1...This is Very Bad

She hit the ground sobbing, not caring about anything or anyone. All that mattered was crying long and hard enough that maybe she would drown herself, or just kill herself from grief. That was her only comfort, and so she sobbed and shook, working herself into a tighter and tighter knot.

"Dot, Dot, what happened to you?"

She heard nothing.

"Dot, look at me!" Dot felt herself being rudely jerked upwards by a pair of rough hands. Loose cloth fell against her body, and some sick and twisted part of her mind told her she was still in the Game.

"No, Mouse, no," Dot whimpered, clinging to the front of Mouse's robes with her eyes shut.

Alarmed, Mouse eased Dot back down onto the floor and held her, stroking her hair. "What happened, Sugah? One nano you were beside me on the other side of the door, and suddenly you were crying..."

"Bob," Dot choked.

Mouse paused. "What about him, Honey?"

Dot shook her head miserably, tears still rolling down her cheeks. "I saw him...Mouse, why did I have to see him?" she shouted. It just wasn't fair; nothing bad had happened to Mouse when she had jumped through the floating door.

"I don't know, Honey. This Game can do terrible things..."

Dot lifted her head. "Terrible? Is that the best word you can find? Mouse, 'terrible' doesn't describe what I've just been through!"

For a nano, the only sound to be heard was Dot's weak sobbing. Mouse bit her lip and looked around them. After a while, Mouse said, "Come on, let's go."

Dot crumpled away from Mouse. "Leave me here...just leave me. I can't do this anymore. I don't have a reason to..."

"Dot, I'm surprised at you! Sugah, we've got save Mainframe from Megabyte."

"Uhk...why bother? We're dead anyway." Dot stared blindly at the floor, willing herself to sink into it.

"Dot Matrix, what would Bob say if he could hear you now?"

"Bob?" Dot blurted out, "Bob's dead. He's not coming back." Her voice was dead as a scorched ABC. She looked up at Mouse as if nothing in the net were clearer than this fact.

" I still think he'd be ashamed of you," Mouse confirmed, and bent over and scooped Dot off the floor, refusing to let her give up. "You're going to win this Game with me. If you want to lock yourself in your office afterwards and cry until you drown yourself, that's your business. I'll be sure to tell Phonge you gave up on Bob."

Mouse put her arm around Dot's waist and began walking her along the castle corridor. "Don't try the guilt trip on me, Mouse, it won't work." And indeed, it sounded as if it wouldn't.

The best Mouse could figure was that Dot was transported into some dimension that inflicted emotional torture on its victim. Dot refused to say anything concerning her split-nano experience, and sullenly plodded along beside Mouse, her wand dangling uselessly at her side.

Mouse held her wand at the ready, but nothing new came up to challenge their progress towards the top floor. This worried Mouse, and she became very agitated and jumpy. The slightest noise caused Dot no anxiety, but Mouse figured that was because she'd lost the will to fight, if not to live.

The final corridor was dark and chilly. Mouse felt a sense of foreboding as soon as they entered it. As if in response to her anxiety, the torches on either side of the corridor flamed up, and solid metal doors drove themselves into the floor on either end of the corridor, trapping them.

Dot raised her head and blinked rather slowly, as if barely registering her surroundings. Immediately, Mouse backed up behind Dot and looked around, ready for an attack, but none came.

"Where do we go?" asked Dot lethargically, as if taking the idea of hiding in her office to heart.

Mouse glanced over her shoulder at her. "I suppose we should try the different doors," she said pointing at the doors that lined the corridors.

Dot nodded mutely, waiting for Mouse to carry out her own suggestion. Mouse shrugged and, finding the closest door, gave it a tug. Beyond the doorway there seemed to be nothing but a swirling mist. As if eager to escape its chamber, the dark mist floated out into the corridor.

The mist was, on first impression, unimpressive. Mouse raised an eyebrow as it rolled into the corridor. In contrast, Dot's eyes grew wide and she backed away, as if the mist would inflict some pain worse than total deletion upon her. Mouse stared curiously at the floating darkness, until the screaming reached her ears.

"Run, Mouse! Run!"

"Daddy...!"

"Go!"

Mouse jumped back from the door, which was still wide open, and pointed her wand at the smoke. "Leave!" she shouted, pained, but the mist paid her no heed. Again the shrieking assaulted her ears, wracking her insides with inexpressible horror. She had heard these voices screaming before, and terrible things had happened.

"Dad! Get away from the Game! Dad! No...Dad!" Mouse watched, horror bound, as the huge purple Game Cube began clawing its way through the sky of her home system.

