With Fading finished, I'm at a bit of a loss as to what project to attempt next. Is anyone interested in another sequel? Should I scrap this series and start a new one? Just do one-shots? Shut up altogether?

At any rate, here's a little two-chapter story that's focused more on friendship. Reviews and constructive criticism welcomed—I'd always like to know what I'm doing right and what I need to work on. Thanks in advance, everyone.

---

Phoenix

Chapter One: Destruction

The Phoenix is an enigma, a red-golden shadow on the canvas of the world.

"Cut it out!"

Yugi lifted his hands in a vain attempt to shield his face from the barrage of popcorn that filled the air like snowflakes—or what snowflakes would look like assuming they were hot, buttery, and covered in salt. Behind him, Serenity squealed and dove for cover, defending her face with her hands.

"Guys!" Yugi tried in vain to be heard over Joey and Tristan's shouted insults. He hadn't taken into account, however, the fact that just one of them was practically loud enough to drown out the roar of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

With both of them shouting at once, he never had a chance.

"Oh yeah?" Joey yelled, a viciously amused grin on his face as he flung yet another handful of popcorn into Tristan's face. "I'll show ya who throws like a girl, ya wussy!"

"Hey!" Téa protested, looking up from behind the couch cushion she clutched long enough to reveal her indignant face. "What's wrong with throwing like a girl?"

Tristan smirked as Joey's handful of ammunition passed over his head. "Nice one, dude!" he mocked, glancing over his shoulder at the popcorn shrapnel that had missed its mark. "And now you're helpless. You used up all your ammo and didn't even—"

He was cut off quite suddenly by the flying popcorn bowl that struck him squarely in the back of the head.

"Guys!" Yugi tried again, to no avail.

"Let me help, Yugi." The spirit was obviously highly amused.

Yugi sighed in defeat, opened his mouth, and—

"CEASE AND DECIST!"

The voice was unmistakably Yami's deeper baritone, and it had the highly entertaining effect of causing both Tristan and Joey to freeze in place, Joey with the plastic soda bottle in his hand brandished like a sword, Tristan with the empty popcorn bowl still perched on his head.

The silence was deafening—for all of five seconds.

"Cease and desist?" Yugi blinked, speaking in his own voice again. "Where on earth did you hear the phrase 'cease and desist', Yami?"

Serenity began to laugh. "It sounds like something you'd say in the military."

Yami's indignant voice once again emitted from Yugi's throat, the Puzzle glowing as it did so. "What's wrong with what I said? It worked, did it not?"

Téa emerged from behind her couch-cushion sanctuary, her gleaming dark hair mussed and speckled with stray flecks of popcorn. "It did at that," she said dryly, picking a kernel out of her hair in half-amusement, half-disgust. "I have to hand it to you, Yami. I didn't think anyone could get Joey and Tristan to shut up."

Yugi snorted but quickly smoothed his face into the picture of innocence when Joey and Tristan both glanced his way.

Sightings of the Phoenix are sometimes reported, but nearly always unconfirmed. To see a true Phoenix is almost unheard of.

Serenity sighed contentedly, her head resting on Yugi's shoulder. She fought back a yawn; her olive-green eyes stubbornly refused to stay open, regardless of how much she attempted to control them.

"You tired, sis?" Joey, having finally managed to track down and eat all the popcorn on the floor from his and Tristan's snack-food warfare, had just noticed his little sister was half-asleep.

"Good one," quipped Tristan, spinning an empty soda can absentmindedly on the endtable beside him and tossing a self-satisfied smirk at his friend. "Only the most perceptive person could have managed to deduce that one."

Téa stifled a yawn as well. "I think we're all tired, guys," she said, stretching her arms above her head and letting out a satisfied sigh as her back cracked. "It's practically two in the morning anyhow."

"Pssh." Joey waved this off. "I could go all night if I had to."

"That's probably because you drank four bottles of soda, Joey," Yugi pointed out, his violet eyes sparkling with laughter.

"I agree with Yugi," Serenity murmured loyally, snuggling up closer to him and eliciting a slight blush from Yugi himself. "Let's hit the sack, guys."

Carefully Yugi stood, picking up Serenity as he did so. She smiled sleepily, eyes still closed.

"Hey, careful with my sister, Yuge," Joey said, glancing up with an ever-so-slight fear in his dark eyes.

Yugi smiled. "I've got her," he assured his friend, before cautiously stepping around Tristan, who was sprawled across the floor, and disappearing into the hall. "Téa, you can come too if you want," he called over his shoulder. "You and Serenity can sleep in the guest room."

