A/N: "Mad World" is copyright Gary Jules and BJ and such belongs to Tim Burton. Blah blah. This story works better if you listen to the track on loop while reading.

The rock smashed against the mirror, shattering the angry reflection with a spider-web of cracks. But the glass held in the frame and showed a fractured image of the rage in the room.

"Goddamnit! Why?"

Beetlejuice's fury burned in a tangible flame around his person. He reeled on the shadows and spat into them.

"Are you happy now? Are you gonna throw a goddamned party, now that you're flipping for joy?" he snarled.

A chuckle surfaced from the darkness. "You're entirely too sentimental about this, Beetlejuice. It's all for the best; you'll see," a sultry masculine voice returned.

"Best? Best? What the hell is my afterlife worth without her? I swear to god, if I still could, I'd kill myself! Right after you!"

"Stop your sniveling. She'll come soon enough. Until then, you are not to search her out."

"But why?" he demanded. "What's it worth to you? What the hell do you have against me?"

"Not you."

"Then who, you bastard?"

A pause. "Her."

Beetlejuice's eyes widened. "What could you have against Lydia? Who the hell are you?"

A shuffle in the dark. Suddenly a figure appeared from the blackness and Beetlejuice nearly fainted.

It was the exact likeness of Beetlejuice himself, except younger, thinner and more cut!

The ragged blonde hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, and the striped suit fit properly, flattering his figure and making him look taller. His hands sat comfortably in his pant pockets.

"Who…who…?" Beetlejuice attempted.

"Am I?" the man finished. "Just who I look like. I'm you. Or, more like your other side. Split personalities can be so different, don't you agree?"

Here he laughed. "Schizophrenia is a funny thing. Either you imagine people who don't exist, or you switch between personas. I can't imagine what kind of people you'd imagine, but I'd imagine they'd be quite horrific.

"Sort of like Lydia."

This phrase jarred something in Beetlejuice's head. He unleashed his fury on his other self, launching himself into the man. But he didn't connect. Instead, he went right through and hit the wall on the other side.

"You can't touch me, Beetlejuice. I'm not real…yet."

"Yet? What do you mean, yet?"

"I mean that as soon as your mind is finished with the last remaining imaginary friend of yours, I can harness that power to materialize myself."

"Imaginary…friend?"

"Why, yes. You remember my mentioning those people you might dream up? Well…heh…"

"What do you mean?!"

"Put two and two together, you stupid ghost! Why couldn't you feel anything in that world when you began to doubt? Why were you able to take action against your own mind when you knew the truth?"

"You mean…" Beetlejuice tried. "She's…she's not…real?"

"No."

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

He fell to the floor on his knees. "She….doesn't…exist?"
"She exists. Just not for you. You see, the dead were never meant to see the living, and vice-versa. It destroys the equilibrium held between the two worlds. If people knew there was life after death, the Neitherworld would be completely overpopulated from people who didn't care to preserve life.

"Lydia and you should never have met. Because you did, and because you flaunt it, several people suspect existence after becoming deceased. But this isn't the reason why I had you push her away."

"Why then, you twisted bastard?"

"Because she's tamed you, Beetlejuice," the other replied, taking BJ's face in his hands.

"Being around her lets your guard down. You don't focus on yourself as much as you should, even though the observer would testify differently. You should remember what happened last time."

"Last time?"

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
'Cause I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very
Mad World

The other BJ sighed and held out his palm. A small cloud of vapor appeared over his hand, and it contorted into a shape that floated softly over his skin. The translucent miniature figure of a young woman was defined, her long pale hair swaying in a nonexistent breeze. She looked like she was asleep; her eyes closed and a soft smile played upon her lips.

"Do you remember now, Beetlejuice? Do you remember what happened…when you forgot your place? Is it all coming back to you in a horrific carousel of tainted, macabre memories?"

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

Suddenly something clicked in BJ's head. His face twisted into a mass of frightened, overwhelmed emotion and he tried to curl into himself to get the sporadic images out of his mind.

"Please! Control…! Don't…control…!"

Flaming clouds cover the sky as red lightning crackles overhead. A black tornado rises, its vortex spawning from the heart of a black-cloaked figure. Screams and cries from the shadows screech as a white shadow passes over them.

"No! Can't…by and…this!"

"No!"

"You see now? You remember?" the other Beetlejuice commented, touching his counterpart's head and instantly making the memories disappear.

The original BJ sat up. "I…remember. But what does it have to do with Lydia?"

"She could be another lock if you let it all continue. We can't let that happen, Beetlejuice. We can't let the damned escape again, can we?"

"N-no…" he managed.

"Which means we can't let another woman happen."

"R-r-right."

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very mad world ... world
Enlarge your world
Mad world