(Mena is sitting at a table with her head hidden in her folded arms, crying)

???: What's wrong, Mena-chan? (pats Mena's back)

Mena: We got our first flame! (looks up suddenly) Hey, I recognize that voice...Damion?!

Damion: Hi!

Mena: But how...

Jesselda: I'm back.

Toli: Masami!

Masami: Toli! (Masami and Toli slap high five with unbroken hands)

Jesselda: The prize for being the 100th reviewer is Masami and Damion joining us in the author's notes. Although I don't see why that's considered a prize.

Mena: Really? No how! (jumps up from chair and hugs Damion. Damion hugs back quite happily)

Masami/Tol: Awww!

Jesselda: I'll make the IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENTS since the authors are busy. One, we have unfortunately received our first flame, from a baka named Goomba5. As promised, Bakura will be setting this ignorant baka on fire. (Bakura shows up with a flamethrower and, laughing maniacally, sets Goomba5 aflame and shoves them out the door) Our second announcement is that the chapters will be much longer and the story will be updated much more frequently because of Christmas break. So, happy day. The third announcement is that the review responses are so long we put them at the end of the chapter. So don't worry, we didn't forget.

(Toli and Masami are now trying to pull Mena and Damion apart so they all can move on)

Jesselda: (sighs) And I guess I'll do the disclaimer. Mena wrote this poem. Ahem. "Roses are red, Violets are blue. We don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, and neither do you." Here's the next chapter.


CHAPTER FOURTEEN: THE TIMER

Yugi couldn't believe his eyes. What was an oasis doing in the middle of his subconscious? He stared, as if expecting it to disappear.

It didn't. The palm trees and sand and giant pool of water didn't go anywhere. But it seemed a little less oasis-y with the thick white fog for a background.

"Wow," Yugi said. "My subconscious is incredible!"

The Dark Magician just looked around silently. He had a look of consternation on his face that Yugi didn't notice.

Yugi walked forward and looked into the water. It reflected his face perfectly, like a mirror, since there was no wind to ripple it. And since there was no sunlight, the water looked white.

The next moment, he was underwater.

Yugi almost gasped, but he caught himself in time and didn't suck in any water. He tried to swim for the surface, but whatever was wrapped around his arm only pulled him down farther. He was kicking his legs wildly, and hit something. The grip loosened, and Yugi swam for the surface.

Before he could hit the surface, however, something grabbed his leg and dragged him back. He reached for the surface, as if he could grab some oxygen, but it only got farther out of his reach.

Suddenly, there was an explosion of black light. Yugi felt the grip around his leg disappear, and he swam for the surface. He finally hit it and expelled the air he was holding, surprised that he had been able to last that long. Two hands grabbed his and pulled him onto land.

Yugi sat on the ground and unintentionally stopped breathing. He didn't even notice. He also didn't realize that he had been in no danger of drowning, since he wasn't alive. It was simply a reflex, a feeling of still being alive when he wasn't.

He finally looked up and saw Solid Yami peering into his face. "I knew you'd spaz without help," he said with an air of superiority.

"What are you doing here?" Yugi asked, surprised.

Solid Yami looked embarrassed. "He shamed me into coming," he said, pointing at Transparent Yugi, who was on Yugi's other side.

"But you still saved me," Yugi said.

Solid Yami looked amused. "Saved you from what? A drink? You wouldn't have drowned. All you would've done was eaten water until you surfaced. But, it was I that saved you."

Transparent Yugi rolled his eyes. "The Dark Magician destroyed the monster. All you did was save him from a drink, like he said."

"But he thought he was going to drown, so in his mind, I did save him," Solid Yami argued. "But anyway, we have some bad news. You have an expiration date."

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked, confused.

Transparent Yugi sighed. "Well, we found out that you have what is called an Expiration Time. Which means you have a certain amount of time to get out of here before your subconscious kills you. For real."

"What?!" Yugi exclaimed.

"It's true," Solid Yami chimed in. "When you were unalive and undead at the same time, you automatically got sent here. But you were never meant to be in your subconscious. You made a 'glitch' so to speak, and ended up here. Your presence in your own subconscious is causing an imbalance. Your subconscious will destroy you itself if you take too long getting out in order to keep balance, in effect destroying us, because without you, there is no 'your subconscious' to exist."

Yugi was amazed. "How much time do I have?"

