A/N: Right! I going away for couple of days and I want to get this posted before I go.

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu-gi-oh. I only own my own characters

Chapter Six – A Nightmarish Reality

Everything was peaceful and quiet in Izzy's bedroom. The Sun was beginning to burst through her blinds, but she still slept. She gently turned in her dreams, blissfully unaware of anything that was happening around her and as she did so, she rolled out of bed. She landed with a thump on the floor.

Izzy sat up, groaning amongst her duvet cover.

"I never want to do that again?" She said tiredly, putting her head back down.

"It was funny though," someone chuckled from the end of her bed. Izzy sat up again, blinking.

"What the..." she said eventually, rolling her eyes, "I might have know it was you."

Yami smirked.

"Who else would it be?" He asked, raising his eyebrows. Izzy threw her pillow at him. Yami ducked instinctively, but he needn't have bothered. As he was in spirit-form, the pillow would have gone straight through him- causing him no harm what so ever. "Hey," he protested, throwing up his arms defensively. "There was no need for that!"

"You were being evil," Izzy grumbled as she stood up to face him. "Would you mind moving?" She asked, picking up her duvet. "I wanna reassemble my bed." Yami obliged, floating over to the other side of the room while Izzy repaired her bed.

With that task finished, she began fishing around in her wardrobe for some clothes. Eventually pulling out some jeans and a t-shirt, she turned around to face her darker half.

"Can you go in the Puzzle for a few moments Yami. I want to change."

He noddded. She may now be sharing a body with him, but Izzy still needed some privacy from him.

"Sure," he mumbled, "I'll talk to you in a moment." And with that Yami disappeared from sight and Izzy could get dressed.

Few moments later, Izzy was finished and was standing in front of her mirror, brushing her hair back into a ponytail.

/Izzy.../ She blinked. /Anything planned for today/ Yami interrupted throught the mind-link.

/Yami, you can come back out./ She pointed out as he rematerialised in front of her.

"So have we got any plans for today?" He renewed his earlier question.

"Well," Izzy considered, finishing her hair. "It's Sunday so we're going to Church and after that is pretty much up to y-" She stop abruptly as she saw the curious looks that Yami was giving her.

"What is this Church of which you speak?" He asked curiously. Izzy stared at the floor. "Well..?" He said, trying to prompt an answer.

"It's... ahhhhhh..." She bit he lower lip. It was going to be slightly complicated trying to explain this concept. "I think the best thing to do is to just wait and see." Izzy answered eventually, glancing down at her watch. "And anyway, I going down for some Breakfast." Izzy glanced across at Yami, "Do you want anything?"

And so a short time after she had rolled out of bed, Izzy made an appearance in the kitchen.

"Good Morning," Izzy grinned as she barralled into the kitchen. Her brother and mother glanced up from where they were eating breakfast.


"Morning Izzy," Mum smiled as Izzy placed some bread in the toaster and spun around to face them, "Did you have a good night's sleep?"

"We heard you fall out of bed." Mike smirked as he spooned a mouthful of cereal into his mouth. "It sounded quite painful."

"It was," Izzy nodded, reaching for a bowl and a cereal box. "Believe me, I'm not intending to do it again."

"I'll hold you to that tomorrow," he said, grinning at her. "Hang on," he asked curiously as the toast popped and his sister began buttering it, "I didn't think you had both cereal and toast." Izzy shrugged.

"I'm hungry." She lied. She was only having the cereal. The toast was for Yami. She didn't exactly want her dark-half to starve to death.

"Oh," her mother interrupted, suddenly remembering something, "Izzy, a second parcel came for you this morning. Special Delivery." She placed the brown package on the breakfast table.

"You're getting incredibly popular recently," Mike commented wryly as his sister poked it. "You had the parcel last week, now this one."

/Izzy.../ Yami interrupted suddenly, his voice full of concern.

/Yeah.../ she answered distractedly.

