Endless Myth: *Sadly* Well, I'm back from France.
Moon Shadow: *Rolling eyes* Don't sound so excited.
Endless Myth: We were going to have a party and stay up all night to celebrate my return, but we decided to write this chapter instead.
Moon Shadow: She's just bitter because she missed Yu-Gi-Oh on Saturday ^_^
Endless Myth: I am not!
Moon Shadow: Su-re you're not. Hey, people, we're really happy that you've reviewed so much! But you know there's no such thing as to many reviews, so.review this chapter too!
Endless Myth: We realize we've been forgetting the disclaimer, so here it is: We don't own YGO. And you know those chapters we forgot to put the disclaimer in? Well, we didn't own YGO in those chapters, either.
Moon Shadow: -_- unfortunately.
*** Chapter Eight ***
"Have you seen Tim?" Lee asked Matt, as they walked down the crowded halls of their school.
"Not since Friday."
"Oh."
"You two still not speaking to each other?"
"I called him, like, five times last weekend. He wouldn't talk to me."
"I'm sorry."
"Well, it's not my fault he's so damn stubborn. That's supposed to be me. Not him."
"Hey Matt! Lee!" They turned and saw Ben coming towards them. "Hey guys."
"Hey Ben." "Hey dude."
"Lee- you talked to Tim yet?"
"Well, I would, if I could find him!" she cried out in frustration.
"Is he missing?"
"Have you seen him?"
"Yeah." Ben gestured behind them. "He was just coming out of English."
Lee turned around. "I have to talk to him." She said, and started back.
"I wouldn't bother." Ben said, and pulled her back. "Mr. Croquet wanted to talk to him."
"Who's that?"
"Oh, you haven't met him yet?"
"No."
"A new English teacher. He's pretty cool."
"What'd he want to talk to Tim about?" Matt asked.
"I think he's trying to get him to enter something in the Creative Writing thing this weekend."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I'll talk to him later, then." They walked along in silence. Then Ben said, "See ya." And took the back stairs to a different section of the school. Matt and Lee continued down the hall to history.
Matt turned to Lee. "How was your date?" he asked jokingly.
"Hmm? Oh. That. It was okay, I guess."
"Cool." He said, and smiled at her. Lee's heart leapt five feet in the air and she smiled back. They reached the History class, and Matt held the door open for her. Lee went in and sat next to her friend Tina. Tina leaned over and whispered to Lee, "He's really cute."
"Who?"
"Matt Delaquarte." Tina giggled. "He likes you."
"Please. We're just friends." Lee said. She took her notes out of her binder and shoved her binder into her desk. She bent over her notes, but she was thinking about something else entirely.
"Well, Tim, you're probably wondering why I asked you to stay late." the teacher asked.
"Yes sir." Tim said, and glanced towards the clock.
"Don't worry, I'll write you a pass."
"Oh. Thank you." He responded politely.
"The reason I asked you to stay.you're an excellent writer, Tim. You have real talent."
"Thanks."
"You have other interests, though, I assume." Mr. Croquet paused. "I'm told that you duel. Is that correct?"
"Yeah." Tim said. "I'm not to good at it, though." He added.
"Well I'm sure that's not true. You're good friends with Ben Caraway, yes?"
"Yeah."
"And Lebecca Kaiba?"
Tim hesitated. They were friends, yeah, but they hadn't spoken all weekend.he had never returned her calls. He resolved to talk to her. "Yeah, I know her too."
"How well do you know her?"
"Pretty well, I guess."
"Well isn't that nice." He said.
Tim nodded.
"That's just great," Mr. Croquet continued. "And, how long ago did you find out about the Millenium spheres?" "About two months-" And then Tim realized he had made a terrible mistake. He backed away and ran into the door. "How do you know about that?" he asked, his voice shaking. He felt behind him for the doorknob, but it was locked, and the teacher had the key.
"Oh, I have my sources." Croquet said, leering down at Tim. "Give it to me." He snarled. "Give me the sphere!"
Tim's hand went to his throat, and he clutched the sphere to him.
Lee! He cried out. Lee, help-
But that was as far as he got, because Croquet ripped the sphere off his neck, and Tim, now used to having two minds in his head, was overcome by the stress of being alone in his mind. He couldn't sense her, couldn't feel her, he didn't know where she was, and he didn't know what she was thinking. He couldn't tell her anything, because she wasn't there. The world was spinning, and Croquet was laughing, and if he could've seen it, the scar on his neck was glowing brightly and his eyes could only see white. He fell to the ground, feeling utterly alone, and then the brightness in his eyes faded to darkness. It was more than he could take, and the world went black as he lost consciousness and his mind went tumbling through oblivion.