Téa smiled and clambered to her feet, stretching her long legs. "I'll see you two dorks tomorrow," she said, nimbly sidestepping the mound of candy wrappers and soda cans surrounding Tristan and Joey and following Yugi into the dimly lit corridor.

---

Gently Yugi placed his armful atop one of the two twin beds. Serenity wrinkled her nose as he started to pull away, refusing to remove her arms from their comfortable position around his neck. This had the interesting effect of half-strangling Yugi, as well as causing him to lose his balance and fall forward, face-planting onto the blanket folded at the foot of the bed.

"Serenity," Yugi rasped, a smile fighting to take control of his face, "You kind of have to let go of me now. I'll see you in the morning, 'kay?"

Serenity nodded and reluctantly released her hold, settling into the softness of the pillow with a contented sigh. A smile curved her lips upward as she felt Yugi lightly kiss her forehead, before soft steps announced his retreat. She heard him whisper a quiet "Goodnight" to Téa before drifting slowly off into sleep.

Many believe the Phoenix to be nothing more than a legend, a fairytale that is too antiquated now to charm or intrigue.

Yugi shut the door softly, flipping the lightswitch as he did so. Joey was sprawled out on Yugi's bed, his face clearly announcing the fact that he did not plan to move. Tristan was sitting on the floor nearby, alternating between rubbing at a very recent bruise on his forehead and glaring daggers at Joey.

A thud announced that Yugi had dropped onto the floor atop his sleeping bag, burrowing into it with a resigned, tired smile on his face. "Tristan, you know you got the bed last time."

"So?" Tristan said, tossing Joey an irritated glance that promised later retribution. "He traded it to me this time for the rest of my Mega-Deluxe Cheeseburger last week."

"Did not," Joey retorted, kicking his shoes off and lying back, his head resting on his crossed arms.

For a while there was silence. Then, Joey glanced over at Yugi, his face questioning.

"Hey, Yuge. What've you got on your mind?"

Yugi blinked and looked up at Joey, his eyes sliding into focus as they returned from whatever far-away place he had been.

"Just thinking," he said, shrugging one shoulder and rolling over onto his back, staring at the ceiling. "How long ago was it that we became friends?"

Tristan sat up, his face quizzical. "I don't know, but why are you thinking about that at two in the morning?"

Yugi shrugged again, his violet eyes flickering midnight-blue in the darkness of the room. "Just came to me, I guess. I was just remembering when I met each of you."

Joey winced. "I'd think your earliest memories of us would be ones you'd rather forget."

Yugi cracked a smile as he shifted his glance toward Joey, propping himself up on one elbow. "Nah," he demurred, his eyes glimmering. "Everything worked out, didn't it?"

"Geez..." Tristan said, his own face thoughtful. "That must have been—I don't even know how long ago." He glanced at both Yugi and Joey, a smile lighting up his usually serious face. "You don't find friendships like this all that often."

"Yeah," Joey agreed softly, rubbing hard at one of his eyes. "It's so rare now, ya practically never see real friends anymore. Just cliques 'n all that jazz."

"Almost like it's a myth..." Yugi whispered almost inaudibly. Then he broke off and shook his head, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, guys. I must have had an overload of philosophy tonight for some reason. Let's get some sleep."

For several minutes there was quiet, punctuated only by Joey's soft snores (and some of Joey's not-so-soft snores). Yugi's eyes were still open; he stared at the ceiling, his face troubled.

"Yugi, what is it?" Yami's tone was questioning.

Yugi sighed and shook his head, a rueful smile on his face. "Nothing, Yami," he reassured the spirit, rolling over and shutting his eyes. "I just feel like I'm forgetting something, is all."

---

In the kitchen, the pan on the stove glowed dimly, the oil and a few remaining popcorn kernels in it bubbling slowly. The burner shone red-orange in the blackness of the night.

A bubble in the oil popped. Drops spattered across the stove—

Onto the still-lit burner.

---

The Phoenix endures for hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years, but despite its longevity, there comes a time in its life at which it, too, must die among the flames that were its birthright.

Yugi wrinkled his nose, his sleep-logged brain slowly registering that something was not right. Wearily he forced open his eyes, rubbing the haze of dreams from them. As he did so, he registered that his face was covered in sweat.

That's odd... He inhaled thoughtfully, and was rewarded when the foul air caught in his lungs, tearing a storm of harsh coughing from his throat. What the—

His violet eyes widened in the sudden terror of comprehension as they took in, for the first time, the scarlet glow seeping in beneath the crack of the door.

"Joey! Tristan! Joey, wake up!"

Tristan shot straight up in his sleeping bag, comprehension beginning to dawn immediately in his gray eyes as he noticed that the room was bathed in a flickering crimson light. "Damn it!" he swore, already on his feet, ripping off his pillowcase and tying it around his nose and mouth.

