Chapter Ten-Gozabouro's Last Stand

"So, you came back." Gozabouro was standing there in the middle of the control room, glaring at the two. "I always thought you had better sense than this, Mokie."

"Don't you ever call me that! It's because of you my brother's turned into the cold hearted person he is!!" Mokuba yelled. "You did that to him! I'll never forgive you for that!!"

Veronica put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder. "You won't have to, Mokuba."

"Oh ho...the little frightened mouse squeaks! What can one little girl do against me? Do you honestly think I'm here alone? Foolish girl. Don't you realize you have to have the virtual key to get back? If you kill me now, you'll never find it!"

"You are alone, Gozabouro Kaiba. And do you want to know why?" Veronica took a risky step closer, her fists clenched in anger.

"Enlighten me." The former CEO growled.

"I sent your "boys"to the Shadow Realm." She smirked. "I called in a favor to Yami Bakura. He owed me one for last time."

"Pah! Yami Bakura wouldn't do anything you asked him!"

"The real Yami Bakura wouldn't, no. But this is the virtual world, and thanks to you, I now have the power to manipulate as I will!" This seemed to stun Gozabouro. "Shocking to realize you're actually going to be beaten by an eleven-year-old girl, isn't it?"

"Wishful thinking, Child." Gozabouro lunged at the two of them. "You're going to help me."

"Not in this lifetime." Veronica jumped clear out of his path. "I can not only manipulate my surroundings, but like Noa, I can manipulate my strength and my body." She grabbed Mokuba's hand before Gozabouro could grab him. She pulled him behind her. "Mokuba. Go find the Key. It could be anywhere."

"I can't leave you here!" Mokuba argued. "Noa'd never forgive me if something went wrong!"

"Just go! I can handle Mr. Kaiba without you." At least, I think I can. I just want Mokuba out of the way in case this gets messy.

"If you say so...." Mokuba spun around, and fled down a corridor.

"Unbelievable! She's got a lot of guts, facing him alone." Seto stared at the monitors in awe.

"She's always had guts. She just needed a little encouragement. " Noa told him. "She doesn't get a lot of encouragement from her brother."

"Humph. That's why her brother's going to end up losing her when she's older." Seto grunted. "If I treated Mokuba like that, he probably would've left me already."

"He's thought about it." Noa said quietly. "He feels you don't trust him to do anything for himself."

"Well....." Seto began, but he shook his head. "With everything we've been through...I just don't want him to go looking for trouble to get himself out of."

"Do you think that's what he's done now?" Noa asked his younger brother. True in the virtual world he appeared to be the same age as Mokuba, but in reality, he was actually older than Seto.

"No. I think this time, he was trying to help Veronica find her courage." Seto replied after a minute. "He was trying to be a brother to her."

"Exactly." Noa sighed softly. "I wish I could find a way to make her brother understand."

"Hmm.." Seto began to push a few buttons. "Let's check on the scum."

"Right." A few moments later, they had Veronica's surveillance monitors hacked.

"What do you mean she might never be waking up again?! She was only playing a game!" Vincent slammed his fist into a wall angrily, his eyes closed. "Damn it! It has to be Noa's doing. It has to be!"

"Noa,Sir?" One of the doctors looked at him quizzically. "Who is that?"

"Nevermind that. Just get my sister awake!" Víncent turned to leave the room where his sister's motionless body was resting. "I'm going to see someone." He walked out into the hall, and sank against the wall. Why, Noa?! Why can't you just leave my sister alone?! With a new plan in his head, he took his sedan to Onyx's house. He would talk to Morgen, Ronnie's closest friend. Maybe she could tell him how Veronica had made it back into Virtual World without her pod in working order.

"Idiotic boy! I didn 't bring her here. She came on her own. That was the purpose of the Virtual Key. He's the one to bla me for her actions. Not me!" Noa scowled, and bit into his latest snack, a chili dog. "He blames me for everything that's happened to Veronica in the last year, but really, it's his own fault."