Sitting in history class, Lee's concentration was cut off by the sharp plea in her head.
Lee! Lee, help- the message was cut off, and Lee sat up sharply. Then her mind was filled with a searing pain, and she could hardly keep track of her thoughts. She raised a shaking hand.
"The main causes of the war were-Yes, Ms. Kaiba?"
"May-may I get some water, please?"
"Very well." The teacher pursed her lips. "Take the pass. As I was saying, the war was caused by..."
Lee didn't wait to hear the rest. She ran out of the room, clutching the hall pass. She ran into the nearest bathroom and faced herself in the mirror. She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face. Then she placed one finger on her sphere and watched the golden eye appear. She closed her eyes.
Tim? Tim, are you okay? She thought, but the thoughts just echoed in her own head. She frowned and reached out with her mind, but she couldn't find him. He wasn't there. She slumped against the sink. Then she heard the bathroom door open and heard Tina calling her.
"Lee? Mrs. Claudio asked me to come make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine, Tina."
"Are you sure?" Tina stepped a little closer. "Do you need to go to the nurse?"
"NO. Let's go back to class." Lee said, and linked arms with Tina. She acted cheerful, but she felt a veil of fear settle over her heart.
"So, you have no idea what happened to him?" Ben asked her as they walked out of the school building.
"None. He's just.not there anymore."
"Well, that doesn't mean something bad happened to him." Matt put in sensibly, walking on Lee's other side. "He could've just taken the sphere off, or something. You don't need to be so worried, Lee. We'll just go find him."
Lee nodded, but looked at the ground, thinking about the last desperate message that Tim had sent her. Matt saw her face. "What?"
Lee stared up at him miserably. "He was trying to tell me something. He was asking me for help."
"You didn't tell us that." Ben said, startled. "He was talking to you?"
"I could only catch a little bit, and he was gone before I could respond. And now I can't sense him. I mean, I can't tell where he is. I can't see him." She added when she saw their faces. "So I'm going to go home and use Shadow of Eyes to find him."
"I thought both of you had to be there for that to work."
"No." Lee shook her head. "If we want to go to another time we have to both be there. But by myself I can see the past of future."
"Cool."
"Why don't you come too-It'll be easier."
"Okay. I can come-Matt, what about you?"
"Yeah. But don't jump to conclusions, okay, Lee?" He reached down and squeezed her hand. "Maybe nothing bad happened to him."
"Maybe." Ben said. "But there's no reason you shouldn't be scared, Lee. It's alright to be scared."
"Thanks." She whispered. "Oh, there's Dan. I'll see you guys later." And she walked off towards Dan, who wrapped his arm around her and walked her off in the opposite direction.
"I really hate that guy." muttered Matt.
Tim woke up stiff and cold in the corner of an empty room. He looked around and shivered, pulling his knees up to his chest. The movement sent a sharp, searing pain through his head, and he winced. What had happened? Tim tried to think back, but his thoughts were disorganized-he couldn't keep anything straight. He could sort of remember sending out a message to Lee-
Ah.
He reached up, not expecting to feel the Millenium sphere around his neck, not surprised when it wasn't. He closed his eyes and sighed, then opened them again. He had to find it. He had to find the sphere and contact Lee. But he didn't know where he was.
The door to the dark room he was in opened, and a beam of light shot through the shadows. A figure appeared in the door.
"Get up, boy!"
Tim staggered to his feet, using the wall to support himself.
"Quickly! Come here."
He crossed the room and stood by the man, who pushed him out the door and down the hall of the building, his hands on Tim's shoulders.
Tim looked around the building in awe. It was huge. The floors were stone, like the walls, and the ceilings were high. "What is this place?" he asked the man. "Where are we?"
The man stopped walking. "You're Tim Wheeler?"
"Uh-no." Wheeler? That was new. "Tim Lear." They started walking again.
"Well, Tim Lear, welcome to the Duelist Kingdom." They passed a window, and Tim gasped. They were on top of a mountain, and the ocean was below them, above them only sky. There were forests, and down by the sea were sandy beaches. But there were also snow-covered mountains and he could see deserts. "How big is this island?"
