Lady of the Castle in the Mist

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

Kilnorc: Before I begin, I have something to say. Some people seem to think that the Game Marshals are of my creation, but that's my fault, I don't think I said it enough. The Game Marshals used in this fic, also known as the Animasters in some fics, belong to my good friend DarkScytheQueen, who owns Kristerr and Khamille as well. Thought I'd get that out there in case there was any confusion or assumptions. Thank you, and on with the chapter!

"So, stranger, what's your name?"

"Feh. Chazz Princeton. That's the only time I'm gonna say it, so remember it well," Chazz looked at the Sand Gambler, "Who're you, anyway?"

The Sand Gambler chuckled, "Name's Charles, but please, call me Charlie,"

How about I call you Loser? Chazz thought as he looked around, "Where am I?"

"Rejection, City of the Desert," Charlie said with a hint of pride in his voice.

Rejection? Chazz scoffed, I can see why. This place is a total dump!

"What brings you out to the desert, Chazz?"

Chazz turned to his new...friend, "I'm not sure. I was in the mansion of one of the Game Marshals, and the next thing I know, I wound up out there," he pointed to the sandy desert behind him, "I have no clue where I am,"

"Hmm, Game Marshal, eh?" Charlie looked down at Chazz's duel disk, "Ah, you're a duelist?"

"Yeah, what of it?"

Charlie smiled, "I've heard news about duelists lately. You wouldn't happen to be one of the eight duelists who challenge the Game Marshals, would you?"

"Well-,"

"Of course you are, what am I thinking?!" Charlie smacked himself on the forehead, "You said you were from a Game Marshal's mansion, so of course you must be one of the eight!"

No duh, Sherlock... Chazz rolled his eyes at the Sand Gambler, "What's it to ya, anyway?"

Charlie laughed and wrapped his arm around Chazz, "Stick with me, boyo, and you'll get to where you need to go!"

"Let go of me," Chazz shook the Sand Gambler off him, "If you really know where to take me, then quit yapping and take me there!"

"Alright, alright, calm down," Charlie waved him off, "If we're gonna leave, we gotta do it now, the stables are gonna close soon!"

Chazz's face was soon covered with a mask of uncertainty.

"Stables?"

A short time later...

"Oh, you have got to be kiddin' me!"

Chazz stared as Charlie stepped out of a large stable with two large birds behind him. The birds looked like knockoff's of Chocobo's from Final Fantasy, complete with saddles on their backs.

"Niwatori's are good for crossing desert sands," Charlie explained as he climbed onto one bird, "You're gonna have to leave this town to get where you wanna go, Chazz, but it's impossible to do that on foot,"

"Heh, I survived the desert just fine the first time,"

"You got lucky," Charlie guided the second Niwatori over to Chazz, "You can either climb on and ride with me out of town, or you can stick around,"

Chazz growled and grabbed the reins for the Niwatori, "Alright, already, I'll get on the damn bird," he muttered, sticking his foot into the saddle loop. After a few moments of trying, Chazz's foot caught the loop and he hauled himself onto the saddle...only to slide off the other side.

Charlie shook his head, "This is gonna be a long ride,"

Christina yawned and stretched as far as she could as she woke up from a strangely peaceful sleep. Despite it being a virtual world, sleeping normally still came just as it would on the outside. She didn't question it, she enjoyed the nap. Blinking, she sat up and looked around to see Bastion and Celeste were awake as well.

"Morning," Bastion greeted as she moved towards them, "Sleep well, Chrissy?"

"Yeah," Christina yawned loudly, "You know, Bastion, this VR world is amazing. Who knew you could actually sleep in it?!"

Bastion chuckled, "You'd be surprised what today's technology could bring, Chrissy. Look at Duel Monsters. Years ago, it was just a card game played on tabletops, but nowadays, we can bring the monsters to life. Don't put it past technology to make things more lifelike,"

"I guess," Christina shrugged and pulled out her deck, "I wanna get to this Lady Kotako person. I really, really, wanna duel her!"

"Why?"

"Why?" Christina looked at her friend like he was crazy, "You kiddin' me?! Bastion, Chazz lost his duel with Evan, and I have a chance to fight a Game Marshal now. If all Marshals are as good as Evan was, then it's gonna be great!"

Bastion sighed, "You're just like Jaden, you know that?"