/I have bad feeling about this./ He paused briefly, then added/ Just be careful./ Izzy nodded, retrieving a pair of scissors from a nearby cupboard and she began cutting at the brown tape as guitar music began driffed down from upstairs.

Dad was up there - practising for this morning's service. He played his guitar occasionally in the services but today he was going to lead this morning's service with the minister.

Humming along to the music, Izzy eventually ripped open the box.and peered inside. Mike and Mum coming over to have a look too.

Izzy blinked. She closed her eyes, then opened them again. She couldn't believe what she was seeing in the box. On the outside, it had looked quite ordinary, but inside it was something else.

It was a purple fingerless glove with a chunky silver band at the rim. It had ten small star-shaped holes in a circle on the band. Izzy looked at it curiously, before passing it to her brother for his examination.

"Any idea what this thing is?" Mike asked curiously, placing the glove back in the box.

"No idea," Izzy said, shaking her head. She glanced at the rest of the items in the box. There were two small yellow chips that clearly fitted the glove - which she slotted into place knowing that she would lose them otherwise and two cards. Two cards that both she and her brother recognised as Duel Monsters - if not Duel Monsters exactly. The first card was a picture of mountain of gold and treasure and the second card was just blank. At the bottom of everything else was a single envelope and a video cassette.

She opened the envelope and two things fell out - something that looked very much like an offical letter and a return plane ticket to Japan.

"What the...?" Mike shot, passing the plane ticket to his mother to have a look as Izzy unfolded the letter.

"It's from Industrial Illusions," Izzy muttered as she scanned the letter. She raised her head, "It's from Maximillion Pegasus, himself. He wants me to join his tournament at Duelist Kingdom."

" I think that's wonderful!" Mum smiled as she hugged Izzy. "I'm so proud of you and- " Her voice trailed off into a distant murmer as she released her daughter.

Izzy continued to stare at the package for a few moments before she contacted her darker half.

/Yami.../

He didn't answer.

She tried again.

/Yami.../

/Yes/ he replied eventually, materialising in front of her.

/What do you think.../ She paused briefly glancing up at him, before she continued/About the tournament/

/It's interesting/ Yami commented, nodding at the letter in her hand. /Are we going/

/Maybe, but only if you want to./

/We could./ He shrugged - but Izzy noticed the hopeful tone to his voice. She smiled.

"The letter said that I need to play the video," Izzy pointed out as Yami faded away into the Puzzle. She turned to her mother and Mike, "So I'm gonna go and play it." She picked up the video and added. "You coming Mike?"

He shrugged and nodded,

"Sure."

Mike followed his sister into the lounge and sat down on the sofa as Izzy slid the video into the player. Izzy grabbed the remote and sat down next to her brother.

"Ready?" she asked, holding the remote control in the air. Mike nodded and she pressed down on the play button.

The screen flickered into life bringing with it a strange figure. He had long grey hair that covered his left eye. His remaining eye was dark brown - sparkling with a mixture of greed and determination and he was wearing a red suit suit with a white frilly collor. Mike and Izzy recognised whom it was instantly - Maximillion Pegasus.

"Greetings Isabella. I've heard so much about you." He declared, waving his arm at her. Izzy scowled - nobody called her Isabella. She didn't like this guy. "It's so nice to finally meet the girl who put Seto Kaiba in his place." The screen-image continued. "I must congratulate you. Nobody else has ever beaten Kaiba-boy before." He looked straight at Izzy. It was if he could see actually see her.

"Izzy," Mike whispered quietly, "Can you turn it off? It's starting to freak me out." Izzy nodded, reaching for the stop button. As she touched the button, someone interrupted

"I wouldn't do that if that if I were you." The onscreen figure waved a finger at her. "If you want you want your brother back to normal, then I suggest you listen to me."

It was true. She tried waving her hand in front of Mike. No response. She tried shoving his shoulder. Still nothing. She tried again. Nothing. He was frozen in time.