"Big. I don't know for sure."
"Tight." Tim said. And then, since the man seemed friendly, he asked, "How did I get here?"
"By airplane."
"Oh, right." Tim said. Then he hesitantly asked, "Why did they bring me here?"
"You are a prisoner." The man said, glancing at him.
"Oh." Tim said. And for lack of anything better to say, "Cool."
"Indeed."
"Whose prisoner am I?"
"You'll find out." He said, and pushed Tim through a door. "Mr. Pegasus," he called. "I have brought the boy."
"Bring him here," said a voice, and Tim turned to see a man standing by a window. He didn't need to look twice to see the fake gold eye he was wearing instead of a real right eye-or to see the glass globe hanging off his neck.
The guard who had brought him shoved Tim forward, then bent down and whispered in his ear, "Be careful, Tim Lear. The world, as well as your life, depend on what you say to him today." Then he bowed to the man with the golden eye and walked away.
The man with the gold eye turned to Tim and held out his hand to shake. Tim stood rigid and nodded to him. The man smiled.
"Hello, Tim."
"'Sup." Tim said.
His smile grew wider. "Do you know who I am, Tim?"
"I'd say that you're Peter Pegasus."
"Smart boy. Yes, that's me. Do you know why you're here?"
"Can't say I do."
"You're my prisoner."
"You don't say. Oh, wait." Tim answered, "That's why you had me abducted and brought to a remote island in the middle of nowhere! Hey, it makes sense now!" He was still staring at the sphere -the sphere that belonged to him- around Peter's neck.
"Watch your mouth. Do you like to play games, Tim?"
"Depends on who's asking." Tim answered coolly.
"If I'm asking."
"Depends on what game."
"Try not be stupid. I assume you received my invitation to the tournament. It starts in two weeks, you know."
"Yeah, it does."
"Were you planning on attending?"
"I wasn't sure yet."
"You're not going to."
"Aw." Tim said. "Damn! I thought maybe you would've given me leave or something."
"Ah." Peter said. "Tim, tell me something."
"Sure."
"Do you recognize this?" Peter asked, taking the sphere off his neck. "I believe it used to belong to you."
"Used to?" Tim spat out. "I don't remember giving it to you."
"Temper, temper. You can have it back, if you like." Peer tossed it to him. "Rather laughable, isn't it. I went through all that trouble to get it, and, as it turns out, it's useless without the other one."
"So why don't you take Lee's sphere too?" Tim asked. "Like you would know what to do with them!"
"Oh, I imagine I could figure it out." Peter said.
"You could never figure it out!" Tim cried. "Never in a million years!"
"But, Tim," Peter said. "What would stop me from reading your mind?"
"What-" Tim started to ask, but then he could feel Peter inside his head, and he had to concentrate on blocking him out. He built a mental wall to hide behind, and the two stood there for a minute, each trying to beat out the other. To Tim it was so like when Lee was trying to keep him out of her head that it was hard to concentrate. Finally, though, Peter gave way, and withdrew.
"You are much stronger than I thought," he hissed. "Much, much stronger. Clark!" He called, and the guard reappeared. "Take this boy back to his room."
"Sir." Clark said, and pulled Tim out of the room. Neither of them said anything, and when Clark shoved him back into the dark room, Tim could only think about one thing. He still had the sphere. Peter had never taken it away. Tim sat down on the ground and concentrated on Lee.
Lee, he thought to her with all his mind and all his heart and all his soul, Lee, you have to be careful!
He woke up a few hours later to the sound of the door creaking open. He wearily opened his eyes and saw Clark forcing another person in to the room. He slammed the door, leaving a lit candle with the new person. Tim shrank back into the shadows, but the person crawled up to him, holding up the candle.
"Tim?" The girl breathed. He looked up at her voice.
"Lee?" he asked, daring to hope, "Is it you?"
The girl wrapped her arms around him. "No, sweetie." Her voice was familiar, but as much as it sounded like Lee, it wasn't. He could see her face now, and Tim leaned down onto his mother's shoulder.
"I've missed you." Mai Valentine whispered into her son's ear. "I missed you so much."
Tim said nothing, but hugged his mother harder.
***
"You want me to raise this child?" Cindy Lear said to the woman standing in front of her.
"Yes."
"Well I don't know if I can. I mean, I'd love to, but I already have two children to bring up."
