It was very early in the day, maybe about four or five in the morning, but James was still wide awake from the events playing out in one of the rooming houses.

He paced back and forth in his room, the anger and betrayal simmering just below the surface. He always had a feeling that there was trouble brewing within the Academy, but he didn't imagine that it would result in a brawl breaking out amongst themselves. "Their own teammates!" James kept muttering beside himself, not sure how to proceed with the investigation.

"This would have never happened in my time," James continued arguing with himself. "We never would have beat each other up like idiots set out to kill ourselves. We were teammates, dammit!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his son, Fox, peek through the slightly open door, slightly in a daze as he was seeing what his father was doing awake early in the morning. James glanced back at his son, looking a bit guilty for waking him up.

"What's going on?" Fox asked.

James sighed, running his hand through his hair. "Just dealing with some business at the Academy, son. Nothing for you to worry about."

"Is it about the fight last night?"

James narrowed his eyes. "How on earth do you know about that?"

"Bill was texting me about some commotion last night. Does this have something to do with those guys you were complaining about earlier?"

James bit his lips, then nodded in reply. "It could be. Nobody was talking much, so I'll probably launch some kind of investigation or something. But it looks that way."

"Are you expelling someone, then?"

"Only if I have to," James replied, his expression serious. "If it means protecting the integrity of the Academy and the Cornerian Army as a whole, then I'll have to do what I have to do."

"Only if I have to," James replied, his expression serious. "If it means protecting the integrity of the Academy and the Cornerian Army as a whole, then I'll have to do what I have to do."

Fox nodded solemnly, understanding the gravity of the situation. He knew the sense of duty and honor that was instilled in him, but he didn't quite know yet how to express it to his father. Still, he nodded in agreement and admiration, and James went over towards Fox, gently reaching for the door.

"You'll have to excuse me," said James gently. "I have to make a phone call now. But I appreciate your concern, son."

James smiled softly as he glanced into Fox's eyes. He couldn't help but think of what his own life was like when he was Fox's age. As he closed the door, he shook his head as he started to mumble to himself. "The Army was a beacon of hope for the Lylat System, a symbol of strength and unity. Now this silly little infighting has gotten out of hand, tearing everything apart with it. This has to be put to a stop somehow..."

James brought out his cellphone and dialed a number he knew very well, a good friend from his own Academy days. His friend would be able to get to the bottom of this.

"Mr. Grey? We need to talk..."

There wasn't a day that went by that Wolf wasn't looking over his shoulder in the hallways of the Academy, wondering if anyone would notice his fading bruise marks or figure out his involvement in some way. It had been a week since the brawl in the rooming house, and the atmosphere of the entire campus was very tense - everybody who came near anyone who was inside the rooming house glared at them with contempt and dismay. Wolf kept his head down, not saying anything or listening to any of the remarks that the other students threw at him as he walked by.

Wolf knew he had to keep a low profile to avoid any suspicion, but the guilt and shame he felt inside was unbearable. Even after what he went through in his childhood, he had never been more afraid in his life. He worked hard to get where he was, and he wasn't going to let a stupid fight ruin his reputation and his future.

As he walked towards the classroom, he heard footsteps behind him. Wolf turned around to see who was approaching him, but there was nobody there. In fact, there wasn't anyone nearby in the hallway. Most of the students had gone into their classrooms by now, so Wolf simply shrugged it off and kept walking. But the footsteps continued, getting louder with each passing moment.

"Who is it?" Wolf shouted out in the hallway. Nobody responded. Wolf's migraine, which started shortly after the fight, quickly intensified. He shook his head, wondering in his mind if anything he was taking was starting to effect his mind.

He continued walking carefully, not making a noise, but started hearing the loud footsteps again. "Fuck this," Wolf snarled bitterly. "I'll just go to the library. I can't focus like this." He started walking as quickly as he could without raising suspicion, his heart racing with fear. He kept going faster, ignoring everything around him, until he made it to the library, and started going to the back corner where he was certain he could be alone.

Wolf sat down on a nearby couch, leaning on the armrest as he was catching his breath. Just before he could fully collect himself, he noticed a familiar figure approaching him, his thick sunglasses letting Wolf know exactly who it was, and Wolf's heart immediately sank.