Joey opened one eye blearily. "Huh? Yuge, what— what the—" His eyes widened suddenly, and, suddenly quite awake, he shoved back the mess of blankets entangling his legs and leapt from bed.

Yugi was already kneeling beside the door, his pajama shirt held up protectively so only his violet eyes showed, glittering in both fear and determination. He pressed the back of one hand to the wood of the door and recoiled immediately. A bleak fear shone in his eyes as he turned to his friends. "It's burning hot," he said softly. "The fire's right outside."

"Yugi!" Joey shouted. Yugi glanced down and swatted hard at the sparks that had begun to creep in beneath the door, grinding the tiny embers into the carpet.

It was a temporary salvation, and they all knew it.

The Phoenix seems to have an innate knowledge of when its time has come to die.

"We can't crack a window!" Joey shouted, his voice muffled by the jacket he held over his face. "The air'll rush in and ignite the entire carpet!"

"We've gotta run for it," Tristan said, holding his pillowcase over his mouth with one hand and awkwardly pulling his boots on with the other. "Otherwise we've got no chance at all!"

"All right," Yugi said, swallowing hard. He glanced down and ran his finger across one of the Millennium Puzzle's glittering edges. It felt warm to his touch. He tore his eyes away from the firelight dancing across the gold and nodded, eyes large with fear but steady as a river. "On three."

"Three!" Joey and Tristan both shouted at once. Yugi twisted the knob and yanked the door open, barely even registering the searing pain it caused to hold the handle.

It seeks out flames like those in which it was born.

The three staggered forward into a virtual inferno. Fire licked the walls in every direction, a murky haze of smoke drifting through the air. The intense heat washed over them like a wave as, with a loud crack, a chunk of the oak railing buckled and snapped, collapsing in a flurry of sparks.

"The girls!" Tristan shouted, snapping his attention to the room down the hall. Yugi and Joey were already sprinting toward the door, which hung ever so slightly ajar on its hinges. Suddenly Joey skidded to a stop with a loud curse, barely avoiding the flaming board that had cracked and dropped directly into their path. Yugi ducked forward, barely squeezing through the split-second opening; the board came so close to his head that the fire singed the tips of his golden bangs.

Yugi didn't even stop to open the door; he simply jammed his shoulder against the wood, sending the door itself crashing into the opposite wall. Joey, who had only needed that split second to catch up, darted in behind him, his frantic brown eyes taking in just what Yugi's violet ones had determined.

"What's going—" Tristan stopped suddenly, quickly taking stock of the scene and answering his own question silently. As if on cue, all three boys whirled, running down the hall in single file, the roaring flames casting their flickering shadows wildly on the walls.

Coughing hard, they staggered out the front door of the Game Shop, the cool air washing over them and providing blessed, blessed relief. Joey dropped to his knees, hacking violently, while Tristan slumped against a tree, eyes squeezed shut, one fist pounding his chest as he tried to clear his airways of the noxious smoke.

Yugi, too, was coughing, but he seemed scarcely aware of it. His eyes were huge, reflections of the flames dancing in their violet depths. Horror crept into his face, and he managed to draw in enough air to whisper, "The girls aren't out here."

Joey and Tristan immediately looked up, their own faces reflecting the shock on Yugi's. Joey staggered to his feet and weakly choked out, "Serenity."

"And Téa..." Tristan said, his voice scratchy but strong. "We gotta go back in!"

Yugi nodded, sending a shower of soot from his hair sprinkling down over his face. As sirens wailed in the distance, the three disappeared back into the hellish inferno from which they had just escaped.

The Phoenix is a creature of the flame, but despite this, there is a point at which the submergence in fire gives it death, not life.

"Serenity! Téa!" Yugi shouted, his voice hoarse and barely audible over the roar of the fire. Wincing, he shielded his face as a blast of hot air whipped across his cheeks, embers scorching his skin. Beside him, Joey, too, was fighting his way through the flames.

"Téa!" Tristan called, kicking down a door, which crumbled into ashes at the impact and released another whirl of flame. He recoiled, stumbling into a wall, face twisted in pain, cradling one of his arms, which was red and shining from a new burn.

"Tristan, get out!" Yugi screamed over his shoulder. "You're hurt! Go out and wait for help!"

"No chance!" Tristan retorted, pushing back to his feet, one arm pressed tightly against his middle. He tried to smile cockily, but the expression lost its believability through the anguish in his gray eyes.

"Yuge's right!" Joey coughed, shoving aside a table in a vain attempt to find the two girls. "You're hurt, man! You can't risk it!"

