Airstrike

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

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kristerr Tong sat in an empty chair, his head in his hands while everyone else around him ran back and forth, trying to figure out what the hell was going on. Kairi had left the tube problems, as well as the system check to the technicians and walked over to the young man.

"You okay, man?"

"Some ass messes with the game, Chazz is nowhere to be seen and they can't get out!" Kristerr looked up at her, "Re-think that question, kid,"

Kairi frowned, "Hey, you aren't the only one upset here, pal!" she pointed to the tubes, "Those guys are the only real friends I've had in my life and now they're in trouble!"

"Well, my baby sister is in there and I'm responsible for all of them!" Kristerr snapped.

Both of them glared at each other for a few moments before Kristerr turned away, sighing.

"Sorry, Kairi...just a little worked up,"

"No kidding," Kairi leaned against a nearby console, "Any ideas on how to get them out?"

Kristerr slowly shook his head, "Only way that could work is if they beat the game,"

"Really?"

"I don't know! Normally, yes, but with this asshole screwing with the game, who knows what they'd have to do, and who knows what rules have been changed!"

Kairi crossed her arms and looked back at the tubes containing her friends, Hope you guys are okay...

-----

"What exactly is going on, Noah?" Jaden demanded, "Where's Chazz?"

The young man shook his head, "I do not know, Jaden, which is odd, considering when it comes to knowing things in this world, I know a lot, but this...this is new to me,"

Alexis turned to see Evan walking up to them, "Hey, Revastan, where's Chazz?"

Evan shrugged, "I do not know, Alexis. This is a first for me. I've dueled countless people before, but they've never disappeared on me like this. Your guess is as good as mine,"

"Well, what the hell do we do now?" Christina put her arms behind her head, "Chazz lost, is missing and we got no clue where he is,"

The group was silent for a few moments before Siho raised a hand, "I say we keep going. If we keep traveling to the other Marshals, we should cover a lot of area, and if we're lucky, we'll find Chazz,"

"Don't you mean 'If we're unlucky, we'll find Chazz'?" Jordan asked, earning a light smack upside the head from his cousin.

"Sounds like the best thing to do," Khamille murmured and turned to Evan, "Who is the nearest Marshal?"

Evan looked at her, "Her name is Kotako Tatsuhira. You remember that fork in the road we came by before entering Dracon Forest?"

"Uh-huh?"

"That road takes you to her region. I gotta warn you though, it's a tough journey, and I get the feeling that you'll have a hard one before you,"

Jaden sighed, "We gotta go through the Forest again!"

Evan smiled, "Not necessarily, Jaden. I can lend you the services of some of my friends to give you a lift to the border of my realm," he placed two fingers in his mouth and let out a sharp whistle.

Christina picked her ear, "Dang, man...what was that for?!"

"You want transports, right?" Evan pointed up and everyone looked up to see the ceiling was now splitting open and a small number of dragons flew into the arena, "These guys will carry you to where you need to go," he explained as the dragons landed and the group began to climb onto their backs, "I hope you guys find your friend, and I wish you well on your journey,"

Jaden nodded and kicked the sides of his dragon, "Giddyup,"

One by one, the dragons flapped their wings, taking off from the ground and moving higher into the air.

"Thanks, Evan!" Jaden waved goodbye, "See ya around!"

Evan raised his arm and waved back at him. Khamille kept her eyes locked onto his as long as she could before her dragon flew after the others into the sky. Evan lowered his arm, "Well, brother?"

A figure in the shadows chuckled, "That was a very interesting duel, Evan. Still, I wonder where their friend went?"

"I don't know," Evan reached into his sleeve and pulled out Chazz's Armed Dragon cards, "But he'll be wanting these back when he finds out they're gone," he murmured as the cards glowed a bright light and disappeared, "Oh well, they're in her hands now," he turned and faced the figure, "Just gotta wait, eh?"

