Usual reminders:

Italics are thoughts or word emphasis.

I do not claim to own Yu-Gi-Oh or its characters. I only own Jessica and Malekos.

The group found a truck in one of the garages and piled into it. Joey was driving and the rest of them were in the back. Jessica had to pull Yugi by his hand to sit down beside her for fear of him falling off at any bump in the road. He reassured her he'd be fine, but she squeezed his hand gently, making him agree to stay seated.

"Hey, Jess." She hummed in response, encouraging him to continue. "How did you know about Tristan?" He was speaking in a lower tone so the others didn't hear him as easily, but he had to get closer in order to do so and it made them both blush slightly.

"We could just sense that something wasn't right," she told him, not exactly sure of how to explain it.

"You mean you and Malekos?"

She nodded. "I'm not really sure how to explain it… It's like a gut feeling I guess." She pursed her lips, not sure if even that explanation was correct.

"It's okay. I trust you." He smiled as he gently squeezed her hand.

She smiled back in response. "Thank you." But somewhere inside her, her stomach twisted. Would he still say that after whatever Noah would show them?

"Good thing we picked up this virtual truck," Duke said.

"Yeah! It beats walking, that's for sure," Yugi agreed as he turned his attention to him. "And it can help us to find- whoa!"

Joey suddenly slammed on the brakes, causing everyone to squish against each other. Jessica leaned away from Yugi, blushing as she had ended up with her face pressed against his. Trying to hide his own blush, he got up to ask Joey what happened. His exclamation of awe caught everyone's attention and they all looked up.

Something was shooting up into the sky, leaving behind a trail of smoke.

"It looks like some kind of rocket," Duke pointed out.

"Yeah, but who do you think launched it?" Yugi asked as they all stared at the sky.

"Do you think it was the Big Five?"

"It's not unlikely," Jessica said as she got up to stand beside Yugi. She rested her arms on the top of the truck and leaned on it.

"We're looking for Tristan's body, remember?" Serenity said with a firm voice.

"Let's face it," a mechanical voice spoke up from behind them, making everybody turn. "I'm way cooler than that Romeo wannabe, Duke Devlin."

Jessica blinked a few times as she watched the monkey scratch its head with what looked like a blissful expression on its face. She bit her lip to keep from laughing, and she leaned her back against the truck so that she could cover her mouth. She exchanged a glance with Yugi, who looked confused and amused at the same time.

"If I stay stuck in this robo-chimp's body too long, I may start chowing on bananas and bugs!"

Jessica couldn't help it now, she started laughing as she hugged her middle. Everyone looked at her and then at the monkey in Serenity's arms, and back again. It didn't help when Joey jumped out of the driver's seat to give a piece of his mind. "I told you so!" She opened her eyes and saw Joey started to tie a rope around the monkey's neck. "What are you doing?!"

"I'm not taking any chances with those Big Five creeps walking around in disguises!"

"I agree," Duke was nodding his approval with crossed arms.

Jessica stomped over and snatched the monkey out of Joey's hands and took the rope off. She set Tristan in the corner away from everyone and stood in front of him, glaring at Joey and Duke specifically as they all stared back in shock. "I don't care if you believe me or not but you're not tying a rope around him. Now can we get going? Tristan's body could be anywhere by now!" Her tone was firm and she crossed her arms in a huff, daring either of them to challenge her.

"Yes, ma'am!" Joey didn't argue further and immediately hopped back into the driver's seat. He didn't want to go up against an angry Jessica. She looked like she could tear his head off.

The ride was silent after that, everyone awkwardly sitting in corners away from Tristan and Jessica. Jessica hadn't left the corner and she made sure Tristan didn't leave it either. He was sitting on one side of her while she sat criss-cross and her arms folded over her chest.

Yugi decided to sit in the corner opposite of her rather than beside her, figuring she needed some space. He fidgeted nervously where he sat between Duke and Téa. Ever since she came back from Noah's abduction, she had been distant and on edge. Something happened that was bothering her, but she didn't seem to want to talk about it. And maybe she didn't want to with everyone else around. He would've talked to her, but they won't have any privacy until they escape Noah's virtual world.

"Duel dead ahead!" Joey's voice cut through the silence and he stopped the vehicle. At least they had a warning this time.

They all exited the truck and ran to the gap in the bridge. Across the gap was Kaiba in the middle of a duel with one of the Big Five.

"Yugi, Kaiba's up against one of da baddest deck master's of all time," Joey told his friend.

Yugi grit his teeth. "You're right, Joey. It's Jinzo!"

Jessica stared at the dueling deck master, and she recognized the monster. It was one that Joey had won in a duel to get into the Battle City finals. Jinzo made it so that his opponent couldn't place any trap cards on the field.

"Oh no," Téa gasped as she listened to the boys explain it. "It's like dueling with half a deck!"

And it got worse. Lector played a trap card that made Kaiba unable to even play his spell cards. All he had left were monsters. But even the face down monster he had on the field wasn't safe. A beam from the sky shot down and destroyed it, causing a blast of wind and waves that had everyone fighting to stay on their feet.

Yugi grabbed Jessica in his arms, protecting her from most of the wind. She hugged him close until the wind and light died away, allowing everyone to regain their composure and watch the duel. It got weird when it was clear that all this was because of revenge against Kaiba. Definitely a family and company feud. All it did was make Kaiba angry the more he was accused of using his little brother.

The end of the duel was quite the finale. Blue-Eyes White Dragon was summoned and attacked the satellite cannon that was out of reach for any other monster. It exploded and caused the clouds to erupt with orange light, and debris rained down into the water. Mokuba was still nowhere to be found.

