The Eight Lords

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

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"So, Evan, what brought you out to this place, anyway?"

Jaden walked alongside of Evan and his Baby Dragon friend, his friends leading the group through Harpie Forest. Chazz was still moping about how no one, particularly Alexis, thought how good his victory against the Harpie Brother was.

Evan sighed, took of his cap and ran a hand through his blonde hair, "I came looking for help for my village,"

"Help?" Alexis looked at him, "Is something wrong?"

Evan nodded, "It's like this: there's a big war between Dragons going on in this area, between the southern Dragon Clan, and the northern Dragon Clan. It wouldn't be so bad, I mean, they normally don't get us humans involved, but my village is smack dab in the middle of the warzone!"

"Warring Dragon Clans?" Christina turned to Siho, "Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like the first Breath of Fire game?"

Siho shrugged a little as Evan continued his story.

"It's because of this war, that not many people think most monsters are really nice. I thought, if I could get them to help out, the Harpie Clan could aid my village. But, obviously, it didn't go so well," he sighed as they reached the outer area of the forest, "I've about given up on my village,"

"Uhm...is your village...a small town just down this path?" Christina asked slowly.

"Yes, why?" Evan looked at her.

Christina pointed ahead and everyone followed her finger...to see the sight of a peaceful looking village in the distance. The same village was currently being bombarded by fireballs from flocks and flocks of Kourmori Dragons.

Evan paled, "Oh no, not again!"

Before anyone could stop him, Evan broke into a dead run for his village, Drake flying right behind him.

"Evan!"

"Idiot!" Chazz shook his head, "So, does this mean we have to go after-," he stopped and watched as the others ran after Evan, right into the blazing village, "Aw, crap,"

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The village was in flames, pillars of smoke rising into the air as people screamed for help. Above them, the huge flock of Koumori Dragons continued their bombardment, firing off blast after blast. As Jaden and the others entered the village, they couldn't find Evan or Drake in the crowd of fleeing people.

"This is friggin' nuts!" Christina shouted, ducking to just barely avoid a large orb of firepower, which exploded a short distance behind her, "This is like the first Dungeons and Dragons movie!"

"Will you stop with the movie references?!" Chazz shouted at her, "How the hell can you be talking about that crap with Dragons attacking?!"

Christina opened her mouth to retort, but another blast cut her off. Jaden tried his best to locate Evan, but was unsuccessful. However, he was successful in attracting attention of a nearby armored soldier. He quickly rode up to them on his horse, a stern look across his face.

"Children, I do not know who you are, but it is not safe to be out in the open! Please, find shelter immediately!"

Jaden frowned, "Hey, look we-,"

"Soldier!" the guard yelled to a nearby warrior.

The warrior ran up to him and saluted, "Captain!"

"Take these children and put them in protective custody!"

"Aye, sir!" the soldier saluted again and turned to the group, "C'mon kids, it's not safe here!"

Unwilling to argue and get into more trouble then they already were, the group of eight followed the soldier to a nearby building that seemed packed with people. When they stepped into the shelter, they saw that many of the people were already in bandages and their clothes were burnt or torn...making them look like nothing but rags.

"Man, Evan said it was bad, but I didn't know it was this bad," Alexis breathed, taking a seat in a nearby empty corner.

Bastion nodded, "This may be a simulation game, but even I'm starting to feel a little depressed because of these poor souls,"

The group waited anxiously, hearing the sounds of screams, explosions, and the Koumori Dragons as the raid raged on. But, after what seemed like an eternity...a new noise reached their ears, as well as the ears of the suffering refugees.

"It's Lord Revastan! Lord Revastan has finally returned to us!"

Seconds later, a new roar ripped through the air. This one sounded deeper, more fierce...superior to the Koumori Dragons. Scrambling to a nearby window, everyone in the shelter watched as a magnificent Dragon flew through the air, roaring and firing off blasts of power at the now retreating Koumori Dragons. The new Dragon was much larger than the Koumori's and it had a beautiful coat of golden scales on it's back and silver scales on it's underbelly. On top of it's back, was a cloaked rider, who wielded a wicked looking blade.

Even from that distance, Christina recognized the blade.