-----

"Oh, it's about time!"

Chazz, closely followed by his Ojamas, ran towards and took refuge under a large tree, the only thing that provided shade in the desert that they had seen. The duelist leaned against the tree and wiped his brow, "Man, for a VR game, they make things as real as possible," he glanced at the three monsters nearby, "Unfortunately for me...,"

Ojama Yellow shook his money maker as he hovered around Chazz's head, "Aw, c'mon, Boss, we know you love having us around!"

Green nodded, "Dat's right! We're a team!"

Black smirked, "Got that right, Knucklehead!"

"WILL YOU THREE JUST LEAVE ME ALONE?!" Chazz shouted, taking a swipe at them. A rustling sound made Chazz look down to see all his Duel Monster cards laid out on the sand.

"Aw, great," Chazz bent down and collected them, but as he did, he noticed that he wasn't playing with a full deck anymore, "Wait a second, where are my dragons? They should be here!" he fanned out his deck to double-check, but could not find his faithful Armed Dragons, "What is going on here?!"

-----

"Alright, just what the heck is going on here, why'd we leave Evan's place so fast?" Jordan asked his friends as they flew over the land, "Something's going on here!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Siho turned to Khamille, "You mind telling us what happened back there, Tong?"

Khamille kept her eyes forward, "Chazz lost the duel, that's what happened, or were you not paying attention?"

Siho frowned, "I'm talking about how you knew Evan would play that combo that beat Chazz's Armed Dragons,"

"Hey, that's right," Jaden looked at her, "You said that combo of his never fails, but we've never played this before, so how'd you know?"

Soon, everyone else's eyes were on her, and Khamille lowered her head, sighing.

"I knew he was gonna do that because I created Evan,"

Siho blinked and leaned closer, or as close as he could without falling, "Excuse us? Mind repeating that?"

"Yeah, please do," Alexis agreed, "What do you mean, you created Evan?"

Khamille pulled on her dragon's reins, making the reptile stop, and the others followed suit. She looked at all them, "Okay, you all, except Noah, of course...you all know what it was like for me back at Duel Academy, right?"

"You had to lie to get in and pretend to be a dude because your mom didn't want you dueling," Christina nodded, "How could we forget, you and Kristerr tagged with Chazz and his pain in the ass brother,"

"Well," Khamille ran a hand through her hair, "Before I entered Duel Academy, and when I wasn't dueling in secret, I messed around with new decks and strategies in my spare time. Since I had access to a bunch of cards, I figured I could try some things out without messing with my own deck. In the end, I made eight decks with some real power behind them,"

"How does Evan fit into this?" Jaden asked her.

Khamille held up a finger, "I'm just getting to that part. After making the decks, I figured I'd just screw around and make eight duelists, one for each of the decks I made. Evan and his Dragons are one of the duelists I made,"

"So, the other seven Game Marshals in this game are of your creation," Bastion realized, "Why didn't you tell us this when we first met with Evan?"

"Hey, it has been a long time since I messed around with all that, and I didn't remember Evan until the duel," she cursed under her breath as her dragon snorted, "Can't believe Kristerr used my people for a game without asking my permission, or at least telling me!"

Jaden grinned, "Hey, it's no big! I mean, think about it guys. If Khamille made these guys and their decks, than we know what they can do in duels and if we know what that can do in duels-,"

"Then we can prepare ourselves," Bastion finished, "Jaden, this is a rare moment for you,"

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," Bastion turned to Khamille, "Tell us, Khamille. Since you know what these creations of yours can do, can you tell us what kind of deck the next Game Marshal has at her disposal?"

Khamille shrugged, shaking her head, "Not right now. As I said, it's been a long time, and I didn't remember Evan right away, so even if I remembered something, it could be the wrong deck,"

Bastion nodded, "Luck favors the prepared, but bad luck falls upon those who are not prepared,"

"I swear, you make those up," Siho muttered as he looked around, "Hey, guys? I think we should get going...,"

"How come? Anxious to get to the next duel?" Jordan asked, grinning, "Or because you know the next Marshal is a chick?"

