Meanwhile, as Duke was coming back, Daisy and Wheeler awoke. "That was a good sleep! I haven't rested that good in a while." Wheeler stated as he stretched. "Yeah same, I haven't slept this late since ever." 

"So what-" 

The Chief was was going to ask what Daisy wanted to do today since it was his weekly day off when all of a sudden the room shook. "What the heck's going on?" Daisy asked looking out the window to see her brother attempting to either destroy the city or take people. She couldn't really tell just from looking out the window.  

"So what's the sitch?" Wheeler asked, wondering what could be causing this much noise. "It's Duke but... Something seems off with him. Come on we have to see what's wrong with him." Daisy stated as she darted out of Wheeler's apartment with the chief following right behind. 

"Dang, either he's got a thorn stuck in his foot or someone's cracked the little dude like an egg!" The long yelped. He wasn't going to wait around to find out, he dashed over to the giant, blue dragon as quickly as he could. Daisy meanwhile was on her way to the research center, they needed a way to undo the transformation right this minute.

"Duke's what? He couldn't have come at a worse possible time, Dr Wexler went out of the city himself. Said something about needing chemicals from out of this world. Whatever that means." Dr Ravenhurst exclaimed. "He didn't say exactly where he was going either, but knowing him it's probably to some expensive university he used to go to." 

"So he's not here? And there's still no news on what can break these pendants and make everyone human again? There has to be something! What if we tried mixing this blue stuff in with the glop?" The red dragon was reaching around several chemicals, throwing them all into a pot until something happened. Well something aside from blowing up.

Poppy remained in the lab while the team set off, she was still uneasy going out as a werewolf. "I hope the others are okay, you don't think Duke, like, ate them or something do you?" 

"No way! Even if he was totally mind-wiped, there's gotta be something to knock some sense into him!" Daisy snapped. "I'm getting my brother back or die trying."

Meanwhile Wheeler was trying to get him back via all the technics he knew. He didn't have an actual plan so he prayed that this would work.  

"Duke, please snap out of this! This isn't you!" He started only to get roared at. Wheeler wasn't going to take this, he moved to his next move.   

His next move was stroking him, starting with with hair. "You always calmed down when I did this." Wheeler stated before shushing every so often. However, he was shook off the blue dragon's head. "Wh- Dukester, please you still have to be in there, somewhere deep inside I know you haven't left me!" He cried out in an attempt to break his metaphorical son out of this.  

This unfortunately didn't work since he was both roared and swatted at. The feeling that he has lost his son basically made the long very distressed, so distressed in fact he started losing himself. Again.

He started to turn into a full long again and started to wrap his long dragon body around Duke in a hug to get him back to normal, constricting his movements to just float in place. The blue dragon tried to escape but couldn't since Wheeler was bigger and longer than he was.

Duke growled, squirming in an attempt to break out of his father figure's grip. But something felt oddly familiar about the hug, as if he knew the older dragon from somewhere. He saw himself as a regular human holding a heavy suitcase, at awe with a small bedroom. He was wrapped up in a hug by a silver haired man, it felt comforting.  

Wheeler kept his chin atop of the corrupted dragon's head, murmuring softly the longer he held on. He wouldn't be alone for long, as a fiery red dragoness flew in to join them. "Brother." Was all she uttered out, wrapping her arms around him. Duke's eyes widened, it seemed as if the tight holds were working. 

A few tears fell down the blue dragon's eyes as he begun to remember. The other two didn't let go at all, in fear that at any moment he could lose himself again. "W.. Wheeler?" Duke finally uttered out. "Daisy?" 

He turned his head around, realizing what he had done, and the choker around his neck wouldn't last long. Just being surrounded by his family overpowered Cassian's hold on him, cracking the jewel encrusted collar until it was nothing more than a pile of ash and smoke. "Family.."

Soon enough, the three dragons calmed down, turning back into their normal anthro selves. "I'm sorry I caused all of this..." Duke muttered embarrassed. "Nah it's all chill, at least for right now. Now then what happened? And where are the others?" The long asked.   

"Oh the others! They're being held captive by Cassian who's using them for nefarious things! I have to go back!" Duke stated as he started to go back. "Wait, Duke, we'll go with you. After all, you'd need some reinforcements right?" the red dragon asked, mainly just wanting to be with her bro. "But I don't want you to get hurt-" 

"Hey it's not like I'm some defenseless girl, Duke, I got bombs." Daisy stated. "Well, I guess you're right. If you're sure you can protect yourself, I don't see why you can't come. Alright let's go before Cassian kills them or something." 

