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Unlike Freddie, Zach didn't have the sense to gloat from out of reach. Still standing where he'd done the tripping, he leered down at Gaius, curving his slightly elongated neck to see better. Gaius's face had dirt plastered all over it, adding to the humor of the situation.

He quickly realized that Gaius was totally unaware of what was going to happen to him. He had to think of something to say, and fast. An unhelpful reply came to mind, one which he said with the same stupid grin on his face that he'd had the whole time he'd been heckling Gaius. "Think about it."

He looked over at the guard, who was playing an easy game of keep-away with the stick. He'd have to rethink his opinions on the guy. The man wasn't particularly intimidating when he'd been faced with Zach's set of claws, but if he hated Gaius this much, he couldn't be all bad.

While Gaius was on his hands and knees Freddie took the opportunity to lightly tap him on the head with the stick. After which he immediately pulled it back up. He had no idea what the dragon was saying, but as long as he was playing along that was fine.

"C'mon," he snickered at Gaius. "Get up. I wanna see you try."

Gaius fought back his rising outrage and temper, prodded on by his wounded ego. Here he was, a lame duck between the two circling sharks - he shot them dark glares. Why were they even picking on him? He hadn't even started that thing with Freddie, and it was Zach's fault too for lying to him in the first place... The injustice left a clenching sensation in Gaius' gut.

Rather than throw out more insults - lot of good they were doing - Gaius focussed on getting his feet under him. The big feet were awkward to shift, but he manged, getting into a crouching position of sorts. If he'd had longer arms, he could've possibly moved on all fours fairly easily.

Now came the tricky part. Gaius would have to push up the bulk of his mass on those two spindly limbs and somehow balance himself... an unlikely feat, since he'd yet to attempt it. He remained crouched, wings half-spread behind him. Maybe... maybe he could take down one of them. He was out-numbered, but if he surprised them...

He stared at Freddie. A good lunge, if he could grab the guy's waist, and inertia and his bulk would do the rest of the work. Then he'd have the staff at hand too...

Zach took a step back when Gaius started shuffling on the ground, but judging by how much he'd been clinging to that stick, he couldn't possibly get that far that fast without it. His tail made a wide sweep behind him while he studied the visible changes that had twisted Gaius into something similar, and yet very different, from the human he had been. Long neck, long feet, wings? He flapped his own a little at the sight. Definitely something that wasn't found in nature.

He was glad that for once those stupid dog commands weren't being thrown in his direction but someone else's. Silently, he hoped Gaius would figure out what it was like to be treated as subhuman from how the guard was treating him. He wasn't about to get in the guard's way or anything while he taunted Gaius. It was a pretty enjoyable spectacle to watch and laugh at.

Freddie's eyes widened as Gaius came at him. If his hands weren't full, they would have gone out to catch him, instead they still had the stick. He never thought about what he was doing, his arms seem to move completely of their own accord as they brought the stick down hard, on Gaius's head.

There was resounding crack as the stick broke in the process.

He stared at Gaius, too on edge to comment. It happened so fast, and he didn't mean to do it... But he could always say he did later, once he recovered.

Even though it had been somewhat obvious Gaius was going to make a move, it was still a shock. Zach's nerves hadn't fully recovered from when Thom had nearly choked him to death, and the sudden movement had dangerous implications. Already his frill flared in surprise and he dug his clawed toes into the ground.

It happened so fast that even if Zach had any intention of stopping the guard, there wasn't a chance. He watched the strange ballet of Gaius leaping and Freddie defending himself with the only weapon at his disposal. And just like that, it was over. His tail stopped moving completely as he surveyed the "damage". One possibly unconscious idiot.

He realized he'd still been hissing quietly the entire time and stopped. He couldn't help but start up his raucous laughter again, reveling in Gaius's misfortune. It was the same feeling he'd had hearing about what had been done to Thom and Rex, a strangely warm feeling of satisfaction at how things seemed to be going his way. Definitely an ego boost if nothing else. He almost didn't see Gaius move, but he heard the groan. Deftly he walked over to slap the guard on the back for a job well done, claws carefully pointed away to avoid any injuries. It took a minute for him to gain enough composure to say anything. Completely disregarding the inert figure at his feet, he looked over the shocked guard. "You okay?"

Freddie was still clutching what was now the bottom half of the stick. When Gaius spoke he remembered to close his mouth. He took another step back and laughed, a little shakily at first.

"Now, I don't think you wanna be doin' that, hoss," Freddie said, holding a hand out placatingly. He was still holding on to the broken half of the stick in the other. "You might have a concussion there..." He grinned and held up three meaty fingers, the faux-concerned act had never been worse. "Hey, how many fingers am I holdin' up? You don't have to say, just stomp it out in the dirt."

It couldn't be that bad if he was still conscious, right? Right. So it was perfectly okay for him to rib Gaius a bit more, especially when it looked unlikely he was going to be getting up. He shot another look to Zach and smirked... because he meant to do that. Really.

As Freddie and Zach gloated over him, something in Gaius snapped. He'd been attacked, that meant violence was open game now.

Freddie was out of reach, but Zach... Zach was right in front of him. Lifting up his head to level with Zach's, Gaius glared eye to eye. "Lab pet," he spat. And then, with the fist he'd been drawing back while Zach's attention was on his face, punched the dragon, right on that arrogant snout of his.

It impacted audibly. Hurt like hell for Gaius, ramming his knuckle into bone and teeth alike. But damn was it satisfactory. He grinned viciously, pulling away to try and avoid any retribution.