Siho shook his head and pointed in the direction he was staring at, "Because of that,"

Everyone turned to the direction their friend was pointing in and they watched as a large group of metal airships flew through the air...right towards them.

"What the heck are they?" Jaden asked, squinting.

Noah stared ahead, "They're part of the Gradius Air Force, but this isn't their region, what are they doing in the Dragon Region?"

"Gradius?" Jordan squinted as well to get a better look, "Looks like they're ready for a fight, because they've got Cyclon Lasers equipped to them,"

"Noah, are any other regions at war?" Alexis asked, eyes not leaving the sight of the jet fighters.

The young man shook his head, "Not to my knowledge, Alexis...something's wrong,"

Siho nodded, "Very wrong. I think we should go before-," he was cut off as a beam of intense energy shot past them all, nearly grazing half of their dragons.

"RETREAT! RETREAT!" Christina screamed, kicking her dragon hard, "LET'S GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

No one argued as more and more of the Gradius' opened fire on them. Soon, all of them were racing across the sky, trying to outrun and dodge the attackers.

Noah grit his teeth as another beam fired over his head, This isn't right! Someone's tampered with this world, it's all wrong! I gotta get them out of here before something very bad happens!

An explosion, followed by both a roar and a scream ripped through the air and Noah snapped his head around to see that Christina's dragon had been hit and now she and her ride were falling at a fast rate towards the ground below.

"Christina!" Siho screamed as he watched his best friend fall, "Hang on!" he tugged on the reins of his ride, hoping to swerve to the side and catch her, but another blast made him back away, "Dammit!"

"I got her!" Bastion's dragon dove downward, speeding towards his friend.

Another blast whizzed by them and Jaden could actually smell burnt hair. He noticed that part of his hair was singed off, "Uh guys...we really gotta lose them!"

"No kidding!" Jordan shouted as he ducked another round, "If anyone has any ideas, now is a very good time for them!"

Once again, a roar filled the air and everyone looked down to see Bastion's dragon falling out of the sky as well.

"Bastion! Christina!" Jaden wrapped his reins around his hands, ready to turn back for them, but Siho came to his side.

"Keep going, Jaden!"

"But they-,"

Siho shook his head, "They'll be fine! Chrissy's strong and Bastion's a nerd, they'll get by just fine, but right now, we gotta lose these asses," he jerked a thumb to the Gradius', "NOW!"

Jaden looked straight at him for a few moments, but nodded, "Right!" he kicked his dragon, "C'mon boy, go higher! We'll try to lose them in the clouds!"

His dragon growled and began to climb into the air, followed by the other remaining dragons. Siho took one last look at the trails of smoke, which were now far behind and below them.

Good luck you two...

-----

While the others were flying for their lives, Bastion and Christina were recovering from their ordeals. The two duelists, after a rough landing and a quick check of themselves, now stood in front of their dead dragon escorts.

"Well, we seem to be without a mode of transportation, our friends are in dire trouble, and we seem to be lost," Bastion sighed and shook his head, "It does not bode well, Christina,"

Christina scoffed, "Yeah, no kidding," she looked down at her disk, then at Bastion's, "Well, the equipment seems to be in good shape, and our decks are still with us. I guess all we have to do now is walk,"

"Walk?" Bastion repeated, "Christina, no offense, but with no map or any bearings whatsoever, we could be wandering around here for a long time!"

"Yeah...," Christina nodded, "But it's no big deal...I mean, c'mon, Bastion, it's just a game! When it's time for us to leave or if we need to leave or need help, we let the guys outside know and...," she snapped her fingers, "Problem solved, just like that!"