With that, the three dragons started traveling back to the portal That Cassian left open for him to return to. Speaking of, Cassian was sitting in his hideout waiting for Duke to return. "Geez, what's taking that dragon so long?! I need to get these chockers on those damn creatures so I can start my uprising." He sighed to himself dramatically.

"Maybe if you spent those ten years thinking about vat you've done instead of pinning the blame on everyone else, you would have been allowed back home." Floyd grumbled. "You rejected science to the point where you'd rather take up a forbidden art than mix some chemicals together in a test tube." 

"Silence you! It appears the entire world had fallen apart during my absence, you've all forgotten your magic roots in the face of something new and flashy. I bet you can't even summon a cauldron anymore!" The dark wizard snapped. More chokers were built while Duke was on the attack, all that was needed was to recruit everyone else. " 

Floyd sighed, he didn't tell anyone this but ever since he had to banish Cassian, he had been working on a way to bring back the mage. Ranging from creating an artificial soul to replace the one he drained to trying to invent the polar opposite of blood magic, nothing seemed to work. "Since you were gone it's like aging gone by rapidly for us both. My hair was once a lovely blonde and now it's all grey!" 

"So it seems, you do fit the mad scientist look perfectly with it at least." Cassian purred. "Don't you worry, my spellbook has an immortality spell. Once this world and the one I was banished to are both conquered, we can rule together. Isn't that what you want? Hmm? Why else were you so desperate to be my friend?" 

"I.. I just thought you were lonely. I was hoping I could show you magic and science can go hand in hand. I learned that when I met Rave-ermmm.. A woman named Gwen." 

This got Cassian's attention. "Your accent, haven't I seen you before? As in just a few days ago?" He demanded, holding Floyd up by the neck. "Just in the very city I set up shop in."

Floyd just struggled against the grip of the hand around his neck. "I-I Don't know vat you're talking about-" 

"No, I definitely heard it from a scientist... Wait... That was you wasn't it? You share the same last name. And you were defacing magic. 'Oh, magic isn't real' my ass!" The dark mage shouted, slamming the scientist to the ground. Upon which Floyd groaned in pain. "Oh did I hurt you? Let me heal that with magic!" Cassian continued before healing him.  

"So you decided to move out from our world to the world I was banished to? And you didn't even try to find me?!" Cassian snapped at the shorter male. "I did at first but-" 

"Oh yeah, you were probably too busy with your science and assumably your girlfriend." The mage scoffed. The scientist just looked confused. "...Girlfriend-" 

"Don't play dumb with me! I'm talking about that Gwen woman you mentioned! I bet she's a scientist too. Though I suppose I'm not shocked, you always were more 'normal' than I ever was. I am shocked that you just go there, do all those things to spite me... But oh well, now we're here together and nothing can stop me from-" Cassian was then interrupted by loud claw sounds coming from the roof. 

Duke landed in front of the two humans, furious at Cassian for breaking his mind. "Let him go, before I do something I'll regret." He hissed. 

The mage snapped his fingers again, but it didn't work as the choker had long disintegrated. He was certain nothing could break them, whether it be magic or science. "So one of you broke free, it's no concern of mine. I still have your little boyfriend, that moronic Sleipnir, and those two lovebirds." Cassian purred. "Pin him down! I will just have to behead him for his treachery."

In an instant, Duke's brainwashed team charged forward, all kicking and biting at the large dragon. It would take a lot to damage him physically, but it still hurt seeing his friends now under the command of a vengeance-obsessed mage. "Guys stop! It's just me, Duke!" He pleaded. "You don't have to listen to that cold-hearted wizard, you have to snap out of it!"

But they didn't stop, they wouldn't until they finished the job. Not wanting to hurt his friends, Duke flapped his wings as hard as he could, flying high enough to get away from his attackers. Or so he thought. He yelped loudly when he felt sharp fangs pierce through his shoulder, snake fangs to be precise. The outlaw slithered onto him before he took off and was constricting himself tightly around Duke's chest, trying to cut off his breathing. "S... Snake... Don't..." He gasped, the naga was tightening the more he tried to fly off. He would have passed out if it weren't for a stick of dynamite going off nearby, startling Snake. 

"I'll handle the himbo, the chief dad's gonna go after Harl and Tippy. You take care of the now literal snake!" Daisy called, it wasn't hard since she was much heavier than Tread, just sitting on him. "Damn, what did he make these chokers out of, diamond?" 

As Snake was momentarily distracted, Duke remembered what got him to return to his senses. "I hope it also works for romantic love." He thought. Taking a deep breath, he placed his lips onto the outlaw's.