"Oh, I know, and I'm really sorry to ask this of you. But Tea Gardner -I believe you know her- she said that you might be able to help me."
"Well, I suppose-" Cindy smiled down at the sleeping baby. "I suppose, if it's a matter of popular demand, I might be able to."
"Oh, thank you! I promise, he won't be any trouble at all."
"I doubt that. What did you say his name is?"
"Timothy. Tim." "Well, Tim." Cindy said to the baby, who was waking up, "I would love to have you come live with us."
The baby just smiled at her.
Mai smiled. "I could- I mean, if it would be okay, I'll come visit every now and then."
"Of course. Our other two children, Maddie and Jon, I think they're about the same age as him. They should get along pretty well."
"Yes." Mai bent down and kissed her son on the head. "So, can you take him today? I have to leave."
"What? I thought it would be at least a few days!"
"Yes, yes, I know, and I realize how inconvenient this is and I'm really very sorry, but I have to go."
"Ms. Valentine-Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes! I mean, thank you, but I'll be fine." The two women shook hands, and Mai left the house, already missing him. She wanted to go check up on Lebecca, but it would be to dangerous for her to go. It was to close to where Joey was. Well, if she couldn't be there, at least Lebecca was near him. Mai walked off down the bust streets, leaving her family and her first life behind her.
She passed a garbage can on the street. As she walked past it, she tossed her deck into it, all save two cards.
Now it's done. She thought. ***
Moon Shadow: For your reading pleasure today, we have added a bonus feature to the chapter!
Endless Myth: Yes! You lucky fanfic readers will be among the firsts to be submitted to our wonderful poem, entitled "Please Review!" Please enjoy!
If you review our story, you'll get a special treat: a happy cat will probably sit on your feet! If you want to make us happy a nice review can't be beat- unless our school principal were to do cartwheels down the street! While you sit reading this stupid poem in the heat, you've probably figured out why we two don't compete in poetry contests-we'll stick to fanfiction if you'll just review, and as you can tell we've given up trying make this rhyme because it was a hopeless cause and was going to make you sick pretty soon, so we decided to stop now! Yea!
Moon Shadow: *sniff* Wasn't that beautiful?
Endless Myth: Please-
Moon Shadow: Don't even say it.
Moon Shadow: *Rolling eyes* Don't sound so excited.
Endless Myth: We were going to have a party and stay up all night to celebrate my return, but we decided to write this chapter instead.
Moon Shadow: She's just bitter because she missed Yu-Gi-Oh on Saturday ^_^
Endless Myth: I am not!
Moon Shadow: Su-re you're not. Hey, people, we're really happy that you've reviewed so much! But you know there's no such thing as to many reviews, so.review this chapter too!
Endless Myth: We realize we've been forgetting the disclaimer, so here it is: We don't own YGO. And you know those chapters we forgot to put the disclaimer in? Well, we didn't own YGO in those chapters, either.
Moon Shadow: -_- unfortunately.
*** Chapter Eight ***
"Have you seen Tim?" Lee asked Matt, as they walked down the crowded halls of their school.
"Not since Friday."
"Oh."
"You two still not speaking to each other?"
"I called him, like, five times last weekend. He wouldn't talk to me."
"I'm sorry."
"Well, it's not my fault he's so damn stubborn. That's supposed to be me. Not him."
"Hey Matt! Lee!" They turned and saw Ben coming towards them. "Hey guys."
"Hey Ben." "Hey dude."
"Lee- you talked to Tim yet?"
"Well, I would, if I could find him!" she cried out in frustration.
"Is he missing?"
"Have you seen him?"
"Yeah." Ben gestured behind them. "He was just coming out of English."
Lee turned around. "I have to talk to him." She said, and started back.
"I wouldn't bother." Ben said, and pulled her back. "Mr. Croquet wanted to talk to him."
"Who's that?"
"Oh, you haven't met him yet?"
"No."
"A new English teacher. He's pretty cool."
"What'd he want to talk to Tim about?" Matt asked.
"I think he's trying to get him to enter something in the Creative Writing thing this weekend."
"Oh really?"
"Yeah."
"Well, I'll talk to him later, then." They walked along in silence. Then Ben said, "See ya." And took the back stairs to a different section of the school. Matt and Lee continued down the hall to history.
Matt turned to Lee. "How was your date?" he asked jokingly.
"Hmm? Oh. That. It was okay, I guess."