Angrily, she rounded on the screen, but deep down she knew it was useless. It was only a video.

"What have you done to him?" She yelled desperately, knowing there would be no answer from the screen. To her surprise and horror, the screen answered back.

"I have merely brought you to another demension to prevent any interruption." Pegasus shrugged wavng away Izzy's horrifed expression, "I want to talk to you and I don't want to be interrupted."

"What...?" she gasped, then she spat, "Where am I?"

"The Shadow Realm, Isabella." Pegasus explained with a roll of his eye. "I'm sure the spirit of the Puzzle would have explained, if he'd only had more time."

Izzy's mouth dropped.

"How do you know about Yami?" She demanded, glaring at Pegasus.

"The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle?" He laughed. Recovering slightly, he raised the hair that was covering his left eye - where his left eye would have been. Izzy shivered as she saw the solid gold eye that stared back at her. It was an exact replica of the symbol on the front of the Puzzle."Do you honestly believe you're the only one who possessed such an item?" Pegasus waved his spare arm at Izzy. "The item around your neck is one of seven magical items called Millennium Items. Your Items is the Milliennium Puzzle. He tapped the golden eye "This is the Millennium Eye and I am fully aware that the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle is listening to this conversation."

Yami scowled from inside the 'Milliennium Puzzle'.

"You can read my mind?" Izzy asked uncertainly, glaring at Pegasus.

"Oh, yes," He nodded, "And that's not all, for you see I want you to participate to my tournament." A beam of light shot from the centre of the the Millennium Eye and streaked passed Izzy. As she glanced over her shoulder, the beam found it's target- Mike. "Therefore I'm taking something of extreme value to you."

"Mike." She whispered as his image flickered where Pegasus had been only a few moments ago. In horror she watched as he held out both his hands to his sister, his soul crying out silently for help that his sister couldn't give him. "Mike!" Izzy screamed again. "Pegasus, you monster! What have you done?"

"Be assured your brother is save - for now, but if you ever want to see your beloved brother again," Pegasus continued his voice floating back to her from wherever he was, "You'll be on the boat to Duelist Kingdom on Tuesday morning. Defeat me at Duelist Kingdom and I'll give you his soul back. Till then, Isabella." Pegasus voice trailed off as the black swiling world eventually gave way to normal reality.

Izzy sank to her knees. Her mind stubbornly refusing to acknowledge it. It was not real. It couldn't be.

Shaking, she stood up and turned around slowly.

"Mum!" She shrieked as she saw the life-less form of her brother on the sofa. His blond head just flopping to the side. His brown eyes closed. "Dad!" Izzy screamed desperately as tears began trickling down her face.


Izzy watched the clock on the white corridor wall move with agonising slowness. Each small movement of the second hand felt like a dagger piercing her stomach as the doctors were trying everything to find out what was wrong with Mike.

Her dad was pacing up and down the corridor- glancing up at the clock every two minutes while Mum who was sat in the chair next to Izzy was nearly in tears.

Izzy could not look at her parents in this state. The feeling of guilt was too strong. Her parents would never understand. Instead, she stared down at the floor and the Millennium Puzzle around her neck.

Eventually the door opposite opened and a doctor stepped through into the corridor. "Mr and Mrs Corbey," He said, addressing Izzy's parents. "I'm afraid I've got some good news concerning your son and some bad news."

Izzy stared at the floor - she knew what was coming.


"Simon...?"

"Yeah," he answered, glancing around at the clock on the wall behind them. "What's wrong?"

"It's twenty-five past ten and Izzy's still not here. The service starts at half past 10." Alyssa muttered darkly, so that the rest of their talkative friends would not overhear. They didn't. "Something is definitely wrong. Izzy is never late for Church."

This was the place were Alyssa and Izzy had met all those years ago. Alyssa had been attending Moreton Baptist Church since her birth likewise had her younger sister - Cassie. Similarly, Izzy had been coming to Church all her life, moving to Moreton just after her baby brother Mike had been born. Simon had only been coming for a few years, but it felt like he has always been there. They were a close-knit bunch.