"That's the Sword of Dragon's Soul!"

Siho glanced at her, then turned back to the window, "You sure?"

"Hell yeah!" Christina nodded rapidly, "I'm sure of it! Who the hell is this Lord?!"

A cold scoff made her turn her head, to look at an older man wrapped in a tattered blanket. The man had a scowl on his face, and a look of hate in his eyes.

"You got something to say, old timer?" Chazz asked, glancing at the man.

The man nodded, "Aye, I do lad. Everyone thinks it's a good thing that the 'Almighty' Lord Revastan, Game Marshal, has returned, but in reality, all of our troubles are because of that damned Lord!" he shook his head, "They call him a hero, instead of tossing him to a pack of dragons...idiots,"

Chazz smirked, "If this Lord is so strong, I'd love to duel him...I bet I could beat his wrinkled butt easily!"

Alexis rolled her eyes, "Then everyone will know that you can wail on an elderly Lord, Chazz. Good plan," she muttered.

Chazz could only all fall over at her words, "Lexi...,"

As the others waited patiently, and while Jordan tried to get onto Chazz's case about him calling his cousin Lexi, the doors to the shelter opened and a group of armed men stood in the doorway.

"Good people!" the captain from before cried out, "Your Lord Revastan has returned and routed the invading dragons back to the Southern Border. You are free to come out!"

Cheers and mutterings rippled through the shelter and everyone began to file out. When the gang left the shelter, they saw the damage that the dragon's had done to the town. Rubble and smoking ruins were pretty much what anyone could see in any direction. Wounded citizens of the village limped around, covered in blankets and bandages. Bodies of slain Koumori Dragons could be seen either in the street, or ontop of a couple of ruins.

"Damn," Khamille shook her head, "This is horrible...worse than when we first entered the village,"

"Now, you see why I had to look for help,"

Everyone turned to see Evan and Drake behind them, Evan's head wrapped in a gauze bandage and his arm in a sling, Drake hovering next to him, looking far better than his friend considering he only had a few bruises.

"There you are!" Alexis walked over to him, "Evan, what happened to you?"

Evan shook his head slowly, "I don't know...I think I got in a dragon blast. The last thing I remember before passing out was seeing the Koumori's fly over head...they were being chased by a beautiful dragon of gold and silver,"

"That was Lord Revastan," Jaden explained, "He came and saved the village from the dragon raid,"

Evan smiled and nodded, "The Lord has always been there for us...he's a good man, a fine duelist. However, some people think he's the cause of all this,"

"Yeah, an elder in the shelter was insulting him," Bastion recalled, "But, tell me, Evan. What is a Game Marshal? The old man called him that?"

"A Game Marshal, or Guild Master," Evan winced and held his head, "A Game Marshal is considered the greatest duelist out of all the people in their region in the world. There are eight of them total, and all of them are incredibly strong. Lord Revastan is one of them, and as you can guess, this area is where he rules,"

Chazz scoffed, "Is that so? I take it he lives nearby,"

Evan looked at him warily, "Yes...?"

"Where's this old geezer live?"

"At Revastan Manor...a short journey from here down the main road," Evan raised an eyebrow, "Why do you want to know?"

Chazz punched his palm and cracked his knuckles, "I'm in the mood to take this guy down a notch. Show me where this old fart lives, I'll overthrow this Lord and show him that it's time for some new blood!"

"I don't think that's a good idea," Evan shook his head, "Trust me on this,"

"Why?" Chazz brushed past the others and leaned forward, "You think I'll win and become your new Lord? You're scared of me, aren't you?"

"No," Evan said calmly, "I'm only warning you that it's not a good idea, because the last twenty people who thought they could overthrow Lord Revastan...," he trailed off and clicked his tongue, "Let's just say they regretted it...those who returned, anyway,"

Jaden put his arms behind his head, a grin on his face, "This guy actually sounds like a fun opponent! I can't wait to take him on!"

Chazz glared at him, "Who said he's yours?! I'm the one who's gonna take this old geezer down, Jaden! Let someone else have the spotlight for once, dammit!"

