Atticus's Story

Ryan and Alexis headed towards the infirmary and found that Atticus was already awake. He was sitting up in bed while rubbing his head as if he had a headache.

"Atticus." Alexis said as she ran up to her brother and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Alexis, what's going on?" Atticus asked, sounding very confused.

"I was so worried about you." Alexis said, crying tears of joy. Suddenly Atticus seemed to remember something.

"Wait, where am I?" He asked.

"Duel Academy. You're in the infirmary." Alexis answered.

'Thank god that someone found me.' Atticus thought as more of his mind returned to him. Just then Atticus noticed that Alexis was wearing a Duel Academy uniform.

'Wait a second, Alexis isn't old enough to be a student here unless-'

"Alexis, how long was I gone?" Atticus asked, sounding very worried.

"About a year and a half." Alexis answered as she finally let go of Atticus.

"A year and a half." A very surprised Atticus said.

"Atticus it was so horrible without you. I thought you were dead." Alexis said sound ashamed of herself.

"It's okay I'm back now, just tell me what happened." Atticus said.

Alexis told Atticus everything that had happened while he was gone. She told him about the papers that their parents had signed to say that he never existed. She told him about how she had run away and then came to Duel Academy in the hopes of finding him. By the time that Alexis was done Atticus was stunned into silence.

"They really signed something like that?" Atticus asked unable to believe his own parents would do that. Alexis nodded sadly the memory of that day still made her angry. Atticus noticed that Alexis was troubled by this so he changed the subject.

"So how did you find me anyway?" Atticus asked.

"Well, we didn't exactly find you." Alexis admitted.

"What do you mean?" Atticus asked. Alexis took a deep breath before she explained what had happened.

"Atticus the people who kidnapped you, they did something to you. They brainwashed you or something like that and turned you into someone called Nightshroud. You didn't know who you were, you didn't even recognize me and then you attacked me and Ryan." Alexis explained.

Atticus was horrified at what he heard. The thought that he attacked his own sister was pure torture to him. Then Atticus realized that there was one part of Alexis's sentence that he didn't know about.

"Wait, who's Ryan?" He asked.

"That would be yours truly." He introduced himself while leaning against the wall in the back of the room so he wouldn't interrupt their reunion.

"Atticus this is my friend Ryan. He helped me look for you when I first arrived here and he's the one who defeated you while you were Nightshroud." Alexis explained.

"Really, well thanks for helping my sister. Hang on I didn't hurt you when we dueled did I." Atticus said, sounding horrified at the thought. Ryan thought about the burn scars that his gloves covered.

"It was nothing fatal." Ryan said determining that in the end Atticus wasn't the one responsible for his injuries.

Ryan then took a seat on one of the nearby beds.

"Atticus I know it might be too sudden to ask you this, but is there anything you remember about being kidnapped that could aid us." He said.

Atticus tried to remember what happened that day.

"I remember that I was asked to go to the basement of the blue dorm. There was supposed to be some kind of test there." He said.

Atticus held his head as if he was in pain.

"When I got there the whole place was covered in weird symbols. It looked like something from a cult, I tried to leave but the door shut behind me, it was as if someone had locked it." Atticus continued.

"Then some kind of black slime came out of the symbols, I tried to get away but there was nowhere to go. The next thing I remember was being in a place that was completely black." Atticus said.

Atticus's headache seemed to increase as he continued to remember what had happened.

"I heard a voice. Someone said that they could save me if I helped them unleash something called the Sacred Beasts." This part got Ryan and Alexis's attention.

"There was something off about this person, I knew that they were up to something so I refused." Atticus said. He suddenly started to hug himself it seemed that the next part was quite traumatic. Alexis placed her hand on Atticus's shoulder to calm him down.

"They tortured me, I don't know how much time passed but I never gave in. I just couldn't help someone like that. Finally, they said that they had found a way to make me obedient and that's the last thing I remember. The next thing I know I'm waking up here." Atticus said, finishing his story.

"I guess that must be when they removed your mind and replaced it with Nightshroud's." Alexis said.

"Alexis, I'm sorry for whatever I did during that time." Atticus said.

"Don't worry about that, it wasn't you." Alexis stated, trying to reassure her brother.

"Did you recognize the voice?" Ryan asked.

"I'm sorry, but it was a voice that I'd never heard before." Atticus said.

Suddenly Atticus's eyes widened as he remembered something.

"Wait there is one thing. I don't know who the voice in the darkness was, but I do know who asked me to go into the basement that day." He said.

"Who?" Ryan and Alexis asked at the same time.

"It was professor Banner. He even asked me in person." Atticus said surprising the two.

"Professor Banner, but why would he do that? It doesn't make any sense." Alexis said.

"Unless he's connected to the Shadow Riders." Ryan replied.

All three of their faces turned pure white when they realized what this could mean.

"We need to find professor Banner, now." Ryan said in a serious tone.

The three ran out of the infirmary determined to find Banner. Ryan stopped one of the students who was passing by.

"Have you seen Banner?" He asked.

"No." The student answered.

"Have you seen Banner?" Alexis asked another student.

"No." The student answered.

"HAS ANYONE SEEN BANNER!" Atticus shouted so that everyone could hear him.

"Yeah, I think he's in his office." One student among the crowd said.

The three quickly began to run towards Professor Banner's office. Along the way they saw Jaden and Chazz entering one of Professor Sartyr's classes along with many other students.

Ryan grabbed Jaden and Chazz by the back of their collars and dragged them away from the group of students.

"Follow us." Ryan said.

"Hey, what's going on?" An annoyed Chazz asked.

"We'll fill you in on the way." Ryan told him.

The three explained to Jaden and Chazz that they believed that Banner may have something to do with the Shadow Riders. Chazz was skeptical and Jaden straight up didn't believe them.

"You guys are crazy, Professor Banner would never do something like that." Jaden said.

"Are you sure?" Ryan asked.

"Well he's on our side, isn't he?" Jaden questioned.

"That could just be what he wants you to believe." Ryan told him.

The group soon reached Professor Banner's office. Jaden attempted to open the door only to find that it was locked.

"It's locked, maybe Chancellor Sheppard has a spare key." He said.

However before anyone could even suggest asking Sheppard for help Ryan pulled his staff out and sliced through the door.

"Or we could just do that." Jaden said.

Banner's office was very quiet. However everyone could see that professor Banner was inside. He was sitting in his chair facing away from them, he hadn't even reacted to Ryan slicing through his door.

"Professor Banner, we need to talk." He said as he walked up to the chair. Banner gave no response and Ryan spun his chair around.

Everyone had a immediate reaction at what they saw.