'll get him through this," Shepherd said calmly.

Jayda nodded. "Thank you, Andrew..." The chancellor nodded and walked the parents, counselor, white-blonde doctor and spiky-haired pro-duelist up to Obelisk Blue.

When the adults got to the dorms, Scout and Jack found themselves hugged by two enthusiastic young men. "Hey, Mom! Hey, Dad!" Chazz said eagerly.

"Hey, sweetie," Scout greeted, hugging both her boys tightly in her arms.

"Mom, Dad, it's great to see you!" Atticus said happily, hugging back.

Jack smiled and joined the family hug. "Hey, boys..."

"Where's your sister?" Scout asked, turning serious.

"She was sitting with Jaden... I've never seen him this down," Chazz said. "Hi, Karen," he greeted the counselor.

"Hey, Chazz... still working on being open?" Karen asked, smiling.

"Yeah... I hugged Slacker first when he needed it," the raven-haired young man explained, flushing at the fact that he'd been the first guy to make the move.

"Well, that's progress, kiddo," Karen smiled.

"Hello again, boys," Kisara and Yugi greeted together.

"Hey," Chazz said easily. Now perhaps the small entourage could have gotten through the Obelisk common area without much notice had it been a different time of day and a different day. But today was Sunday and students were snacking on brunch or late lunches.

"OH HOLY CRAP! IT'S YUGI!!!" a girlish squeal rang out.

"Oh, no," Yugi groaned softly.

Atticus blinked. "Whoa. And I thought my fan girls were bad," he muttered as more squealing ensued.

Dr. Crowler, however, moved to the stairs. "Everyone, you may have opportunity to speak with Yugi Muto later. But right now, he has urgent business in these dorms along with Mrs. Kaiba, the Rhodes family, the Yukis and Dr. Karen Otani. So please give everyone some space."

"Oh, yeah, because the Slifer Slacker lost his marbles?" asked a voice with a familiar Tennessee accent. Dr. Crowler and Chancellor Shepherd both turned toward the sound of the voice. Their eyes blazed with anger, which was a sight to see on Chancellor Shepherd.

"Terry Rogers," Atticus growled, his own rare anger sprouting up. "You'd better take that back!"

The parents were in shock at this. But what surprised everyone was Chazz. No one in the room was laughing at Terry's comments, but Chazz, in his mind's eye heard Terry's taunts from two years ago when he, Chazz, had risked demotion. He remembered how humiliated he had felt. At that moment, Charles Xavier Rhodes snapped. And within seconds, before his mother, father, brother or anyone else could stop him, Chazz ran, grabbed the teal-haired boy with the Benjamin Franklin-style spectacles and began punching. "DON'T YOU EVER SAY THAT AGAIN, YOU JERK!!!" he shouted, fists flying.

For a moment, the room was frozen. "CHAZZ!!! BRO, STOP!!" Atticus yelled, running over to his brother. Some other Obelisk boys joined in, managing to separate Chazz from a very beaten Terry.

Terry growled. "Figures... you'd defend him, you Slifer sludge," he panted, sporting a black eye and bloody nose. His glasses, fortunately, had fallen off when Chazz had throttled him. Had Chazz not been stopped, he might have done a great deal of damage. Kisara knelt and checked Terry.

In the meantime, Chazz shook in his brother's grip. "He... had it coming... jerk..."

"Charles Xavier Rhodes, what were you thinking?!" Scout exclaimed.

"It's worth the suspension, Mom!" Chazz countered, his dark eyes flashing like a lightning-shot storm cloud. "Jaden's not nuts!"

"That may be true, Chazz, but there is never a good reason to attack anyone. Violence doesn't help anything; it only makes things worse," Jack explained seriously, knowing that Chazz needed to understand this message now and not later.

Chazz, still shaking and quite pale, nodded. "I... I know, Dad, and I'll take the punishment. It's just... It's just... Terry... He never cares and he tosses people away..."

"There are a lot of people like that in the world, bro. We'll always have to deal with them... Dad's right, fighting them like this won't help anything. We just need to stand up to them," Atticus said, loosening his grip on his younger brother.

"Yeah... Sometimes... they don't listen even if you stand up to them," the younger boy shivered.

"Chazz? Baby, what is it?" Scout asked gently.

"He's like...them," the boy muttered.

Jack frowned. "You're right, son... But you've stood up to them and Terry. Maybe not always in the right way, but you have. And it will be a long time before either of them tries anything again."