"Okay, okay, geez," Jaden held up his hands, "Chill out, Chazz...if you want to duel him, you can have first dibs,"

"Glad you see it my way," Chazz snorted and crossed his arms, "About damn time,"

"Yeah, it's no big Chazz," Christina turned away, a grin crossing her face too, "You get first dibs, and when you get slaughtered by the Lord, Jaden can avenge you while you get back to the real world,"

"WHY YOU LITTLE-!!" Chazz leapt at Christina, but was quickly subdued by Bastion, Siho, and Jordan, "Lemme at her, lemme at her!"

As he stuggled to keep the raging duelist at bay, Bastion turned to Evan, who was petting Drake's head slowly, "Tell me, Evan...since we seem to have two very willing volunteers to duel this Lord Revastan, where might we find him exactly?"

Evan looked at them all, then shook his head, "You guys are nuts...fine," he pointed to the other side of the village, where it seemed to have less damage than the rest, "Go down the dirt road from this entrance of my village. There's a fork in the road...one goes to the next region, and the other one goes to Mount Dracon and Revastan Manor. You have to go through the Dracon Forest to reach the Manor...but if you can get through Dracon Forest, then Lord Revastan should be able to duel your friends,"

"Why do you say if?" Bastion inquired.

"Because, that forest is filled with dragons," Evan raised an eyebrow, "You guys must really be outsiders of the village to not know that. There's like...one or two strong duelists who rule the forest. If you can get past them, then Lord Revastan will know of your victory, and grant your friends a duel,"

Bastion nodded, "I see...,"

Christina turned to Khamille, "I thought this was a tournament, not an RPG!" she hissed.

Khamille shrugged, "Hey, I didn't make the game. You want answers, talk to my brother when we get outta here, alright?"

"Alright...," Christina sighed and turned back to the others, "Gotta admit though...either way, I'm looking forward to dueling these eight Game Marshals. They sound like Gym Leaders from Pokemon,"

"Aw, Pokemon sucks, Duel Monsters owns Pokemon," (1)

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"They do sound like the Gym Leaders," Kairi said thoughtfully, "I can't wait to see how this goes,"

"Good. Pay attention when the duels happen, you'll learn something about them for your turn," a nearby technician advised, "Just-,"

She stopped talking and everyone watched as the screens flickered, going from a static filled view to scrambled views of the game. It only lasted a few moments, but the screens returned to normal.

"What the hell was that?" the head technician demanded, "Did we get a power surge or something?"

"I'm not sure...most likely, it's the game getting adjusted. It was happening earlier too, right when they went in,"

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"Oh, it's adjusting alright...but not the way you think it is!"

From it's place in a darkened room, lit only by the light of a computer, the figure leaned back in it's chair and grinned wickedly.

"It's not time for the new players...yet...they'll already be thrown off with the no escape program I slipped in there," the figure rubbed it's hands, "I can't wait for this to kick in...this is gonna be fun!"

A loud beeping sound from the monitor made the grin disappear. Muttering, the figure clicked on a blinking window and leaned in close to the screen. As it's eyes stared at the glowing monitor, the figure began to growl.

"No! No, no, no, no, no!" the figure banged the desk hard, "That damn punk! I don't know who first created that damn PC AI, but he's been a nuisance for too long! He comes out of nowhere and destroys the other things I've put into the game...but not this time. Oh no...not this time. This time, I'm ready for him!"

On the monitor was a picture of a young man, about nineteen or so, with short turqouise hair and blue eyes. He wore an open white jacket, matching pants and black boots, an old model duel disk on his arm. The figure stared long and hard at the young man before leaning back in his chair again.

"Enjoy what time you have left, punk...this is the last time you'll screw with me,"

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Kilnorc: Well, that's done! I hope you guys liked this chapter, I enjoyed it myself...I just hope that I got some good info in, without confusing anybody, LOL. Anyhoo, I'm aware that this does seem to fit an RPG style VR game than a tourney, and I'm working on details with a friend of mine, so if it IS confusing, I do apologize, for that was not my intention.

(1) This is a reference to a joke I've heard...I'm sure you all have heard it, in some form at least. I don't recall it myself, but that's the best I can remember it, LOL.

Later guys!