"Good morning, sir," said Wolf, biting his lips as he attempted to keep his voice steady.

"Good morning," replied James, his expression stern. "May we talk for a moment?"

Wolf felt a knot form in his stomach, knowing full well what James was wanting to talk about at that moment. "Of course," Wolf responded reluctantly, trying not to panic.

James sat down next to Wolf, his eyes never leaving Wolf's face. "I understand you were involved in the incident at the rooming house."

"Yes, sir."

"I see... can you tell me what happened?"

Wolf swallowed hard. "I'm not sure what I can tell you that you don't already know."

"I've been investigating who's been fermenting anger and chaos inside our ranks... and I think I know who was responsible."

Wolf sat silent, not knowing what else to say.

"You started the fight, didn't you?"

"What makes you say that?" Wolf asked cautiously, his voice barely above a whisper.

James leaned in closer to Wolf, his voice low and serious. "I'm told that you were the one who instigated the fight. I have evidence supporting this, Wolf. There's no sense denying it anymore, not with that solemn look on your face."

Wolf said nothing, not wanting to incriminate himself further than he already had.

"It's not so much about the fight," continued James. "It's that this isn't even the first time you've caused trouble at the Academy. And from what I'm hearing, you've done nothing but cause chaos your entire life. Now, I had hoped that you had moved on from that phase in your life-"

"What difference does it make?" Wolf shouted, feeling a surge of anger rise in his blood. "There were five other guys drunk as hell that were trying to provoke a fight, shouting all kinds of things at me... it just got out of hand!"

"You should have thought about that before you let your emotions get the better of you!" James shouted sharply. "There's people talking all about this on the campus. Do you realize the amount of distrust you've grown in the last few days, O'Donnell? We have no room in the Cornerian Army for thugs like you, going about like vigilantes while flaunting authority on a regular basis. I had hoped you were nothing more than a poor student... but clearly, I was wrong."

Wolf felt his heart shatter into a million pieces. He was coming close to breaking down in tears, nervously biting his fingers and doing everything he could not to lose it in front of James.

James let out a long sigh before speaking again. "I'm going to have to expel you, Wolf," he said slowly, his voice filled with regret. "You've left me with no other choice. You've proven yourself to be a danger to this Academy and its students."

At once, Wolf's inhibitions burst and unleashed itself. "This is outrageous! There were witnesses! There hasn't even been a trial!"

"This is your trial, young man," James scolded back. "You had so many months to change your ways, but you clearly haven't learned a thing. You're also being recorded right now as we speak, so don't even think about talking back to me!"

Wolf stood sternly in front of James, his eyes burning with rage, his fist clenched up tightly.

"You have two hours to pack your bags and leave the premises," James said sternly. "I suggest you use that time to reflect on your actions and consider what you've done."

Wolf wasted no time in storming out of the library, his mind racing in multiple directions as a couple of security guards followed his steps back to the rooming house. All he wanted was to strangle that good-for-nothing professor, but it would only confirm McCloud's suspicions and get him into more trouble.

It took him less than a half hour to pack his things and leave the premises, as he was so furious, he took out his anger on the few items he had in his possession, heatedly shoving his clothing into a suitcase without any caution or care.

As he stepped outside the rooming house for the last time, his fist clenched again in seething fury, feeling the cool breeze brush against his face, doing nothing to cool down his temper. He stood silently for a moment, feeling tempted to look back at the rooming house one last time, but he couldn't. He didn't want to. In fact, he would rather do anything but look back at his past.

Leon noticed Wolf standing in the middle of the doorway, eying the suitcase in his hand. "Wolf! What happened?"

"Piss off," scowled Wolf, storming off within a flash.

Leon froze where he stood, his whole mind descending into dread. He had a feeling on what had happened but didn't want to confront it or go out of his way to figure out exactly what occurred.

Wolf marched angrily across the courtyard, his heart pounding out of his chest as he tried to keep his composure up. His mind was on fire, enraged with all the emotions bottled up within the past few months starting to leak out. He wanted so bad to break down, to just let it all out, but he couldn't. He hated himself deep down for being so weak and vulnerable, cursing himself under his breath.