Chazz nodded quietly. Kisara had finished up with Terry by this time and now moved to Chazz. "You are going to have quite a sore knuckle," she scolded gently. "Remind you of anyone, Yugi?"

Yugi nodded, smiling a little. "Two someones... Both of whom now work together. But one of those someones is married to you."

"Do you mean Seto and Joey?" Atticus asked. Seto was a dead giveaway from Yugi's words, and he'd heard about Joey becoming in charge of Kaiba Corp. Air.

Yugi nodded. "Yes. They both tended to solve problems with their fists. Joey was more of a streetwise fighter, but Seto... Well, he's got a black belt in karate."

"He does?! Cool! I didn't know he had a black belt!" Atticus exclaimed, grinning.

"Oh, he does," Kisara answered, "and so do I. Chazz, you're going to have a scar..."

"Yeah... it's okay," he said as she made the last adjustment to a bandage. "There you go. Just take it easy on this tonight."

"I will, Kisara," Chazz promised, still angry with himself and yet… strangely satisfied.

Terry, scowling from where he sat, growled, "Yeah, hide behind them, you Slifer loser! You ain't fit to be here, and you went runnin' 'cause you knew it!"

That was the wrong thing to say. Yugi's violet eyes snapped. "You will be quiet, young man. He has as much right to be at this school as anyone else. He has proven his worth time and again. And what have you done?" Terry scowled at the King of Games.

"Just been cool," the teal-headed teen said angrily.

"What about making friends?" Yugi tried.

"Friends are nothin' unless they get you somewhere," the boy answered. Yugi sighed, remembering this argument made by others long ago.

"If only Tea was here with one of her friendship speeches," Atticus muttered, giving a wry grin.

"Oh, I can handle that," Kisara said. "Yugi, tell me if I get it wrong... Terry, you need friends and they aren't about getting you somewhere. They're about being there for you as you journey together. Friendship's a great thing and if you think it's all about power, then you are a sad individual..." Terry scowled, still unreceptive.

"He's been like this since our first year...I don't know if you're getting through to him, doc," Atticus said.

"Well, he'll have time to contemplate the meaning of friendship, of life and academic security," Dr. Crowler said sternly. "Chazz, you are receiving three days in-house suspension, which means you will study but you will not attend formal classes. As for you, Terry, for provoking Chazz and continuing in your actions, and since you were already suspended for your treatment of Miss Rhodes, you are hereby expelled from Duel Academy!" Then Terry exploded. His language was... memorable. The parents' jaws dropped in shock, the teens stared at the Obelisk with wide eyes, and the others in the room were stunned into silence.

Yugi's jaw dropped as Terry was promptly taken from the room. "And I thought I'd heard bad language when Joey hit his thumb trying to build Angela, Jo-Jo and Gina's tree house... and fixing the bathroom cabinet," he said, sweat-dropping.

"Does he kiss his mother with that mouth?" Hisoka muttered disapprovingly.

Chazz sighed. "I don't know... Mom... Dad... bro, sis... sorry..." He knew he'd done the wrong thing. 'But why did the wrong thing feel so good?' he wondered in his head.

Jack placed a hand on his youngest son's shoulder. "It's okay, son. You let your anger take the reins for a moment...it happens to all of us at one point or another."

"Yeah... I just... Am I like them?" he asked. "I...just had to hit him," he muttered, looking down at his bandaged right fist.

"Sweetie... that doesn't make you like them," Scout tried, sensing his fear of being like those he'd escaped.

"You know what you did was wrong, bro. You even said sorry...did they ever do that?" Atticus added.

"Well... when it started, they did," Chazz remembered at the edge of his memories. "But then... they kept going..."

Kisara sighed. "Chazz... there's a difference here that you're forgetting... You know the difference between right and wrong and you don't fight unless you feel you have to."

Scout nodded. "Sweetheart, you didn't need to hit Terry, but I think your heart was in the right place." Wordlessly, she pulled her youngest into a hug.

Jack and Atticus joined the family hug, knowing that Chazz was confused and needed support. "It's okay, bro..."

Chazz let himself relax into the hug. "Bro... is everyone else still with Jaden?" he asked after a long moment.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Atticus answered.

"We need to go there then... I'm okay," Chazz said finally. And so the group wandered back to the crowded dorm room. Jaden was still sound asleep. "He's been sleeping for about four hours," Miss Fontaine explained to the doctors and worried mothers. "He seems like he's resting easily now. He sleeps a lot in class..."