"About one week human time," Transparent Yugi answered.

"Well, at least I still have plenty of time. How many hours have I been here?"

Solid Yami laughed humorlessly. "Hours? Try five days."

"What?! But that can't be possible!" Yugi exclaimed.

"We don't exactly have a 'normal' sense of time here," Transparent Yugi said. "A few days human time is about a few hours for us. It took us a whole day in human time to find you."

"But why so little time?" Yugi asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

"The reason your time is so short is because imbalance can be here only for so long before it makes your subconscious self-destruct," Solid Yami added grimly. "Your subconscious is giving you as much time as possible before that. It's either be killed by itself or be killed by your death if you don't get out of here in a little over two hours."

Yugi stood up determinedly, even though he was very scared. "Then we should hurry," he said. They started to walk, with the Dark Magician following.

"Do you think you could find the door you were talking about again?" Yugi asked Solid Yami hopefully a few subconscious minutes later.

"Probably not," Solid Yami replied. "And it may not even be The Door. Maybe it was just there to look pretty."

"Yami!" Transparent Yugi exclaimed. "Will you shut up!"

"What?! I'm just telling the truth!" Solid Yami yelled back.

"Why don't you tell the truth some other time, like when it won't crumble our resolve!" Transparent Yugi shouted.

"Would you rather I tell a lie and lead you down a road of false hope?" Solid Yami shouted back.

"No, I just want you to shut up!" Transparent Yugi yelled.

"Both of you stop it!" Yugi yelled. "If you fight like this we'll never make it!"

They grumbled and turned away from each other. "Pessimist," Transparent Yugi muttered.

"I heard that, you dictator," Solid Yami snapped back.

"Please!" Yugi's voice was rising.

"Sorry," both subconscious-dwellers said in unison.

They continued walking.


"Please!"

Yami's head snapped up. Had he just heard Yugi? He looked around hopefully.

There was no one in the room with him.

Sighing, Yami slumped back down on the couch. As a last resort, he opened the mind-link he used to have between himself and Yugi. But the silence of death greeted him on the other side.

Yami placed his fingers on his forehead and closed the link. He could feel tears trying to rise up and angrily fought them down. He was through crying. Tears wouldn't bring Yugi back, so why waste them? Why bother continue to grieve over someone who was gone?

Yami shut his eyes and tried not to think about how monumentally he had failed Yugi. He wondered suddenly where Nona was. Perhaps off somewhere, happily gloating over the success o her heartless mission. How could she take the life of an innocent boy--simply because of what we wore around his neck?

I was his protector.

Yami hated Nona.

I was trapped in this stupid Puzzle.

He glared at the Puzzle sitting on the table in front of him.

Yugi is gone, and I can't bring him back. I failed. In completing her mission, Nona caused me to fail mine. Yugi shouldn't have had to face death alone.

Rage was building inside of him.

I'm supposed to be with him always. I was not with him!

Yami smacked the Millennium Puzzle off the table. It hit the wall, but didn't break. He rested his elbows on the table and put his face in his hands.

Then why...am I still here? The one thing I was meant to do--protect Yugi--I can do no longer. Why do I have to still be here? Why? Will I have to suffer forever because of what I cold not do?

"It isn't fair!" Yami found himself yelling through his tears. "It should have been me, not him!" He fond himself knocking over the table and tipping the couch. He punched a hole in the wall and kicked the Millennium Puzzle into another corner.


"Wait. Who are you?"

"I could not tell you that myself."

"What do you mean?"

"I have been trapped in this Puzzle for a very long time. My memories have disappeared, along with most of my sanity." A wry smile spread across his lips.

The girl looked down at the Puzzle in her hands. Her fingers were still slightly glowing blue from the spell she had just botched. "You're trapped...in here?" she repeated in surprise. "But how can that be?" She looked back up. "How can I free you for good?"

He shook his head. "You can't," he said. "Somehow I know, you aren't the one who is supposed to free me. I don't know who is, but it isn't you."


Yami found himself on the floor several hours later with a splitting headache and a bleeding fist. The living room was trashed all around him. A fist-sized hole was in the window. The Puzzle was lying on top of several pieces of broken glass, still intact after the beating it had taken earlier.

Why do I feel so dizzy? Yami wondered. If he had been awake two hours ago, he would have felt a jolt of unexplainable pain in his chest. But he had not. He found his eyes closing again.