"I think you might be right," Cassie noted quietly, turning in her seat. "Izzy's parents haven't come yet... and her dad's leading part of the service. They're usually here well before us."

The situation appeared to be picked up by the Elders and Decons of the Church. They were running up and down the aisle and into the Vestry- conferring with the minster and with each other. It was clear that they had no idea what was going on.

"Have you got any idea what's wrong with Izz?" Alyssa whispered to Simon, glancing briefly at her sister. "I mean she's started acting strange- in a weird way." Simon nodded.

"I know what you mean," he muttered, glancing back at Cassie. "You weren't the convention on Friday, Cassie, but Izzy was acting so weird."

"We only disappeared for about ten minutes and she there she was dueling Seto Kaiba." Alyssa pointed out to her younger sister.

"That's not it." Simon hissed, "While she was dueling did you hear that edge to her voice, "Alyssa shivered and nodded, "In all the years I've known her, I've never heard Izzy like that?"

"I think she's been distancing herself from us." Alyssa added. "Izzy won't tell us anything. It's like she become a completly different person that we don't know anything about anymore."

"She's not the only one, Alyssa." Cassie commented quietly as the comings and goings from the Vestry ceased.. "You've been distant recently." She opened her mouth to protest, but her sister plowed on. "More so than usual."

Simon put his head in his hands and a gave sigh of exasperation.

"No!" He murmered through gritted teeth as the Church leaders returned to the congregation. They didn't look too happy- a few were close to tears. "I can only cope with one mystery at a time."

Up at the lectern, the Minister cleared his throat and the chatty congregation quietened down.

"This morning's service would have been led jointly by David Corbey and myself, but-" He paused slightly. Alyssa, Simon and Cassie exchanged looks with each other. "We've just received a phone call from David. I'm sorry to say that David and his family are now at Birmingham Hospital. This morning, Mike came down with something that the doctors at the Hospital nor his family can explain..."


She stood by the bed just staring at the unconcious form of her brother. She tried to cry, but no more tears would fall down her face. She had none left to shed.

She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe how much things had changed in the past week and everything was her fault. If she hadn't gone to that convention. If she'd not argued with Kaiba. If she hadn't played that video tape, then Mike would still be here. It just wasn't fair.

Izzy clasped her brother's hand. It was cold and clammy. She could just feel his faint pulse slowly forcing blood around his body - keeping him alive but only just and it nearly broke her heart. She may never hear her brother's voice again. The doctors said that Mike may never open his eyes again.

With her spare hand, Izzy wiped away the nonexistent tears and as she did so, she felt a shadowy hand rest on her shoulder. Blinking slightly, she turned to see Yami giving her a small reassuring smile.

They stood there for a few moments in silence watching Mike; neither Izzy or Yami said a word to the other. That silence was more comforting than any words they could have exchanged.

Eventaully Yami broke the silence,

/How is he/

/Alive/ Izzy sobbed, not glancing up from her brother's bed. /But only just. The doctors can't explain anything. Everything's functioning as it should. It's just his-/ Fresh tears began trickling down her face as Izzy turned to face Yami. /My parents- look at them/ She nodded at her parents out in the corridor with the doctors. /How can I explain? How can I explain any of it to them? They would never understand. I... I just can't do it./

/Izzy. Listen to me/ Yami said firmly, looking his red-eyed hikari in the eye and wrapping a shadowy hand around her spare one. /You are not alone. You never are. I'm with you and I'll always be with you! While we're at Duelist Kingdom I promise to you I will do everything in my power to get Mike's soul back. We'll beat Pegasus together and get your brother's soul back. That's a promise/

Blinking back her tears, Izzy smiled slightly.

/Thank you./ she mouthed silently at her darker half. /Thank you Yami. / He smiled back at her.