Eventually, Wolf couldn't take it anymore, and ran straight into a nearby alleyway away from everyone's sight. He collapsed onto the ground, his head leaning against the wall as the tears streamed down his face uncontrollably. His heart felt so heavy that it seemed impossible for him to be able to stand back on his feet again. Wolf just allowed himself to sob silently in that corner of the alleyway, wanting nothing more than for his whole life to start over again.

Word had quickly started to spread throughout the Academy. Rumours started to turn into elements of truth. Eventually, Algy saw that Wolf's belongings had left their apartment, and Algy quickly put two and two together.

With his own fury enveloping inside of him, Algy quickly went over to Professor McCloud's office, not even bothering to knock on his door as he barged in.

James quickly turned around, first not seeing the short-statured lemur, but then glanced downwards as he saw the primate scowl bitterly when their eyes met.

"Mr. Pierce," James started calmly. "What can I do for you?"

"You know very damn well what's happened," Algy sulked. "I'd like an explanation as to why you've thrown Wolf out."

James put down the tablet he was glancing over as he leaned over on his desk sternly, overlooking Algy's bitter attitude. "I understand the two of you were quite close, Mr. Pierce, but I can assure you, it was a necessary action. In addition to causing the fight inside the rooming house last week -"

"I told you he wasn't the one that started it!" shouted Algy in disgust. "Why don't you believe me?"

"It's not a question of believing someone or not. It's a matter of taking in the evidence presented and making a conclusion on it. And given his checkered history both before joining the Academy and his mindset towards classes, I had little choice but to expel him."

"Not even without as much as a warning or punishment?"

"This is the real world, Mr. Pierce. Actions result in consequences. This is one such action that warranted severe consequences."

Algy paused, doing his best to keep his temper at bay as he simmered in outrage. "He sympathized with the people of Venom, you know. He came from a poverty-stricken neighbourhood, and knew exactly what the dissidents of Venom were fighting for."

"What does this have to do with Wolf?"

"Everything," Algy scorned. "You've taken every opportunity to brand the people of Venom as nothing but radical terrorists. Has it ever occurred to you that they simply want the freedoms and liberties that every citizen of the Lylat System enjoys? Instead the Army keeps bashing their heads in every time there's a demonstration or uprising."

"Wolf's opinions on politics had nothing to do with this," James replied, his tone quickly turning sour.

"Is it? I had a suspicion when I started here that something wasn't quite right with the Army, but this incident just proves that you're only looking out for yourselves, rather than serving the entire Lylat System. Wolf knew that. He wanted to liberate the impoverished and the oppressed, both on Corneria and Venom."

"That's enough, -"

"Furthermore, it only proves that you and the Academy are more concerned with maintaining compliance than addressing the systemic issues within the Lylat System. You're just protecting the status quo... and your bottom line."

James stood up, his face reddening with anger. "That will be all, Mr. Pierce." The two stared each other down intensely, both glaring at each other with disgust.

"It's days like this that make me wonder if Andross had a point to all this. He cared about the poor, the sick, the needy. He didn't let internal squabbles get in the way of furthering the cause of justice -"

"I think it's best if you leave my office now," James interrupted coldly. "I won't tolerate any more of your political grandstanding."

Algy clenched his fist, his fur prickling with anger. "You're nothing but a coward for expelling Wolf, Professor. You know damn well he didn't start the fight. You were just looking for an excuse to get rid of him."

"I said leave."

Algy glanced at James for a moment, then jumped onto the desk so that the two would see eye to eye, face to face. "You want me to leave? Fine! You'll never see my face around here again! You can take your preachy little self to your little minions and see where that takes you! And you can kiss my ass too on my way out! It's not like you haven't done that before!"

"Get. Out."

Algy didn't need to be told once more. He stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him. He walked outside the front doors of the Academy, where Leon had been patiently waiting for Algy.

"What happened?"

Algy gave a cocky smirk, almost giggling with himself. "It's over. It's done."

"What's done?"

"I quit the Academy."

"You quit -" Leon interrupted himself, shaking his head in disbelief. "You... actually quit the Academy?"

"I even told McCloud off, in his face!"

Leon chuckled, even if in the back of his mind he knew that he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous for the next few days ahead. "Well... what now?"

"First, we find Wolf," Algy started. "Then, we need to get some things in order. Come on, we have work to do!"