"You don't honestly think he did all this, do you?"

"Think about it, Tea. The guy's gotta be really upset about...you know. Who knows how he acts out his grief."

"Man, he even punched a hole in the window. That must be why his hand was cut up."

"I just don't think this is how he would cope. I mean, it's so, so...destructive."

"Well, if it wasn't him, then who do you believe it was?"

Yami's eyebrows knitted as the voices made his head hurt more. He wasn't on the floor anymore; it felt like he was lying on the sofa. Something was wrapped around the hand that had been bleeding. He raised his uninjured hand and put it over his forehead as if to block out the pain.

"Hey, guys, I think he's awake." There was the sound of feet rushing over the carpet towards him. Yami managed to open his eyes and saw the heads of Joey, Tea, Tristan, Ryou, and a transparent Bakura leaning over him. Joey and Ryou were leaning over the sofa. Everyone looked concerned, except Bakura, who looked mildly interested.

"Dude, what happened to the livin' room?" Joey asked.

"Obviously the Pharaoh decided to trash it, you foolish human," Bakura sneered.

Tea was shaking her head. "No way. Yami wouldn't do that. Yami, tell us what happened."

Yami didn't answer. He didn't want to.

"Maybe some robbers came and did it," Ryou suggested.

"I did it," Yami finally answered.

Both Tea and Ryou looked shocked. Joey and Tristan looked unhappy, and Bakura looked triumphant that he had been right.

"But...why?" Tea had to know.

"I was angry," Yami answered. He sat up, and everyone moved their heads to give im room. "I was angry at myself for failing Yugi. I wasn't exactly sure of what I was doing, and I didn't even really want to. But I did."

"I didn't know you were capable of psychotic rages, Pharaoh," Bakura said with a smirk.

"Shut up, Bakura," Ryou and Joey told him in unison.

"Do you want us to help you clean up?" Tea asked.

Yami looked around at the mess. "Very well," he said, swinging his legs off the sofa and standing up.


END CHAPTER

Toli: Another chapter completed!

Damion: (patting Mena's hand) See, Mena-chan? You've got 100-some reviews that countermand that one stupid flame.

Mena: (nods) You're right, Damie-chan.

(Masami and Toli wink at each other)

Toli: Join us next time!


NEXT IN CHAPTER 15…Time begins to run out faster than the three travelers expect, and now it's a race to live…
REVIEW RESPONSES

Masami, Mistress of Fire

Mena: Hi, Masami! Hi, Damie-chan! Sorry we didn't let you in on your prize for being the 100th reviewer last time, but it's in here! We hope you like it! (blushes) At least I do...

Toli: Mena, don't be giving anybody ideas, okay? I don't want to have to smack you...

Mena: What? I said NOTHING BAD...

Toli: That's what they all say. Masami and I, we can see through you and Damion's shenanigans.

Shadowcat

Mena: Thanks so much for the compliments! We're glad you enjoy our story!

Toli: Keep reading, okay?

Erckie and Kyrie

Mena: OOOH! SUGAR-FILLED BEVERAGE! (snatches)

Toli: (puts head in hand) Oh, great. Thanks for reviewing, guys! We're glad you enjoy the plot. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

ShebyTheDogDemoness

Toli/Mena: (watches court scene)

Mena: (jumps up) Yeah! Guillotine the (beeep)!

Toli: -.-; Mena, that's OUR villain. And we already killed her off.

Mena: Oh. Well... (jumps up and down) Guillotine the dead (beeep)!

Toli: I didn't know you were a judge. Quite interesting. You can sentence Seto to lack of care for his driver running over a girl and Solid Yami for being so uncaring.

Mena: Please continue to read and review!

Krista123

Mena: What's a piccollo?

Toli: Does that matter? No. You'd better grab something to eat, Krista, because we don't want you to die!

Mena: Yeah! We'd like our reviewers to live!

Toli: Keep reading and reviewing (and eating) okay?

DMoS13

Toli: Hey, guys!

Mena: Enjoying the story? And not my sister? (glares threateningly at Torru)

Toli: (doesn't notice) Yeah, I hope Yugi can find a way out too...I mean, well...never mind that. Solid Yami's kinda uncaring, isn't he? I thought it would be funny to add a Yugi and Yami that are like opposites of the real Yugi and Yami.