"It certainly seems to be. Veronica hasn 't even asked for him since she's been here. It makes me wonder if she even wants to be with him." Seto commented. He was drinking a cup of coffee. "Noa.....do you suppose she doesn't want to be with him anymore?"

"It's quite possible..." Noa muttered to Seto. "I just don't know how I can possibly convince her to go home to him at the end of all of this."

"We must somehow." Seto said softly. "I get the feeling Mokuba is getting attached to her."

"I worry about that." Noa chuckled. "He does seem to generally care about her."

"She likes him too. I just don't know if she's being a fan girl or is she just wants to be exactly like him for the sake of being like him." Seto laughed a little at the insanity of it all. "Victoria all over again."

"Victoria?" Noa looked at Seto. "Who is that?"

"Marik Ishtar's adopted sister. She's just like Veronica, except she actually lives here in this reality."

"Hmm... And she's adjusted to that reality rather than the one that depicts us as cartoons?"

"For the most part." Seto replied. "I'll talk to you about it later. Let's see what they're doing over at Alcatraz."

If the elder Kaibas had tuned in sooner, they would've seen that Veronica was struggling to keep her composure. For at the same time the Kaibas were watching Vincent fall apart, she was also watching. And Gozabouro was still taunting her.

"Do you see the pain you always cause him? It's no wonder he doesn't want to spend time with you. I certainly wouldn't want to." The eldest Kaiba grinned smugly as his victim shrank back against the wall. "You cringe because you know I'm right."

"It's not true! Vincent loves me!" Veronica spat with a scowl. There was a lump in her throat though. She had not missed the TV cameras in the house. The news groups were there again. "He loves me a lot!"
"Ever heard of a little thing called publicity, Veronica? We of the business world use it quite frequently, and a lot of times, we use people to get it. What do you think Vincent is doing at this very moment?"

"Grieving! He thinks I'm dead!" Veronica shrieked at him shrilly. "He thinks I'm dead because I can't get home because of you!!"

"Because of me? You came here first." He cornered her now, blocking any escape route. "So now what, Veronica Skylar? What happened to all that virtual power you had? Have you been drained along with you nerve?" He shoved her all the way against the wall now.

"Think again!" With a satisfied smirk, Veronica sent a blast of Shadow Energy from her palm through Gozabouro. The old man went flying across the room, and out a glass window. "And now, for my finale!" She closed her eyes tightly, sending out the image of Gozabouro shrinking into nothingness. Outside, she heard a torturous yell. "I'm o nly doing to you what you were going to do to Oniisan!" After a moment, there was complete silence. She ran to the broken window to see if it had worked. There was no sign of Gozabouro. "I did it!"

"She did it! I don't feel him anymore!" Noa was amazed, and proud at the very same time. The engines of his precious base started once more, and he turned it towards Alcatraz. "Now if Mokie found the Key, everything is ready to send us, and her home."

"I hope he found it. I don't think Veronica should stay here m uch longer."

"I agree. She looks really weak." Noa got out of the base when they reached Alcatraz, and went directly to the control room with Seto behind him.

"Noa- sama ! I did it!" Veronica used the last of her strength to get to Noa.

"I saw." Noa held her gently. "Are you okay,Ronnie?"

"I'm tired....." She looked around. "Where's Mokuba?"

"Right here!" Mokuba came running. "Are you all right?! I heard screaming!"

"That was Gozabouro. He's gone now." Ronnie told him with a smile. "Did you find it?"

"Right here." Mokuba hande d the girl the Virtual Key. "Can we go home now? I miss Jon and Marik."

"You and Seto can go home first. I want to escort Veronica myself. I have a few things to say to Vincent." With that, Noa took the key from Veronica, and sent his brothers home. "I'll see you two a bit later." Now he looked at Veronica. "C'mon. Let's go talk to your brother now, shall we?"

"Okay." Veronica sank into Noa's arms, as the two disappeared.