"We're all in this together, Joey!" Tristan shouted, the sweat from the heat and from pain trickling down his face. "I'm not just gonna abandon you guys and the girls!"

Yugi turned, facing his friend, and grabbed onto the front of his jacket with hands that trembled and shook. "Tristan, you've got to get out," he yelled, face set and red with the heat. "You have to let the firemen know we're still in here! Now GO!"

Yugi gave him a shove—not violently, but hard enough to send him stumbling backwards toward the door. Tristan regained his feet and started to retort—but Yugi and Joey had already disappeared further into the blaze.

"Damn it!" Tristan swore, tears of fury pricking his eyes as he stumbled from the blazing shop.

Fire surrounds the phoenix from every side.

"Téa! Serenity! Where are you? Answer me!" Yugi kept up his shouts, despite the fact that his voice was slowly ebbing away to nothing. Soot blanketed his mouth and throat, the gritty coarseness scraping at his vocal chords. Coughing violently, he stumbled into the kitchen—and did a double-take at seeing Téa, huddled against a wall, her blue eyes wide with the terror of being surrounded by fire with no discernible way out.

"Téa!" At his shout, Téa's eyes snapped up to meet Yugi's. She opened her mouth, but nothing emerged save a fit of coughing. Flames licked at her ankles; she was enclosed by the fire, and it was within inches of reaching her bare feet.

Yugi frantically cast his eyes around the room, searching for something that could smother the flames, something, anything—desperately, he ripped at the buttons on his pajama shirt. It came off in his hands, and, ignoring the intensity of the heat against his bare skin, he flung the heavy material onto the ground, stomping out the tongues of fire.

There was only a brief second of respite—only the smallest moment in time before the flames engulfed the cloth as well. But that split second was all Téa needed. With a leap truly worthy of a ballet dancer, she cleared the circle of fire, smashing into Yugi. The two of them went down in a tangle of legs and arms, but were back on their feet almost instantly due to a surge of pure adrenaline.

"This way!" Yugi managed, tears streaming from his eyes, leaving clear trails in the soot coating his face. Téa nodded, shielding her eyes with one arm, and followed Yugi as he raced from the room, glancing over his shoulder frequently to make sure Téa was still on his heels.

By some combination of intuition, luck, and pure terror, Yugi managed to navigate the roaring walls of flame through his home, Téa behind him, her azure eyes intensely focused on the small figure leading her through the fire.

Through this, the phoenix, perhaps resigned to its end, is silent and remarkably calm.

Yugi and Téa emerged at almost the same moment, Téa stumbling forward, her eyes squeezed shut as she fought to rub the ash and smoke from them. Yugi stumbled and dropped to his knees only a few feet from the door, hacking violently, his bare shoulders shaking.

Tristan was at his side almost immediately, half-supporting, half-carrying his small friend further from the inferno that was once a home. Téa had finally managed to open her eyes, their blue irises reddened and irritated.

As sirens drew ever-nearer, the shrill wails penetrating the sound of the crackling flames, Yugi caught his breath and looked up—and then looked around again, fear washing over his face.

"Where are Joey and Serenity?"

Tristan swallowed hard, his burned and swollen arm pressed tightly to his middle. "They aren't out yet."

Téa's gasp of terror drew Tristan's eyes to hers for the briefest second. It was barely an instant—but it was all Yugi needed to pull away from his friend's grasp.

"Yugi! Don't be stupid!" Tristan shouted, lunging to catch hold of his friend's arm.

Yugi paused at the door, his eyes glittering strangely, an unreadable expression on his face.

"You know you'd do the same," he said softly.

The bird's red-gold plumage, which has fallen off during the last stages of its life, rises and becomes a part of its funereal fires.

"Joey!" Yugi shouted, drawing in breaths as deep as his burning lungs could hold. He slipped through a doorway, barely registering the embers searing his bare shoulders and chest, violet gaze flickering rapidly through the firestorm around him. "Joey! Serenity!"

Through the veil of smoke and ash, he caught sight of a tiny flash of gold. Darting forward, barely avoiding a flaming chunk of debris, he followed the glint to its source—Joey, lying unconscious on the floor, a bleeding gash across his forehead.

Yugi's face drained of all color beneath its reddened glaze. He knelt and, with shaking hands, lifted Joey's limp body. A shudder passed through him as he struggled to straighten, Joey's far-taller frame draped across his shoulders. With a choking, raspy breath, he gained his balance and began the agonizing walk to the open door.

His mind numbed; he wasn't sure exactly how he made it to the outside, but suddenly he felt cool hands taking the weight from his shoulders, dimly felt himself being supported by a press of people, felt the touch of a plastic oxygen mask over his nose and mouth.

