Joy: Here I am with another chapter. Chapter five! Glad everyone is enjoying the story so far. Lots of cool stuff is on the horizon! Read on, loyal readers and reviewers!

The Cold Shoulder

Katilli and Yugi were waiting for Kaiba outside the Game Shop. Ryou had gone home a short while before Joy was abducted, so he and Bakura were not present. "We need to hurry. Yami, no one is around." At Katilli's words, Yami appeared in spirit form.

"All right Yugi, all you have to do is focus. Concentrate. Think of Joy. Get a picture of her clearly in your mind." Yugi closed his eyes, an image of Joy forming in his mind. The Puzzle glowed slightly.

"You are doing it!" Katilli exclaimed.

"Not so fast!" Everyone jumped a bit from surprise, then turned to the owner of the voice. A female stood a few feet away. She had black hair and deep purple eyes.

"You! You're the one who took Joy!" Seto snapped, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Sorcerer appeared next to Seto. "Priestess Reila!"

Yami looked at Sorcerer Seto. "You know her?" he asked, a bit shocked.

"It was part of my duty to know, thought I never thought I would ever see her again, and certainly not like this." He turned to Reila. "What are you doing, Reila? Who is your reincarnate? Why are you in league with the enemy?"

"Her name is not your concern, High Priest Seto. I am here on Akujin's orders and I intend to follow through with them. The rest is not your business."

"I order you to release Joy, Reila," Katilli commanded.

Reila smiled, though to Yugi it seemed like a sad smile. "I would love to follow that order, Your Highness, but I cannot."

"What does this Akujin want with Joy?" Yugi asked.

Reila turned to Yugi, another small smile displayed on her features. "Have you ever had a dream, Yugi Moto? Something you have wanted more than anything else in the world?" She took a deep breath. "We all do at some point. The unreachable goal."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Seto asked.

"A lot, Seto Kaiba. And now I must do what I came here to do. Forgive me." She hit the group with an unexpected blast of air. The blast did not affect Sorcerer and Yami, who were in spirit form, but it did hit the others, throwing them down to the ground. Yami gasped as the Puzzle was flown from Yugi's neck and he was drawn back into the Item.

Reila seized the opportunity and grabbed the Millennium Puzzle, and then reached down again, taking the belt pack from Yugi's waist containing his dueling deck. She turned to Katilli, who was just getting back to her feet. "If you want your light back, Highness, you must be well prepared to steal her back. Only a master thief is going to be able to get into Akujin's castle."

Reila vanished into thin air.

Everyone got to their feet. "She took the Puzzle!" Yugi cried. "And my deck! Why?"

"We'll just have to ask Akujin that after we find him," Seto said firmly.

"But we need the Puzzle to do that. How are we going to find the castle?" Sorcerer asked.

Katilli thought for a moment. "I think Reila herself told us how. She told us 'only a master thief' could get into the castle. And who do we know who fits such a description?"

"Bakura!"

…Meanwhile…

"What do you say, my dear? Marry me and untold riches could be ours!"

Joy gave him a disgusted look. "You have got to be kidding. There is no fucking way I would ever marry you!"

"Really? You shouldn't be too hasty. Perhaps you would like me to smash the Millennium Puzzle to pieces? I am sure the Pharaoh would love that."

"Go ahead, scum. That will really do you some good. Besides, Yugi can put that Puzzle together easily now." Joy smirked. "I would rather eat dog shit than marry you, you twisted freak!"

At that, Joy received a slap across the face. "You would do well to watch your tongue, girl! I could make you die a slow, painful death!"

"Yeah, but then you would never reach the Path of Light, now would you?" Joy asked cockily. Akujin growled in anger. "Down boy, down. You seem to be in need of anger management."

"Marry me now or pay the price, girl!" Akujin said, moving his face to just inches from hers.

"Go to hell." Joy narrowed her eyes at Akujin, who looked even more furious as he turned and stormed out of the room.

Joy breathed a sigh of relief. I held him at bay for now, but what about next time? And what about the others? Gods, I hope they are all right…

…Meanwhile…

Katilli, Seto, and Yugi arrived at Ryou's house early in the evening. Yugi knocked on the door, and a moment later, Ryou answered.

"Yugi? What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Ryou…we need to talk," Yugi answered, giving Ryou a serious expression. Ryou blinked in response and invited the three friends inside.

...Later…

"Let me get this straight," Bakura began as he lounged on the couch thirty minutes later, "Neko's hikari and the pharaoh got themselves abducted and Yugi's deck got stolen in the process."

Katilli frowned. "I do not know if I would have worded it just that way, anata, but…yes."

"And you need the Ring to find the Puzzle." Yugi nodded. "But what about Houyoku?"

"I have a strong suspicion that if we find the Puzzle, we shall find my hikari," Katilli responded.

"I suppose you expect me to help, Neko?" Bakura assumed lazily.

"Actually, I do," Katilli said, putting her hands on her hips.

Bakura smirked. "Fine, fine. Let us get this over with." He stood.

"Good. Now we know we need to search for Akujin's castle in the Shadow Realm, we just don't know its exact location."

"Okay, let's head to the Shadow Realm!" Yugi said anxiously.

"Not so fast," Katilli said. "Yugi, you and Seto are mortal. Seto has Sorcerer, but you do not have your dark side to take over. You will be completely at the mercy of the Shadow Realm."

"Unless we take him and the others to the castle," Bakura countered. "Which one?"

"Let's go to mine," Seto offered. "It has the three Blue Eyes. Surely that is better than just about any other castle."

Stuck up as always, Yugi thought. "Okay, I guess that is okay as long as we don't get blasted."

"Are you saying I can't control me own dragons?!" Seto shouted. Yugi smiled sheepishly.

"No, it's just that I don't know if your dragons are gonna like me. What if they attack without being told?"

"That is not possible. Monsters in the Realm follow the orders of their master above all else," Katilli explained. "Now, off to the Shadow Realm to rescue Joy and Yami!"

Joy: There you go! Next chapter is called…let me think for a sec…ok, got it. 'Foiled Rescue' I know that is kind of a spoiler, but I think you all deserve it a bit. Remember to review and see you next time!