Her father was running as fast as he could towards her, shouting at her to get out of the way. She turned and ran as fast as her short legs would carry her, casting frequent glances over her shoulder at her father.

Other people in the system screamed as the Cube appeared out of the sky and began its rapid descent. If she or her father were caught in the Game, they would be deleted, win or loose. They couldn't Reboot.

Mouse looked up and shouted for joy, realizing she had escaped the path of the Cube. If she could do it, then so could her dad. She spun around, expecting to see him, tired and panting, but safe, right behind her. He wasn't there. Mouse's eye's grew wide.

"Dad! Daddy!"

Her dad was lying on the ground, shaking. The Cube was coming down, seemingly faster and faster. "Dad!" Mouse took a step forward, but her father's voice carried to her ears.

"Stay there, Mouse! Don't watch...go!" He raised his head and looked at her. She realized what had happened. His knee had given out on him again. It was always giving him trouble, but not now...it couldn't now, not when he was in danger. Mouse felt frozen to the ground. A purple hue cast shadows over the sector where her father was lying.

"Daddy! Don't..."

"Mouse...take care of yourself, Sugar!"

Mouse screamed with rage and terror as the Game slammed down in front of her face, sealing her father in his grave.

"Mouse, close the door!" Dot shouted, now pointing her wand at the mist, as if it was a familiar adversary.

As if she had been knocked over the head, Mouse came to her senses and thrust the door closed, but the mist remained. Frantic, Mouse sought Dot, but could not see her. "Dot! Where?"

"Evaporate!" came Dot's voice from the mist, and immediately the fog began to thin. Shaking, Mouse shrank back against the wall, sweating. She hadn't thought about her father in seconds, if not hours. She was barely 1.0 when he was nullified.

Dot was standing in the middle of the corridor, her eyes closed and her breathing deep. "I fell through that mist. I heard...I heard the worst moments of my life over again." She opened her eyes and locked her purple eyes with Mouse's. "That's what you were hearing."

"No kidding," sighed Mouse.

They stared around for a nano, collecting their courage. After a few nanos had passed, Dot kicked at the wall. "I hate this Game."

Mouse nodded fervently. She glanced around the corridor, collecting herself. "We'd better get going. Which door next?"

Dot moved a few more doors towards the end of the corridor. "Why not this one?"

Now Mouse understood why Dot had wanted to give up. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to forget her long-dead father, and nodded. "Keep your wand ready, Sugah."

Mouse pulled. The door opened. Nothing happened. Confused, she poked her head around the doorframe, peering into the corridor. It was long and dark, but at the very end, a deep blue door was glowing. "That must be the entrance to the final chamber," said Mouse, starting around the door. She looked back to see if Dot was still behind her.

"Mouse!" Dot shouted and pointed down the corridor. Mouse turned to see what she was looking at.

There, running towards a deep blue door, she could see, was the User. "Dot, lets go!" and they plunged down the corridor.

"Halt!" shouted Dot and Mouse in unison. Bright sparks shot from their wands, but had no affect on the User, who was gaining ground with every step.

"It's not working, Mouse!" panted Dot desperately.

"Don't look at me, Honey! You're the one whose wand always seems to work!" Mouse spat back, running for her life.

The User's cloak billowed out around him as he neared the door. Frustrated, Dot pointed her wand at the ceiling above him. "Crumble!" she shouted.

There was a mighty jolt, and ceiling began to fragment. Dust came shooting out of the ceiling and the walls, making the corridor slippery. A huge chunk came hurtling down on the User, and he fell to the ground.

"Yes!" exclaimed Mouse as they hurtled past the User and the crumbling stone. Mouse reached and grasped the door handle, pulling mightily. The door gave way easily, and Dot and Mouse caught a glimpse of the Wand of Enlightenment on a scarlet cushion in the middle of the floor, a ray of sunlight illuminating it. That was all they got see, however, because just then, the building gave another mighty lurch, and the ceiling began to give way in the final chamber.

"Looks like I got a little carried away," shouted Dot over the noise.

"Forget about that, let's just get that Wand and get out of here!" returned Mouse, looking warily over her shoulder at the User, who was fighting his way to the doorframe. He was nearly there. Grabbing Dot's sleeve, Mouse pulled both of them towards the Wand.

As Mouse reached down to grasp it, a huge boulder tumbled from the ceiling, Dot shrieked in pain.

Just get the Wand, thought Mouse wildly, and, forgetting about Dot, she grabbed the Wand up just as the whole castle began to give way.