Mena: Stick with us!

Rainbow Guardian Angel

Mena: Hey! You look new around these here parts!

Toli: (rolls eyes) What is this, the wild wild west? Anyway, glad you enjoy the story! Mena wrote the part with Kaiba and his driver. We'll be updating a lot more frequently, thanks to the schoollessness of Christmas break!

Mena: Yay! Keep coming back, okay?

Egyptianbabe

Mena: You like it? Thanks a bunches!

Toli: We are so happy you like our story. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!

Silver Moon Phoenix

Toli: "Idiot brigade"? Yeah, he hasn't used that one.

Mena: He might have it on his to-do list.

Toli: Ugh, don't even mention that episode where Yugi loses his soul. Man, that was terrible!

Mena: Yeah, but it does kind of seem like Yugi's current predicament, only they all think he's dead.

Toli: Yeah. Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Elizabeth Aiken

Mena: Yay! It's so nice to see you! We're so happy you like our story!

Toli: The chapters will be getting longer and more frequent, so keep joining us!

Millenniumgrl126

Toli: Don't you just feel sorry for Yugi's friends? They all think their little buddy's dead.

Mena: And they didn't even stop to question why Yami hasn't ceased to exist. Joey even broke a bench, poor thing.

Toli: And Kaiba is way uncaring, isn't he? Kind of like Solid Yami.

Mena: Yeah, those two belong together.

Toli: We're glad you like! Hope you like this one!

dragon shadows

Mena: Hey, dragon shadows! Or can I call you Jessica? (proudly holds up Millennium Plate hung around her neck with pink ribbon) See my Item? Speaking of which, where did Jesselda go?

Toli: Oh, she went to get somebody...thing.

Mena: Oh, ok. You're right, we couldn't kill him. Now Tristan we could kill. Or Pegasus. Or Rebecca, or Mokuba, or even Gramps...

Toli: O.o; You've got a sick mind, Mena.

Mena: Oh, whoops.

Phoenix727

Mena: M word? What's that?

Toli: You don't want to know.

Mena: Is it Mena? Money? Make? Miles? Madness? Mirror...

Toli: Hah, lunatic yami. Yeah, I have to deal with one of those now, but it's Mena's. Come on, no need to threaten/promise each other or tie your hikari to the wall. Come on now, the story isn't worth evil deeds. Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter. And yes, we would love for you to put our story in your C2. Thanks a bunches for choosing us!

Mena: Makeup? Meat? Martians? Mannequin? Marble? Mistress...

yugirules

Toli: Okay! We made it! Soon enough?

Mena: Glad you like this that well! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

Lady Celest

Mena: Hahaha! Suspense kills!

Toli: And it makes or great motivation to come back.

Mena: But we'll try to spare you some. Ha, "two weirdos and a Dark Magician", that would make a great story title! Hope to see you soon!

anonamous

Toli: Okay...sure.

Mena: This one's long! Isn't it?

dontmesswithYami

Toli: Don't worry! Yugi isn't dead! He's happily trapped in his subconscious...well, not happily, but trapped. Hey, aren't you reading Slain too?

Mena: You are! We'll have to update that too!

Toli: Yeah, vamps for Christmas!

Ayamari

Toli: Solid Yami isn't as mean as he is uncaring. But uncaring can be seen as mean.

Mena: Yeah, that's a possibility. Anyway, hope you like the next installment!

Marshmellow13Dragon

Toli: ? Kinda, I guess, but his friends think he's dead. Don't hurt the poor keyboard because of your French test, though, it didn't arrange that.

Mena: Your cousin? Like Kaiba? Yes, very scary...(shivers)

Toli: Wouldn't you fire your chauffeur if he ran over somebody? Well, maybe you don't have a chauffeur. Anyway, thanks for reviewing and keep doing it!

Mena:...Wait. You got your shower, right?

Kameeko and Kamoray

Toli: I think that stupid review counter is broken.

Mena: Yeah, we had more than it said. And we still do!

Toli: I don't know about that deleting reviews thing. I think you can delete your own, but not somebody else's.

Mena: Solid Yami isn't weird, or mean, he's simply uncaring in a nutshell. And Kaiba's ex-driver is incompetent.

Toli: Sorry about the cliffie thing. I can't help it. I thrive on cliffies.

Mena: No, that's coffee.

END RESPONSES