/One more thing/ Yami added, releasing her hand. /You need to tell your friends. It's not good to keep things bottled up inside. Somethings are better if you tell someone./ Izzy nodded and releasing her brother's hand, she wiped away the remainder of her tears. She gently placed a kiss on Mike's forehead and whispered,

"We'll get your soul back Mike, I promise." With that Izzy walked over to the ward door, Yami floating along behind her.

Once the pair were in an empty corridor, Izzy began digging in a pocket and removed her mobile phone. Hestitantly, she pushed several buttons and raised it to her ear. It rang.

After a few moments of agonising silence, someone answered.

"Simon...?" She asked, glancing at Yami floating at her side. "Do you still want to know what's going on?"


He trudged through the park, kicking the dried leaves out of his path. The wind was starting to picking up and it was starting to drizzle as he slowly made his way over to the oak tree.

It was quiet here. There were not many people around - only a middle-aged couple on an afternoon stroll and a young student walking his dog. Most people had more sense than to be out in dinghy weather like this.

Simon sighed. This was important. Izzy had something she needed to tell him. She had sounded like she had just been crying and he was positive that it had something to do with her brother.

Alyssa and Cassie waved at him from the bottom of the tree. Izzy had asked him to call them too and get them to come with him. She said she needed to talk them as well.

Simon gave a nod of greeting as he drew level with the Trent sisters and then the three began waiting for the last person they were waiting for to turn up.

After a short while, she appeared and began walking towards her friends. From a distance, Izzy looked miserable but closer she looked terrible. Her eyes were red and sore, evidently from recent crying.

"Hi,"Alyssa said eventually, after a few moments of awkward silence. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine," Izzy muttered quietly, not looking up at her friend. "But it's Mike. Not me."

"We heard," Simon nodded, "How is he?" He asked, glancing at Izzy.

"Alive," she whispered, looking at her friends properly for the first time. "Mum's staying at the hospital with him. The doctors can't explain it," Izzy paused and added determinedly, "But I can."

They stared at her.

"What...?" Cassie blinked - exchanging looks with Alyssa and Simon. "If the doctors can't explain it, then how can you?"

"I know," Izzy muttered quietly, glancing up at the stormy sky. "Because the person responsible for it told me. Remember last Wednesday, I said I would explain what was going on so I'm telling you now." She tapped the side of the Puzzle and continued, "This is the Milliennium Puzzle." Izzy paused as she watched her friends reactions. She was sure that Alyssa's eyes widen in recognition for a brief moment, before she blinked, removing the guesture from her face. "It arrived last week and since I solved it everything has gone above and beyond crazy. A second parcel arrived from Maximillion Pegasus this morning."

"You mean the Maximillion Pegasus!" Cassie echoed incredulously.

"Yes," Izzy nodded gravely, "He sent invitation to his Duelist Kingdom Tournament. He stole Mike's soul to make sure I come and I want it back. It's that simple! I'm going to Duelist Kingdom and I wanted to tell you that I'm flying out on Tuesday morning." She concluded with a sigh.

"Are you sure that-" Simon began, removing his hands from his coat pocket. He sighed heavily, "What I mean is are you going-"

Alyssa gave Simon a sharp kick in the shins. He yelped in pain.

"What he means is we'll come and keep you company at the airport." Izzy and Cassie stared at her while Simon rubbed his shin. He glared at her.

"Ow! That hurt!"

"Are you okay, Simon?" Izzy shot, offering her hand for support as he stood up.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," he grumbled, still glaring at Alyssa.

"Anyway, are you guys sure about coming down to the airport?" Izzy asked eventually, glancing at Alyssa.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Alyssa dismissed, ignoring Simon's glares. "Hey, what are friends for?" She pointed to the darkening sky and grinned at them, "It looks like it's gonna rain, I think we should get moving home."

The others nodded and began to make a move. But as the others turned to go their separate ways, they did not see the small smirk that flickered for the briefest of moments on her face.

A:N: There ya go! Now go and review!