I'm soooo sorry everyone! I should have let you guys know that I was taking off for winter break! Next time, I promise.

"Tell me what I have to do to be with you again." Yugi said, crying.

"Yugi," Dr. Yoshida said. "The first thing to do is to eliminate the option of your brain surgery. It's just a trap in your mind to take you away from us."

"Okay, I can do that." Yugi said. "I'll come back… I promise."

Yugi re-awoke in his "otherworld" and ripped the IV out of his arm. He stood and stumbled out of his room, his legs feeling weak. The others saw him and stood up.

"Yugi? Are you sure you should be out of bed?" Atem asked, concerned.

"We're going home." Yugi said shortly, crossing his arms.

"What? How can you even say that?" Tea asked incredulously.

"Yeah, man, you could die!" Joey yelled at him.

"I could always die!" Yugi yelled back. "What I don't want is to live retarded and incapable for the rest of my life! I want to live for as long as I can! But… I want to live. Really live."

Grandpa wasn't satisfied. "Yugi, the doctor told us that you will live in a split reality. You won't be able to sense things properly if you don't do this. You'll be in pain, too. Do you want to 'really live' like that?"

"Yes." Yugi said with conviction. Tristan still refused to accept it.

"Yugi's only 16 years old!" he shouted to the doctor. "He can't be responsible to make these decisions!"

"I'm afraid he can, in these circumstances." Janice said sadly. "It's his choice to make."

Atem looked disappointedly at Yugi. "Do you really want to do this?" he asked.

Yugi looked back at him. He hated making his friends feel like this, but he would do what he had to do. "I've made up my mind."

Atem sighed, with an edge of bitterness. "… Fine, then. Let's go home."

"You're doing very well, sweetie." said Kanae. "I know that must have been hard."

"What now?" Yugi whispered. He didn't want his friends to know he was here.

"This is going to be very hard, son, but I know you're strong enough." Ichigo said.

"In order to give yourself completely to us, you need to eliminate the things that are keeping you there." Yoshida said. "Your friends… your Grandpa. They are all just mental traps."

Yugi nodded and closed his eyes.

"Do whatever's easiest for you, Yugi."

It had been a few days after Yugi had gone to the hospital. Atem and the others were still looking at him like he was going to drop dead any minute. He had taken care to find the perfect opportunity… and today was his chance. Atem and Tea had gone out on a date, and he had invited Joey and Tristan over to hang out.

"The easiest way to do this…" Yugi thought. "Eight years ago… in my fantasy… killing them would have been simple. I need to get back into that attitude again. I can do this… I have to do this! For my parents… for myself."

"Wow… that was a weird movie!" Tea said, giggling. Atem laughed as well.

"It was rather… unconventional." He joked. "Did you want to come over? See the others?"

Tea nodded, her smile fading. "Yeah, I'd like that." She hesitated. "I still can't believe Yugi opted out of his surgery."

Atem looked solemn as well. "I can understand his reasons, though. And he doesn't seem to be experiencing any more side effects."

"That we know of." Tea said.

Atem nodded. "That we know of."

They walked in silence back to the game shop. "They should be upstairs." Atem said, as he proceeded toward the living room. "Guys?"

Yugi walked up behind them. "They already left." He said, smiling.

Atem turned around. "Already? Hmm… that was a short stay."

Yugi laughed. "Yeah, I guess so." He turned towards Tea, rubbing the back of his head. "Tea… can I speak to you privately for a minute?" he asked, seeming shy.

"Sure, Yugi." She said. Tea turned to Atem. "Can you hold on a sec'?"

"Sure." Atem said, sitting down on the couch.

"Thanks." Yugi said quickly, and dragged Tea out of the room to talk.

Atem waited for a long while. "I wonder what they've been talking about for so long. It's been 20 minutes…" He was pulling out of his ponderings when he heard the door behind him. Atem turned, only to stare a gun in the face.

"Sorry." The voice of the gun's owner said, right before he pulled the trigger.

Atem awoke groggily a few hours later. "What happened?" He thought, before he remembered the last moments before he passed out. He heard muffled moans, and looked around to see the rest of the gang, including Yugi's grandpa, bound and gagged on the basement floor. The area had been cleared, the piano respectfully moved under the stairs. And sitting on those stairs, much to Atem's surprise, was Yugi.

"Joey and Tristan were pretty heavy, you know." Yugi said calmly, holding the tranquilizer gun he had used to incapacitate them. Atem found himself gagged too, so he couldn't incredulously ask Yugi what the heck he was doing.

Yugi smiled at him. "I bet I know what you're thinking!" he said cheerfully, standing up and putting his gun aside. "You're thinking… 'What the heck is he doing?', right?" Yugi asked, giggling. "That's a rhetorical question; I don't expect you to answer."

He knelt down in front of Atem. "Do you really think that this is real?" Yugi asked quietly. "Do you really think that all of this about magic and ancient games and mind control is possible? Even you, Atem…" Yugi paused, looking less cheerful then he was before. "A 5,000 year old pharaoh, who possesses the body of a modern, teenage boy to help him play a card game which dictates the fate of the world." Yugi giggled hysterically, standing and pacing across the floor. "Then! That pharaoh and that boy and their friends go back in time to Ancient Egypt to regain the pharaoh's memories and save the world."

Yugi turned back to Atem, glaring at him coldly. "How could you tell me that's real?!" He yelled. "Why do you insist on taking me away from my parents for something as ridiculous as that?! Are you really that selfish?! All of you?!" Yugi stopped, tears forming in his eyes. "I just want to be normal again. I just want to be with my family again." Yugi backed up. "That's why I have to do this."

Yugi reached toward the stairs and pulled up an amulet. "If in this world, magic exists… then I can use it to my advantage." He gripped the amulet so hard that the blood from his hand poured over it. He glowed with a sickly purple aura and began to chant. "Anima, immanis et inanis! (1) Come forth, Chimera! King of Mythical Beasts!" A dark vortex appeared in the ceiling and floor, electricity connecting them. A bright flash illuminated the room, and Chimera appeared, snarling with feral rage.

Yugi backed up, tears poured down his cheeks.

"Kill them."

Hahahaha, that was fun. Having Yugi yell at Yami.

(1) That's Latin for "Soul, monstrous and empty." I think. I got it from some Latin songs and stuff.