Bastion was taken back, "Oh, right, of course," he looked around, "This place is so real, it threw me off for a bit,"

"Eh, don't let it get to ya," she slugged him in the shoulder, "Now, c'mon, let's try and find a way outta this place," she looked around the area, "I'm getting a bad vibe,"

"Why don't we just contact them now?"

"What, and explore this place?" Christina smiled and began to walk in a random direction, "Think about it, Bast, if this place is anything like Dracon Forest, we'll get to duel and get some of our own treasure! Who knows, maybe we'll get some good cards to use,"

Bastion sweatdropped, "Does anything get you down, Christina?"

"Not many things, and not very often, now c'mon Bastion! Adventure's calling!"

"Well, tell it to leave a message after the beep,"

"Did you just make a joke? Wow, I'm impressed,"

"At what?"

"Nothing,"

-----

Not too far away, a figure ran through the woods, leaping over logs and jumping off rocks. This hunter had a mission, a mission that it wasn't going to pass up, especially at the prize that awaited. It knew it's targets: any of the remaining seven challengers that came to duel the Marshals.

Lady Kotako received word of these challengers from Lord Revastan and as soon as a reward for finding any of the challengers and bring them to her was mentioned, the hunter signed up immediately. Now, the hunter was on the trail of two of the remaining seven, thanks to the unusual arrival by the Gradius Air Force. It was just a matter of time, now.

------

In the real world, the hacker cracked it's knuckles and watched the different images as the unfortunate duelists went about their troubles. The hacker's eyes locked on the hunter and smiled, "One of my own personal creations. Of course, had to make programmed so it'd be 'one of the normal sprites', but it was worth it to try her out without anyone detecting me. If they had, this would've been a huge waste of time,"

After a few moments of staring at the sprite, the hacker leaned back and went back to screen gazing the others. When Khamille and Chazz, who was still lost in the desert, entered line of sight, the hacker reached into a drawer and pulled out a dueling magazine.

"I know those two...," the figure murmured, leafing through the magazine pages. When it came to one page, a smile appeared on it's face, "Khamille May Tong and Chazz Princeton...their families are some of the most wealthy ones out there,"

A loud laugh filled the dark room.

"Oh man! Show them payback by hacking into the game and I end up holding two rich kids hostage! This is priceless, absolutely pricless!"

-----

After finally losing the Gradius' and finding a safe place to land, Jaden and the others found themselves on the ground once again. Some of them were shaken up about the attack and the loss of their two friends, but right now, there was nothing they could do.

Noah punched a nearby tree, "Cannot believe this! The game is not supposed to play out like this!"

"How do you know this is just a game, Noah?" Alexis inquired, walking up to him, "How did you know we're here to play?"

The man with turquoise hair sighed, "It's a very long story, guys, and I don't think now is the best time for it," he scratched his head, "C'mon, I know where the next Game Marshal is from here, I'll take you to her. If we're lucky, she'll send some of her people out to look for Christina and Bastion,"

As he took the lead, the group of kids watched him walk off.

"He's hiding something," Alexis whispered, "How do we know he's a good guy, or if he's not a Game Marshal?"

Jaden shrugged, "I don't know, but we gotta trust him,"

"Why the hell should we?" Jordan hissed, earning a light smack upside the head from Alexis, "What's he done for us that should get us to trust him!?"

"What has he done to make us think he can't be trusted?" Jaden shot back, "Look, we need to fight the Marshals, find Chrissy and Bastion, and this guy knows more about this world than any of us here! We have no choice!"

The group stared at one another while Noah came to a stop a few yards away.

"You guys may want to hurry up!" he called out, "Time, while not linked to the outside world, is still present in this world, and you do not want to be out here during the night,"

As if on cue, a loud howl ripped through the air, making about half of the group jump out of their skins. Not wanting to be left behind, they quickly caught up with their mysterious guide.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Kilnorc: Well, this isn't good! One friend's missing, two more are lost...what else could happen to our group of heroes? Stay tuned to find out!