Usual reminders:
Italics are thoughts or word emphasis. Bold is Malekos' speech.
"Jessica, you fool! Your temper cost you your freedom!" Malekos stood before her in the dimly lit dungeon, his arms crossed over his chest as he growled.
"Jessica? You've never called me by my name before." She pushed herself off the floor and brushed the dust from her pants, smiling.
"I never had a reason to be so friendly before." He scoffed, glancing to the side.
"Right, sorry. I've made you soft." She smiled sheepishly, reaching up to play with one of her bangs.
"And now we're trapped here because you couldn't keep your mouth shut," he huffed, shaking his head.
She pursed her lips and crossed her arms stubbornly. "Yami needed encouragement and that brat needed his ears chewed off anyway."
He chuckled, staring at her once more. "When did you become like this?"
She hummed thoughtfully and then shrugged. "After years of having to deal with you, I started to have anger issues. Side effects of a demon I suppose."
"Ha ha. Very funny." He growled sarcastically, reaching out to lightly cuff her over the head.
She rubbed the spot where he whacked her and grinned up at him. "Glad you think so!"
He narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing something as he watched her. "Yugi has been rubbing off on you as well."
She blinked in surprise. "Is that a good or bad thing?"
He let a small smirk play on his lips, his fangs poking out slightly. "It depends on the person."
She found herself smiling fondly. "True. He's such a selfless person, always fighting for his friends…"
He hummed quietly. "Yes. And he's fighting for you right now."
She crouched down, hugging her knees with one arm as she started drawing in the dust on the floor with her other one. "I know. And I know he'll win."
"Friends really have changed you for the better…" He muttered under his breath, and she lifted her head to look at him.
"Huh?"
"Nothing." He shook his head slightly.
Jessica shrugged in response and then gasped as an idea came to mind. "You need a nickname."
He raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms again. "A nickname? Why?"
"Because your name has too many awkward syllables. I might get tongue-tied one day trying to say Malekos really fast."
He huffed, but didn't argue. "Well, what do you have in mind?"
She hummed in thought as she continued making lines in the dust on the floor. She looked up at him once she thought of one. "What about Mal?"
He scrunched up his face, "No. Pick something else."
"Well, I can't just name you Bob."
"Thank you for sparing me from that humiliation."
She giggled in response. "Then what about…" She paused as she tried to think of different ways to shorten his name without it sounding too odd. "Malek?"
He stared at her for a moment and then turned his back to her. "Just wake up, little one."
Before she could even ask what he meant or protest, a blinding light filled her vision. Suddenly she was standing up again, her limbs stiff. And then they broke free, leaving her to stumble and fall to her hands and knees with a gasp. She looked around and saw her friends celebrating, and even Mokuba and Kaiba were free to hug one another. Green eyes widening in surprise, she looked around and then up.
The floating islands slowly descended to the ground, and Yami spoke. "You've been defeated. And not just by me, but by all of us! For it was only with the support of my friends that I was able to win this duel. And the more you tried to destroy that friendship, the stronger it grew."
Patience, little one. Malekos growled softly, feeling Jessica's urge to run over to Yami. She reluctantly obeyed, but pushed herself to her feet as she watched him walk over to Noah who had fallen to his knees in defeat.
"Listen to me, Noah. You've been all alone in this virtual world for six years, and it's distorted your mind."
"It's not fair! I deserve to be the president of KaibaCorp and I would be if Seto hadn't robbed me of my life!" Noah exclaimed. "I want it back." He suddenly shot to his feet and charged at Yami, grasping the front of his shirt. "And I'll start by escaping to the real world in your body! From now on, I'm you!"
Jessica bristled and started running before she even realized it. "Yugi!" She could see a blinding light emanating from them, but she didn't stop. She dove for them, reaching out to grasp their jackets in both her fists. And with all her might and a loud growl, she yanked the two apart, throwing Noah back. She stumbled and Yami caught her in his arms, shocked eyes staring at her and then at Noah as he spoke.
"What are you? You're not like the others." Noah said, confused.
The gang ran over to them to make sure they were okay, and Jessica gripped Yami's jacket protectively as she glared at Noah.
"You have failed, Noah. So it's time to set us all free," Yami told him.
"And give me my real body back, pronto!" Tristan bounced up and down.
"So, you want your body back?" Noah began to laugh, causing Jessica to growl. "Your real body's exactly where it's been since you arrived!"
"What does that mean?" Duke asked.
"Enough of the games, Noah!" Téa added.
"Don't you get it? There are no real bodies in my world. Everything here is virtual! That means all of you too."
"What?" Jessica's eyes were wide. "You mean… Our minds have always been trapped?"
"Very perceptive, Jessica. Your real bodies are strapped into cyber pods that are hardwired to my virtual simulator. So everything you've experienced here has only happened in your minds!"
"So that's why it seemed so real here. Our minds are being tricked into feeling things that aren't really there," Téa realized.
"And you could access our memories," Jessica added with a growl, and she felt Yami's arm tighten around her.
"Of course! When the floor opened up, we didn't fall into a virtual vortex," Kaiba realized. "We were knocked unconscious and locked in your cyber simulation pods!"