"He feels safer there," Crowler said thoughtfully as Jayda and Hisoka moved to the bedside as Alexis moved aside.

"Jay-Jay," Jayda murmured, brushing the boy's bangs from his face.

Hisoka placed his larger hand over his son's. "We're here, son..."

Jaden stirred slightly, but didn't cry out. Instead, he stayed in that calm sleep. "Vellian... what you said about Jaden," Karen began. "He sleeps in class a lot?"

Crowler nodded, taking an available seat. "Yes. He sleeps a lot in class. The only class he doesn't sleep in, I believe, is gym class." Fonda nodded confirmation. So Crowler continued, "He even slept in his favorite class in his first year, and that was with Professor Banner..."

"Hmmm... I think you're right," Karen said gently. "Syrus, Tyson, you've been his roommates. How well did he sleep in the dorms with you two?"

Tyson looked at Syrus meaningfully. "I think you know more than me, soldier..."

"Well, he always slept really deeply. It took me forever to wake him up for school in the morning, even when he didn't stay up late dueling," Syrus explained.

"What about when he didn't have a lot of people around him?" Karen asked curiously. "Did he look tired in the day?"

Syrus nodded. "Yeah. He'd take naps outside of class, too. Usually under his tree by the Slifer dorm."

Karen nodded, taking notes. "Hmm... he's good... He'd almost always act like nothing was bothering him?" Everyone looked at each other.

Jasmine answered. "Yeah. He's the one who always tries to cheer us up. When he's down... and that hasn't happened too often... we try to cheer him up, but mostly he comes out of it on his own." Karen nodded again, writing as quickly and accurately as she could.

"Hmmm... Alexis, you've been sleeping in the same room with him for a while. Does he ever stir in his sleep, cry out?" the counselor asked.

"Well...sometimes. But it never lasts long, and when I ask him about it, he says it was nothing."

Karen nodded, making another note. "Thanks, Alexis... Okay, here's what we're going to do. Guys, I know this is going to be rough, but I'm going to try something. We're going to let him sleep, but Alexis, you're going to sleep in another bed. Jayda and Hisoka, you can sleep in the other bed. I'll sit in this room and observe how he sleeps. If I'm right, he's not going to sleep easily once the rest of you are out of here."

No one liked that idea. "What? Leave the Sarge?!" Tyson yelped, not wanting to do it.

"But we can't just leave him! We said we'd be here!" Syrus added, thoroughly distressed by the idea.

"And I promised Jaden that I'd stay by him, too. I'm worried for him," Alexis said sincerely, frowning down at her fiancé's still form.

Karen sighed. "I have to know for sure that feeling like he's alone is part of this. If he is suffering a relapse of PTSD, then I'll know in a few hours. We'll do this tonight. Alexis, you won't leave this suite, and if he wakes up, you can be with him, okay?" She sighed, knowing Alexis wasn't entirely convinced. "This isn't easy, but this is how I'm going to know how to treat him... Guys, I'll be right in here."

Alexis also sighed, looking down. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere, and that Karen must know what she was doing. "...Fine..."

Jayda could see the doubt. "Alexis... honey... I know it's hard," she said, moving to touch her future daughter-in-law's hand. "I had to not be in the room with him one night... Remember, Hisoka?" she asked. Jaden had to be tested for sleep disorders and be observed by a psychologist one night, but Jayda and Hisoka couldn't be in the room with him.

Hisoka nodded. "Yes, I remember. Neither of us wanted to leave him alone for the night, but we had to. Just like now..."

"So Alexis, we understand," Jayda finished.

"I know...but it's still hard..." Alexis muttered, still a little upset by it.

Scout moved close and hugged her daughter as well. "Honey... somehow it's going to be all right... And Daddy and I are here for you too..."

Jack hugged Alexis with his wife comfortingly. "It's just for a night... Right, Karen?"

"I think so," Karen answered. "I may have to observe him for a couple of nights, but tonight he needs to be alone in the bed. If he has a really bad dream, Alexis, like I said, you can get in bed with him again..." Alexis nodded solemnly. She knew that it was for the best, and that she didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

And so, it seems the gang can't be there for Jaden like they want to be. But it isn't the best for him that they stay in the room. So next time, the gang prepares for a long night in "Phantasms." So until then, please read, review and stay tuned! Thank you!