August 12 - The Night Izzy Went Insane

Cubby POV

(2:00 AM)

One week after we lost Bucky, Izzy and I were stranded on Pirate island. Sure we had pixie dust, but that would run out soon and I didn't see how Izzy could get anymore with Peter being gone for so long. Speaking of my crewmate, I had not seen her all day. I was getting awfully worried about her. She had been acting very very strange lately. In the middle of the night I would hear her talking to somebody, but when I looked there was nobody there. She would be up all night in the other room, sobbing by herself as well as screaming. I couldn't exactly make out what she was saying but it sort of sounded like "It wasn't his fault!" I couldn't be too sure. But she would barely sleep and always seemed to be in a trance of some sort. But the minute I spoke she would snap out of it. What was the matter? Something had to be making her act this way. Something or somebody. But who? And why?

It was about two o'clock in the morning and I couldn't sleep. I was currently roaming around the shore, looking up at the parts of the night sky that were not coated in clouds. But Izzy's current whereabouts were a mystery. I did not see her when I went to bed and she still wasn't there when I got up. It was like she disappeared. After the strange way she's been acting I don't think that's a good thing. I had some sort of nagging feeling that something was happening to her, but I couldn't be too sure. But whatever it was, I didn't like it. I knew Jake, if he ever came back, would never forgive me if I let something happen to Izzy. Theair was thick and full of tension. I had gotten used to the darkness that engulfed our home, but this time, something was…..different. There was a different smell in the air. It smelt like…..fire? I scanned the hill tops of the island and gasped. An orange glow flickered through the night, casting creepy shadows on the palm trees and the sand. My heart raced as I quickly followed the light, until I saw where and who it was coming from.

I couldn't believe my eyes as I stumbled upon the scene before me. There was Izzy standing amidst a garden of flames and in her hand was a torch of fire that she used to burn whatever was in sight. The flames danced, devouring absolutely everything in their path, turning our beloved island to ashes. The crackling of the fire was accompanied by Izzy's crazed laughter, which was the most disturbing sound I had heard in my life. Her pink shirt, bandana and purple pants were gone and she was wearing a white blouse, a black skirt and a red sash around her waist. Where did she even get that?

"Coconuts! Izzy, What in all of Neverland are you doing?!" I cried out to her. The flames seemed to reflect in her eyes, creating a wicked gleam that was so different from the girl I had known. She turned towards me, her expression twisted into a grin.

"Oh Cubby! Look around you! Isn't it beautiful?" Her voice held a manic tone, sending chills down my spine.

"NO! You're hurting our home, Izzy! STOP IT!" I pleaded, desperation seeping into my voice. "Y-y-y-you're INSANE!"

"Come on now, there's no need for name calling. Not yet anyway. And insane you say? HA HA HA H— I'm FINE!" She seemed beyond reason at this point. The girl twirled gracefully like a ballerina, amidst the smoke and ashes.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

"I'm setting Pirate Island free, Cubby! Free from all the rules, from all the expectations, and of course form the horrid memories that it holds!" she said as she bent down and picked up a pile of ash before throwing it up as if it were flowers. "And I feel better than I ever have!" she said joyously, hugging herself with a smile. Tears welled up in my eyes as I watched the flames consume everything we had cherished.

"Izzy, STOP. Jake wouldn't want you to do this!" Skully shouted as he flew into the scene. Izzy tilted her head back and let out a crazed laugh, a sound that echoed in the night.

"Jake, is not here anymore you silly goose," she laughed with a mischievous smile that had molded into an evil sinister glare as she placed her hands behind her back. "Oh and Cubby, I just wanted you to know that you're a hopeless, wanna be sailor and a poor excuse of a pirate. It's a wonder you've made it this far," she mumbled, absolutely heartless as I sobbed even harder. She straightened herself up and looked at both me and Skully. "Now if you wish for me to spare your measly lives, I suggest that the both of you beat it, but if you want to stay here that is your choice. Just stay out of my way!" she growled, moving towards us menacingly. As the flames roared higher and the island continued to crumble around us, I knew that there was no turning back.