"I'm coming, Mokuba!" Kaiba shouted into the sky, his voice echoing around them. It was honestly odd to hear him in such a panic, but at least it shows that his little brother is at least the one person he cares about most.

Jessica studied the gap. It was too wide for any of them to jump across. Even if she could request help from Malekos, she didn't feel comfortable allowing him to take control in front of her friends. It was too risky. Plus, there wasn't even a guarantee that he would help anyway. Especially with so many people watching.

Noah's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she growled, glaring up at the sky. "Well, Seto." His voice echoed around them. "You may have won your duel but you've lost something more important. Your brother!" A tunnel system appeared on the bridge ahead of Kaiba.

"Where is he?" Kaiba growled.

"Here's a hint: Just look down!"

"The road's back!" Yugi's voice made Jessica look down and the gap had been filled, allowing them safe passage.

"Proceed ahead and you may find him."

Kaiba immediately ran towards the tunnels with Yugi calling out to him to warn him of traps. He turned around to snap at them. "This doesn't concern you. It's family business!" He then turned and disappeared inside the tunnel.

Joey and Duke got upset about his attitude and Jessica crossed her arms. It didn't surprise her when Yugi suggested helping Kaiba to find Mokuba. "We can't let Kaiba go alone. I'm going to go after him!" He then started running and she was quick to follow him.

"I'm coming with you!" She called and he glanced over his shoulder at her to give her a grateful smile. She heard Téa call after them and heard her footsteps following, but she didn't look back. They ran through the tunnel until they came to a fork, splitting left and right. She clicked her tongue in contempt. They had no way of knowing which direction Kaiba went. "Now what?"

"Wanna flip a coin?" Yugi asked, glancing between the two tunnels.

"Nope! He went this way," Téa said, sounding confident as she started heading down the left tunnel. When Yugi asked if she was sure, she called over her shoulder. "I have absolutely no idea!"

He exchanged a glance with Jessica, who shrugged. "Back to plan A, I guess. Pick a door and see where it goes!" She grasped his hand and pulled him into action, running after Téa before they could lose sight of her.

They caught up to her and it wasn't long before they saw an opening ahead. "I hope that means we chose the right path," Téa said, sounding hopeful.

"Well, we're about to find out!" Yugi replied and they passed through the exit of light.

On the other side, they came out on an overgrown path and stopped. In front of them was an old building, looking absolutely deserted since it had weeds growing on the metal bars and the walls of the building.

"It's some kind of old mansion or something." Téa was looking around at the building. "Really old."

Jessica noticed Yugi started walking towards the gate. "Be careful, Yugi," she told him. She watched as he gripped one of the bars of the gate.

"Whatever this place is, someone doesn't want us going in there," he told them. "But I wonder why?"

She blinked in surprise, walking over to stand beside him. She gripped the bars in both hands and tried to tug, but it wouldn't budge. "You're right… How odd." Suddenly there was a noise that echoed, making her tense in anticipation of something bad happening.

"Do you hear what I hear?" Téa asked as she stepped closer to them. "It sounds like crying."

Jessica furrowed her brows and stared at the mansion, listening as the cries continued to echo. They sounded like they were coming from inside the mansion. She hummed thoughtfully as she stepped back from the gate and looked along the sides. The fence itself wasn't climbable due to the pointed tips at the top. There had to be another entrance somewhere, like a hole that was never patched up. Then she saw it, a crumbled hole further to the left. "There!" She jogged over to it and crawled through to the other side, standing up to peer at them through the fence. "Come on!"

Yugi crawled through first and then Téa, and they bolted for the mansion doors. They pushed them open and they could hear the cries of the baby continue, echoing off the walls. "Let's split up," he suggested and instantly ran down a pathway before anyone could argue.

"Wha-" Jessica was about to call after him but she cut herself off as she watched Téa run down a different path in search of the infant. She bit her lip. Splitting up is what I'm worried about. Hopefully Noah doesn't know we're here if he didn't want us to find it. She glanced around and jogged down a middle pathway.

No matter where she went, the cries were the same volume and echoed off the walls endlessly. There was no way to tell where the cries were coming from. So she started opening doors to look inside. Most of them were empty besides the furniture. Some were offices, some were bedrooms. She had just closed a door when Yugi and Téa caught up to her.

"Jess!" They stopped in front of her. "Any luck?" Yugi asked hopefully. When she shook her head, they continued searching the rooms. "Hey, I found something!" The two girls followed him into a room, where they spotted a rattle inside a crib.

"A toy?" Jessica picked it up, examining it and listening as the ball inside tinkled around.

"I'd be crying too if I were stuck in a creepy old house with no rattle," Téa commented, staring at it.

"You know what?" Yugi turned as he looked around, sounding like he just figured something out. "I don't think there's really a baby in this place at all."

"Then who's crying?" Téa turned to him. "Unless it's just a digital sound file that's part of Noah's freaky virtual universe."

"Exactly!"

Now the cries were starting to grate on Jessica's nerves and she scrunched her nose in contempt. "Okay, but can it stop? I don't like creepy sound files in creepy worlds. It just sounds like a horror film now." She shivered to add emphasis. The two laughed lightly at her comment, and she couldn't help but smile back slightly. At least she was able to make them laugh.

Yugi looked over at a table and gasped. "Check it out, guys. It looks like a picture of someone!" He walked over to it and picked it up, and the girls followed him over to examine it. "This might tell us where we are."

The picture was caked in dust like it hadn't been cleaned in decades. He wiped it off and they gasped. "That's Noah!" Jessica recognized the head of green hair in the picture, but she didn't recognize the older man that was sitting in the chair beside him. "Who the heck is that?"

"I don't know, but let's keep searching the mansion." Yugi suggested and they headed out the door and down the hallway.

That's it for today. Don't forget to leave a review!