"Cool." He said, and smiled at her. Lee's heart leapt five feet in the air and she smiled back. They reached the History class, and Matt held the door open for her. Lee went in and sat next to her friend Tina. Tina leaned over and whispered to Lee, "He's really cute."
"Who?"
"Matt Delaquarte." Tina giggled. "He likes you."
"Please. We're just friends." Lee said. She took her notes out of her binder and shoved her binder into her desk. She bent over her notes, but she was thinking about something else entirely.
"Well, Tim, you're probably wondering why I asked you to stay late." the teacher asked.
"Yes sir." Tim said, and glanced towards the clock.
"Don't worry, I'll write you a pass."
"Oh. Thank you." He responded politely.
"The reason I asked you to stay.you're an excellent writer, Tim. You have real talent."
"Thanks."
"You have other interests, though, I assume." Mr. Croquet paused. "I'm told that you duel. Is that correct?"
"Yeah." Tim said. "I'm not to good at it, though." He added.
"Well I'm sure that's not true. You're good friends with Ben Caraway, yes?"
"Yeah."
"And Lebecca Kaiba?"
Tim hesitated. They were friends, yeah, but they hadn't spoken all weekend.he had never returned her calls. He resolved to talk to her. "Yeah, I know her too."
"How well do you know her?"
"Pretty well, I guess."
"Well isn't that nice." He said.
Tim nodded.
"That's just great," Mr. Croquet continued. "And, how long ago did you find out about the Millenium spheres?" "About two months-" And then Tim realized he had made a terrible mistake. He backed away and ran into the door. "How do you know about that?" he asked, his voice shaking. He felt behind him for the doorknob, but it was locked, and the teacher had the key.
"Oh, I have my sources." Croquet said, leering down at Tim. "Give it to me." He snarled. "Give me the sphere!"
Tim's hand went to his throat, and he clutched the sphere to him.
Lee! He cried out. Lee, help-
But that was as far as he got, because Croquet ripped the sphere off his neck, and Tim, now used to having two minds in his head, was overcome by the stress of being alone in his mind. He couldn't sense her, couldn't feel her, he didn't know where she was, and he didn't know what she was thinking. He couldn't tell her anything, because she wasn't there. The world was spinning, and Croquet was laughing, and if he could've seen it, the scar on his neck was glowing brightly and his eyes could only see white. He fell to the ground, feeling utterly alone, and then the brightness in his eyes faded to darkness. It was more than he could take, and the world went black as he lost consciousness and his mind went tumbling through oblivion.
Sitting in history class, Lee's concentration was cut off by the sharp plea in her head.
Lee! Lee, help- the message was cut off, and Lee sat up sharply. Then her mind was filled with a searing pain, and she could hardly keep track of her thoughts. She raised a shaking hand.
"The main causes of the war were-Yes, Ms. Kaiba?"
"May-may I get some water, please?"
"Very well." The teacher pursed her lips. "Take the pass. As I was saying, the war was caused by..."
Lee didn't wait to hear the rest. She ran out of the room, clutching the hall pass. She ran into the nearest bathroom and faced herself in the mirror. She turned on the faucet and splashed cold water on her face. Then she placed one finger on her sphere and watched the golden eye appear. She closed her eyes.
Tim? Tim, are you okay? She thought, but the thoughts just echoed in her own head. She frowned and reached out with her mind, but she couldn't find him. He wasn't there. She slumped against the sink. Then she heard the bathroom door open and heard Tina calling her.
"Lee? Mrs. Claudio asked me to come make sure you're okay."
"I'm fine, Tina."
"Are you sure?" Tina stepped a little closer. "Do you need to go to the nurse?"
"NO. Let's go back to class." Lee said, and linked arms with Tina. She acted cheerful, but she felt a veil of fear settle over her heart.
"So, you have no idea what happened to him?" Ben asked her as they walked out of the school building.
"None. He's just.not there anymore."
"Well, that doesn't mean something bad happened to him." Matt put in sensibly, walking on Lee's other side. "He could've just taken the sphere off, or something. You don't need to be so worried, Lee. We'll just go find him."
Lee nodded, but looked at the ground, thinking about the last desperate message that Tim had sent her. Matt saw her face. "What?"
Lee stared up at him miserably. "He was trying to tell me something. He was asking me for help."
"You didn't tell us that." Ben said, startled. "He was talking to you?"