"Yugi!" The voice was so concerned. He hazily identified it as Téa, and opened his eyes with an effort. Téa's face swam into view, followed by a glimpse of the slowly reviving Joey, lying on a stretcher and surrounded by Tristan and several firefighters. And—and—

Yugi sat bolt upright. "Where's Serenity?"

"The firefighters are in there, Yugi. They'll find her." Téa's voice was choked with tears, which she was striving mightily to hold back. Trying to downplay her fear, she busied herself with lifting the Puzzle from Yugi's shoulders, leaving a reddened imprint on his chest where the gold had seared his skin with its heat.

Yugi's violet eyes blazed. In one quick movement, he yanked the mask from his face, rose to his feet, and slipped beneath the outstretched arms of the man at the front door.

"Yugi!"

Téa's, Tristan's, and Joey's screams of terror blended into one cry. For just an instant, Yugi hesitated, his slim figure silhouetted against a background of scarlet and gold flames.

Then he was gone, vanished again into the hell that was once his home.

The fire burns hotter and hotter, until the phoenix can no longer be seen within its cocoon of fire. It is swallowed entirely by its own flames.

"Serenity!" Yugi staggered to one side, his vision sliding in and out of focus. His lungs sent pain ripping through his body as he desperately tried to draw in the oxygen that simply wasn't there. The flannel of his pajama bottoms was beginning to melt, the fibers dissolving into a boiling goo that stuck to his skin. Dazedly he felt for the Puzzle around his neck, before the realization reached his pain-dulled mind: Téa has it. Groping for a surface on which to support himself, his shaking hands found nothing but air.

"Serenity!" His voice was worn to nothing, and his loudest scream came out as no more than a rasping whisper. Something crashed behind him, but he resolutely kept his eyes forward. One thought pounded through his head: I have to find Serenity. I have to find her.

"Se... seren..." he choked on a mouthful of ashes, coughs tearing from his chest. Still hacking intensely, he stumbled into the flaming remains of the dining room—

And gasped. "Serenity!"

Serenity turned, her terrified olive eyes widening in recognition. Shaking violently, she tried to come forward but quailed as flames licked at her legs.

Yugi reached out and grasped her wrist in his grimy, shaking hand. Serenity's fingers immediately curled around his, their grip a lifeline amidst the fire.

"One," Yugi mouthed, indicating with his eyes that she should come to him. Serenity nodded, eyes glittering with terror and tears even as she did so.

"Two." She sucked in her breath, biting down on her lip.

"Three—" And Serenity leapt wildly through the curtain of fire, tumbling into his chest and clutching his hand in hers as if she would never let go.

The embrace lasted no more than a moment—then, the two of them were stumbling through the hellish maze of rooms, which had begun to crumble around them.

---

Serenity almost cried out in joy when she saw the cool darkness beyond the still-open front door. She felt Yugi's hand on her shoulder blades pushing her gently forward—and then, suddenly, the familiar touch was gone.

Serenity stopped dead in the doorway and turned. She bit back a scream as her streaming eyes fell on Yugi, down on his knees, arms wrapped tightly around his chest and violet eyes squeezed shut in agony. His body trembled as he fought to breathe, and he curled deeper and deeper in on himself, his head lowering to rest on his knees.

"Yugi!" Serenity felt herself moving back to him—

And, as if aware of her movement, he lifted his gaze to hers. Remarkably, a tiny smile curled one corner of his mouth, even as blood ran down his chin. No, he mouthed silently.

No.

Serenity struggled and screamed because someone was holding her arms and dragging her out and let me go can't you see I have to help him let me go—

It is unknown how long the Phoenix will burn, but eventually it must come to an end.

"Let go of me!" Serenity shrieked as a rescue worker dragged her bodily from the doorway. She was barely aware of her surroundings, almost didn't know she was screaming. Dimly she was aware of Joey, Téa, and Tristan, all fighting their own captors.

Suddenly, an explosion ripped through the air.

Its firestorm culminates in a shattering inferno.

Serenity screamed, her voice blending with those of her brother and friends beside her.

It folds in upon itself.

As if in a dream, she watched disbelievingly as the game shop collapsed inward, the ceiling weakened by flames.

Their screams, without words originally, all formed the same word, the same desperate cry.

"Yugi!"

And it smolders until nothing is left but ashes...

---

Um... well...

That was not exactly what I expected this to turn out like... but luckily, there's another chapter!

Please let me know what you think—I know this is different from my usual style. I'd love to get some constructive criticism on this, both bad and good. Hope to hear from you, and thanks for reading thus far!