After a while snake came to his senses, blushing wildly. slowly kissing him back "Duke I-" The outlaw started before noticing the bite marks on Duke's shoulder. "Oh no. Duke, hold on. Good thing I have antivenom." Snake said as he rummaged through his pockets pulling out a vial and putting its contents inside of Duke. "... Sorry I bite you I didn't have control-" 

"I know, I'm just glad to see you're back. Now then, let's go help Daisy." Duke responded to Snake's apology, kissing his naga boyfriend again before flying towards Daisy. "How am I supposed to remove this chocker? He's ace right?" Daisy asked, looking up at her bro and Snake. "Maybe try telling him about his car. He loves his car more than anything."  

And so Snake, being the smallest reptile of the three, got to Tread's ear and started whispering stuff about how his car was being towed and his car is being pooped on by birds and several bad things that could happen to a car, as well as making fake, sad automobile noises. This surprisingly worked. 

"My baby!" He cried out. "Oh, hey Daisy. Why are you on me?" He asked looking up. "You were being mind controlled. Anyway-" 

"Is my car okay? Did all those horrible things actually happen to my baby?" The himbo asked. "No, we just had to get you out of Cassian's control."

"So that guy can just brainwash people too? Well he won't try that trick again on me!"

"... I'm surprised he could control you at all, where did that wizard creep get to anyways? He was just here a moment ag-" but before Daisy could finish her sentence, a fireball was sent hurling at the team. They would have been hit if Tread didn't push them out of the way immediately. 

"Hey! You could really hurt someone with that thing!" He yelled at the sky, although he assumed Cassian heard him. What he got in response was the sound of wings flapping furiously and a lion's roar. "AH, A LION IS LOOSE!! Oh wait it's just Tippy as that lion thingy with the human head. What's it called again?" 

The sphinx had Wheeler chained to the ground in sand chains, his mouth widened enough to fit the entire long inside. "Wrong answer, now you will be consumed." He growled, moving closer to obtain his meal. 

"Hey! That dragon's not on the menu!" Duke yelled. Inhaling deeply, he shot a fireball right at Tippy's choker. "The only thing that can snap him out is Harl, and he's been taken too." 

"Uh we could always try a door. He likes those too, right?" 

The handyman in question was flying overhead, now about to dive-bomb his old team.

However, Tread moved everyone, causing Harl to hit the ground, and damaging one of his wings. "He's down, pin him quickly before he attacks again." Duke said before Snake slivered up to him and wrapped the pegasus with his snake body. 

This worked to hold Harl in place, but also, surprisingly, lure the Spinx away from Wheeler, since he was jealous. "You dare try to touch my love?! Fool! You must answer this riddle for even touching him! Wha-" 

"Man." Snake responded before Tippy even finished speaking. He still holding onto Harl. "Wha- How did you know that?" Tippy demanded, enraged that his riddle was answered so quickly. "Well, who doesn't know the sphinx's riddle nowadays?" The naga responded. The sphinx just looked at him, sighing in defeat.   

Harl, looking at the sphinx leave in defeat, felt something inside of him, memories of them together. "T...Tip... Tippy..." he uttered weakly before startling to throttled against Snake's grasp. "Whoa, easy boy!" The naga said before letting him go to go after the Sphinx. "Hey, why'd you let him go?" Tread asked, confused about why he was released. "Well, let's just say he doesn't have our sights on us anymore."

The pair only stared at each other, their collars having visible cracks. The cracks grew further and broke apart the more they stared, something stirring in the creatures just from each other's presence. Without warning, the Pegasus wrapped himself around his boyfriend, becoming his old centaur-like form. 

The sphinx found himself returning to his anthro form as well, only to tear up once he saw Harl's damaged wing. "You... You're hurt, that... That monster hurt you!" He finally uttered. Tippy was always known for having a cool head, very rarely would he get this upset. But seeing his boyfriend wounded drew the line, he wanted Cassian dead. 

"Tippy please, I'll be alright. I don't think I broke any bones." Harl tried to reassure the doorman, patting his shoulder. "Ooh, it does sting quite a bit though." 

"That creep! He forced you to dive bomb our friends, he doesn't care the least bit about any lives!" Tippy growled. "When I get my hands on him I'll-" 

The handyman silenced him with another kiss, gentle but passionate. "Maybe there's a way to fix this. I think I heard something about a lost soul. What he needs is a little help." 

"Us? Help him?" 

If any sort of love could break the chokers, it could also work in getting Cassian back to how he was before. "I remember in a story, love was more powerful than death. It might apply to his dark magic too."