"I could only catch a little bit, and he was gone before I could respond. And now I can't sense him. I mean, I can't tell where he is. I can't see him." She added when she saw their faces. "So I'm going to go home and use Shadow of Eyes to find him."
"I thought both of you had to be there for that to work."
"No." Lee shook her head. "If we want to go to another time we have to both be there. But by myself I can see the past of future."
"Cool."
"Why don't you come too-It'll be easier."
"Okay. I can come-Matt, what about you?"
"Yeah. But don't jump to conclusions, okay, Lee?" He reached down and squeezed her hand. "Maybe nothing bad happened to him."
"Maybe." Ben said. "But there's no reason you shouldn't be scared, Lee. It's alright to be scared."
"Thanks." She whispered. "Oh, there's Dan. I'll see you guys later." And she walked off towards Dan, who wrapped his arm around her and walked her off in the opposite direction.
"I really hate that guy." muttered Matt.
Tim woke up stiff and cold in the corner of an empty room. He looked around and shivered, pulling his knees up to his chest. The movement sent a sharp, searing pain through his head, and he winced. What had happened? Tim tried to think back, but his thoughts were disorganized-he couldn't keep anything straight. He could sort of remember sending out a message to Lee-
Ah.
He reached up, not expecting to feel the Millenium sphere around his neck, not surprised when it wasn't. He closed his eyes and sighed, then opened them again. He had to find it. He had to find the sphere and contact Lee. But he didn't know where he was.
The door to the dark room he was in opened, and a beam of light shot through the shadows. A figure appeared in the door.
"Get up, boy!"
Tim staggered to his feet, using the wall to support himself.
"Quickly! Come here."
He crossed the room and stood by the man, who pushed him out the door and down the hall of the building, his hands on Tim's shoulders.
Tim looked around the building in awe. It was huge. The floors were stone, like the walls, and the ceilings were high. "What is this place?" he asked the man. "Where are we?"
The man stopped walking. "You're Tim Wheeler?"
"Uh-no." Wheeler? That was new. "Tim Lear." They started walking again.
"Well, Tim Lear, welcome to the Duelist Kingdom." They passed a window, and Tim gasped. They were on top of a mountain, and the ocean was below them, above them only sky. There were forests, and down by the sea were sandy beaches. But there were also snow-covered mountains and he could see deserts. "How big is this island?"
"Big. I don't know for sure."
"Tight." Tim said. And then, since the man seemed friendly, he asked, "How did I get here?"
"By airplane."
"Oh, right." Tim said. Then he hesitantly asked, "Why did they bring me here?"
"You are a prisoner." The man said, glancing at him.
"Oh." Tim said. And for lack of anything better to say, "Cool."
"Indeed."
"Whose prisoner am I?"
"You'll find out." He said, and pushed Tim through a door. "Mr. Pegasus," he called. "I have brought the boy."
"Bring him here," said a voice, and Tim turned to see a man standing by a window. He didn't need to look twice to see the fake gold eye he was wearing instead of a real right eye-or to see the glass globe hanging off his neck.
The guard who had brought him shoved Tim forward, then bent down and whispered in his ear, "Be careful, Tim Lear. The world, as well as your life, depend on what you say to him today." Then he bowed to the man with the golden eye and walked away.
The man with the gold eye turned to Tim and held out his hand to shake. Tim stood rigid and nodded to him. The man smiled.
"Hello, Tim."
"'Sup." Tim said.
His smile grew wider. "Do you know who I am, Tim?"
"I'd say that you're Peter Pegasus."
"Smart boy. Yes, that's me. Do you know why you're here?"
"Can't say I do."
"You're my prisoner."
"You don't say. Oh, wait." Tim answered, "That's why you had me abducted and brought to a remote island in the middle of nowhere! Hey, it makes sense now!" He was still staring at the sphere -the sphere that belonged to him- around Peter's neck.
"Watch your mouth. Do you like to play games, Tim?"
"Depends on who's asking." Tim answered coolly.
"If I'm asking."
"Depends on what game."
"Try not be stupid. I assume you received my invitation to the tournament. It starts in two weeks, you know."
"Yeah, it does."
"Were you planning on attending?"
"I wasn't sure yet."
"You're not going to."
"Aw." Tim said. "Damn! I thought maybe you would've given me leave or something."
"Ah." Peter said. "Tim, tell me something."
"Sure."
"Do you recognize this?" Peter asked, taking the sphere off his neck. "I believe it used to belong to you."
"Used to?" Tim spat out. "I don't remember giving it to you."