A tingle in her spine made Jessica shiver and she glanced up, gasping as she saw a dark ominous cloud cover the sky, tinted purple. A new voice echoed over their heads and Jessica leaned into Yami's arms, not wanting to be separated again if that were the case.
"You have failed me for the last time, Noah!"
"That voice! It can't be!" Kaiba and Noah both looked up at the sky in shock.
"Father, no! Give me another chance!"
"Too late for that!" The voice boomed, and the cloud overhead pulsed ominously.
"What's going on?" Yami asked, tightening his protective hold on Jessica as he stared up at the cloud.
Suddenly, a large face morphed into view where the clouds had been pulsing, one that was familiar from the picture frame and the scenes Noah had been showing Kaiba. It was Gozaburo, and Mokuba confirmed that.
"Wait, not yet! Father! I need time!"
"More time?" Gozaburo scowled. "You had more than enough time to prove yourself. It's time for me to finish things off now! That's why I digitized my own mind when Seto disgraced me by taking over my company. I wanted revenge! Now the time has come!"
"So, you've been behind this the whole time," Kaiba realized.
"Yes, he has! Right, father? And he's going to give KaibaCorp to me!" Noah was smiling, proud of his father.
Gozaburo glowered at his son. "You had your chance, Noah! And you failed, son!"
"Look, pops," Kaiba growled, clenching his fist. "You had your chance also. And you failed when you lost KaibaCorp to someone more fit for the job!"
"You?!" Gozaburo glared at Kaiba. "I taught you everything you know, Seto! You fool! You thought you could outsmart me? It's time you learned the truth about why I adopted you. After you beat me at chess, I thought you'd be the perfect person to motivate my son, who was quite a slacker." He explained how he had used Seto to be motivation for Noah, but his son's accident caused him to preserve his mind in cyberspace. But he realized Noah would always be the same spoiled brat and turned to Seto instead, working him hard.
"You gave up on your own son! And you trapped me all alone in cyberspace!" Noah exclaimed, staring up at his father in disbelief. Looking at him now and hearing the truth, Jessica started to feel a little bad for him.
"Not at first," Gozaburo told him. "Initially, I thought I could still use Seto to help you."
"Use me?!" Kaiba growled. "And what was it you planned to do with me, Gozaburo? Force me to play chess against your virtual son, to increase his intellect?"
"No, not quite, Seto."
"Then what?"
"I had something much more interesting planned!"
"Will you spit it out?!"
"Very well. Even if Noah could learn how to run a multi-billion dollar corporation, he still lacked one major thing. A body. And that's where you came in, Seto."
Jessica shivered, grimacing in disgust. The idea of someone else's mind being in her own body was unsettling. She was already used to Malekos, but she knew he wouldn't take so kindly to someone else. So for the same thing to happen to a different person's body was just as unsettling. She heard Yami growl next to her.
"Relax. That plan lasted a short time. Noah's mind…" Gozaburo laughed at his own inside joke. "Why would I give you Noah's mind when yours was perfectly fine? So I concentrated on training you, Seto, so that you could inherit my empire. But then you stole it! So using the same technology I used to download Noah's mind into my computer network, I digitized my own mind! Retreating to plot my revenge! I built this place for my final plan, to take over your body for myself!"
"Father… So you used me to trap them here," Noah's voice had lost all snarkiness as he stared up at his father in betrayal.
"That's the only thing you did right! But I'll take it from here. The fun and games are over!"
"You snake!" Kaiba growled.
"I can't believe that you have the nerve to call me a snake! I was the most powerful human being on the entire planet before you came along and stole that power away from me, Seto! Don't you realize that I treated you better than I treated my own son?!"
"Thanks, for nothing," Kaiba said. "And I'll make sure you never regain your power!"
"You're too late!" Suddenly, the image of a satellite orbiting earth appeared.
"What's that?" Yami asked in shock.
Gozaburo laughed. "Just look. It's part of my newest plan. This is one of the many satellites KaibaCorp put into orbit when I was still in charge!"
"And what are you gonna do with dat?" Joey asked.
"These satellites can beam signals to every computer system on earth and connect them back to the underwater base that holds my supercomputer! No one on earth will escape me! I'll have access to every home on the planet!"
Jessica growled, thinking about Kame Game and grandpa. She didn't remember them having any computers, but that didn't mean they weren't out of harm's way.
"Please," Noah said. "That has to be the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard!"
"I'm surprised you feel that way, Noah. After all, the idea came from you! Don't you remember, my son?"
Noah gasped, remembering it. "No!"
"So, Seto. As you can see, I'm no longer interested in taking control of your body in order to regain KaibaCorp. I've set my sights on bigger things!"
"Lunatic," Kaiba scoffed.
"You can believe whatever you want about me, Seto. Because once my plan works, I'll be the most powerful being on the planet once again! And no one on earth will be able to stop me this time!"
"Oh, yeah?" Duke challenged.
"Seto, Noah, this is about so much more than just acquiring one company. For when I'm finished, everyone on earth will become virtual! I plan to digitize the entire world! And I will reign as the cyber ruler of the new planet earth!" Gozaburo's laugh echoed as his face and the clouds disappeared from the sky.
I agree with Kaiba. Gozaburo is an absolute lunatic lol