"Out of your way?" I asked. "I-I-Izzy what are you going to do?" She had her back facing me as she began to speak.

"Neverland has its protector Cubby. It has a guardian. But its guardian is no longer here. Where is he? He has been out exploring for seven years with that pitiful excuse of a pirate that we once called a captain. Neverland does not need a guardian!" she barked as she turned around to face me. Then she pulled out her pixie dust and stared at it slyly. "But what it does need is a Queen. A ruler," The girl paused and closed her eyes as if getting ready for a long slumber. But when she opened them, the light honey brown gold was gone and replaced with a devilish looking red. "And that ruler will be me." She menacingly made her way over to me and I was cowering on the floor with teary eyes.

"I-I-Izzy p-p-please—-."

"Don't call me Izzy. I want nothing to do with her. Izzy was weak and pathetic. And so, I have completely devoured her."

"Then…w-w-w-what a-a-are y-you?" I trembled. She let out another manic cackle.

"Oh Cubby," she said with an evil smile, her eyes glowing bright red. "I am a monster."

And just like her hellish form had vanished into thin air. I didn't know what to do. But what could I do!? I was in a state of panic for so long that I didn't realize I had been breathing in the smoke and ash a little too much and eventually, I passed out.


August 12

(6:00 AM)

I did not know what happened much after I fainted. It was all pretty much a huge blur. I remember lying in a hammock or a lounge chair of some sort and...and Pirate Island was no longer on fire. But now it was burnt to a crisp and was just a grey smoky pile of ashes. A smoky aroma filled the atmosphere, along with my assumption that something bad was happening. Another thing I remember seeing in my fuzzy vision was that every inhabitant and creature of Neverland was here, well except for Jake and Peter of course. Captain Hook, his crew, the parrots, Pirate Genie, Red Jessica, Pirate Princess, Misty, the Indians, a group of kids Peter called the lost boys, the mermaids, you name it. I suppose they must have put out the fire. I didn't know where Skully was, (amongst the group of birds I guess) and I recall trying to look around for Izzy, until I saw her standing on a rock above the water. She had a leash around her neck that was being held by a pirate, and her hands and feet were also tied on ropes. And everybody, and I mean everybody was looking at her in either disgust or sadness. Izzy on the other hand, just had an evil glare on her face as the Queen of the mermaids swam up to her, looking rather disappointed.

"I do not believe you would fall so far Izzy." Queen Coralin said, looking up at the girl from the land.

"Likewise," Izzy sassed back. "I'm nearly a foot taller than you up here." she said condescendingly, looking down on the queen in the water. The pirate holding Izzy's leash slowly stepped away from her, not loosening his grip though.

"Silence!" the Mermaid Queen ordered. "What you have done is unforgivable! Committing arson on your own home and trying to corrupt ours! Peter would not allow you in Neverland any longer if he heard of this! And neither will we!" she shouted. Izzy didn't look too shocked, or even shocked at all. It was almost as if she had been expecting this.

"What are you implying your royal high knee?" Izzy asked, mockingly. The queen pointed at the sun, rising slowly above the very empty horizon beyond the neversea.

"Go," she ordered sternly. "And never ever return."

"As you wish," Izzy said, nonchalantly. The pirate who had been holding her leash cautiously untied her neck, hands and feet and handed Izzy her pixie dust back. I and all the other neverlandians watched as my ex-crewmate sprinkle pixie dust over herself one last time and ascended into the air. Izzy dropped her yellow pouch in the ocean, completely ceiling her exile. There was no chance in the slightest of her returning, now that she had disabled her only possible way of coming back. But I wasn't so sure. What only compounded that was when she turned around and shot us an evil smile. "I'll be back." she said before quickly flying away like a shooting star and disappearing into the rising sun.

AN: What a chapter. Who or what do you think Cubby heard Izzy talking to a few days before her exile? Could somebody else possibly be responsible for her transformation? Or is Izzy just a jealous female doggie? Next chapter will tell where the "Psycho Pirate" presumably disappeared to.