"Temper, temper. You can have it back, if you like." Peer tossed it to him. "Rather laughable, isn't it. I went through all that trouble to get it, and, as it turns out, it's useless without the other one."
"So why don't you take Lee's sphere too?" Tim asked. "Like you would know what to do with them!"
"Oh, I imagine I could figure it out." Peter said.
"You could never figure it out!" Tim cried. "Never in a million years!"
"But, Tim," Peter said. "What would stop me from reading your mind?"
"What-" Tim started to ask, but then he could feel Peter inside his head, and he had to concentrate on blocking him out. He built a mental wall to hide behind, and the two stood there for a minute, each trying to beat out the other. To Tim it was so like when Lee was trying to keep him out of her head that it was hard to concentrate. Finally, though, Peter gave way, and withdrew.
"You are much stronger than I thought," he hissed. "Much, much stronger. Clark!" He called, and the guard reappeared. "Take this boy back to his room."
"Sir." Clark said, and pulled Tim out of the room. Neither of them said anything, and when Clark shoved him back into the dark room, Tim could only think about one thing. He still had the sphere. Peter had never taken it away. Tim sat down on the ground and concentrated on Lee.
Lee, he thought to her with all his mind and all his heart and all his soul, Lee, you have to be careful!
He woke up a few hours later to the sound of the door creaking open. He wearily opened his eyes and saw Clark forcing another person in to the room. He slammed the door, leaving a lit candle with the new person. Tim shrank back into the shadows, but the person crawled up to him, holding up the candle.
"Tim?" The girl breathed. He looked up at her voice.
"Lee?" he asked, daring to hope, "Is it you?"
The girl wrapped her arms around him. "No, sweetie." Her voice was familiar, but as much as it sounded like Lee, it wasn't. He could see her face now, and Tim leaned down onto his mother's shoulder.
"I've missed you." Mai Valentine whispered into her son's ear. "I missed you so much."
Tim said nothing, but hugged his mother harder.
***
"You want me to raise this child?" Cindy Lear said to the woman standing in front of her.
"Yes."
"Well I don't know if I can. I mean, I'd love to, but I already have two children to bring up."
"Oh, I know, and I'm really sorry to ask this of you. But Tea Gardner -I believe you know her- she said that you might be able to help me."
"Well, I suppose-" Cindy smiled down at the sleeping baby. "I suppose, if it's a matter of popular demand, I might be able to."
"Oh, thank you! I promise, he won't be any trouble at all."
"I doubt that. What did you say his name is?"
"Timothy. Tim." "Well, Tim." Cindy said to the baby, who was waking up, "I would love to have you come live with us."
The baby just smiled at her.
Mai smiled. "I could- I mean, if it would be okay, I'll come visit every now and then."
"Of course. Our other two children, Maddie and Jon, I think they're about the same age as him. They should get along pretty well."
"Yes." Mai bent down and kissed her son on the head. "So, can you take him today? I have to leave."
"What? I thought it would be at least a few days!"
"Yes, yes, I know, and I realize how inconvenient this is and I'm really very sorry, but I have to go."
"Ms. Valentine-Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"Yes! I mean, thank you, but I'll be fine." The two women shook hands, and Mai left the house, already missing him. She wanted to go check up on Lebecca, but it would be to dangerous for her to go. It was to close to where Joey was. Well, if she couldn't be there, at least Lebecca was near him. Mai walked off down the bust streets, leaving her family and her first life behind her.
She passed a garbage can on the street. As she walked past it, she tossed her deck into it, all save two cards.
Now it's done. She thought. ***
Moon Shadow: For your reading pleasure today, we have added a bonus feature to the chapter!
Endless Myth: Yes! You lucky fanfic readers will be among the firsts to be submitted to our wonderful poem, entitled "Please Review!" Please enjoy!
If you review our story, you'll get a special treat: a happy cat will probably sit on your feet! If you want to make us happy a nice review can't be beat- unless our school principal were to do cartwheels down the street! While you sit reading this stupid poem in the heat, you've probably figured out why we two don't compete in poetry contests-we'll stick to fanfiction if you'll just review, and as you can tell we've given up trying make this rhyme because it was a hopeless cause and was going to make you sick pretty soon, so we decided to stop now! Yea!
Moon Shadow: *sniff* Wasn't that beautiful?
Endless Myth: Please-
Moon Shadow: Don't even say it.