"I'll take that as a compliment,"

"If you two are done talking nonsense," Celeste rose to her feet, her pet Volcanic Shell on her shoulder again, "It's dawn, so we have to move now if you want to get to Lady Kotako before the day is over with,"

"Good call," Christina hopped to her feet, "Where is this chick, anyway?"

Celeste pointed in the direction they would be going, "She resides in Sogen Valley, along with her army and subjects. She is not to be underestimated in a duel,"

"Yeah, well neither am I," Christina said, cracking her knuckles, "Let's go already!"

Bastion sweatdropped at his friend's attitude, She's confident like Jaden, but I do hope she doesn't make any strategic errors like Chazz did...

"Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"No,"

"Are we there yet?"

"NO! NO WE ARE NOT THERE YET!" Celeste screamed, whirling around on Christina, "WE ARE NOT THERE YET, SO STOP ASKING ME IF WE ARE THERE YET, ALRIGHT?!"

Christina shrank behind Bastion, "Creepy lady's screaming for no reason...,"

Celeste's eye twitched, "Don't make me feed you to my friend before I hand you over to Lady Kotako," she hissed as her Volcanic Shell growled and snapped it's strange jaws at Christina.

"When are we going to arrive there, Miss?" Bastion asked politely, hoping to stop the screaming.

"We're at the entrance of Sogen Valley," Celeste ran a hand through her hair, "If you look past those trees," she pointed to a group of trees ahead of them, "You'll see it,"

Christina whizzed by them, nearly knocking the two of them to the ground. She ran past the wooded area to see a beautiful sight. It was a beautiful valley, like one would see on TV from a peaceful country or something. It had grassy hills, mountains on multiple sides, and even a large building sat in the middle of it. It was almost covered by a large veil of mist, but Christina could see it enough to get chills down her spine.

"Wow," she gasped as the others joined her, "This place looks like something outta Inuyasha!" she spun around to Bastion, a very excited look on her face, "Did you see a guy pinned to a tree on the way here?"

"Er, no, I'm afraid not," Bastion said slowly, When she's not thinking about dueling, her mind is either filled with utter randomness, movies, or anime. Honestly, how she never got kicked out of Duel Academy is beyond me.

"Halt, intruders!"

Bastion and Christina turned to see a group of six men in armor, riding on horseback gallop up to them. The horses looked identical: fierce, black steeds with plate armor covering their backs and the legs, as well as glowing eyes.

One man was dressed in dark armor with yellow lining and carried a bow, another man was dressed in dark red armor with what appeared to be dynamite sticks hanging off his belt, the third was dressed in blue armor and carried what looked like a strange sword (or spear) of glowing energy, the fourth was dressed in green armor and carried two swords at his side, the fifth man wore golden armor and carried a long spear, and the sixth and final one was dressed in dark violet armor and carried a black katana.

Christina stared at the group of men.

"Something wrong, Chrissy?" Bastion asked, noticing her stare.

The brunette pointed at the man with the black katana, "Dude, Ichigo lookalike!"

Bastion blinked in confusion, "Say what?"

"I think he's an Ichigo cosplayer..." she pointed to the black sword, "...and he's got Bankai!"

Celeste waved at them and walked over to them, "Samurai, I have found two of the challengers that wish to fight the Game Marshals, as ordered by Lady Kotako. I am on my way to her palace so that I may deliver them to her,"

The six samurai looked at each other, then back at her.

"Huntress Celeste, on behalf of Lady Kotako, we congratulate you on a successful mission. We are under orders ourselves from Lady Kotako to escort you and your companions to her so that she may duel the girl,"

Christina clapped excitedly, "BOOYA!"

The trip into the valley was long, but Christina was so excited about dueling, she couldn't care less. As they approached the building, Christina noticed multiple ravens occupied the bare trees that surrounded the area. Though excited, the area still creeped her out, so she stuck close to Bastion, clinging to his sleeve.

"You okay, Chrissy?" he whispered.

Christina nodded and jumped when a raven cawed loudly, "Y-Yeah...j-just fine, Bastion. Weird places like this always freak me out,"

"Why?"

"They just do, alright?!" Christina poked her head out, "Hey, samurai! How much further?!"

They all pointed to the building in front of them.

"Oh, c'mon!" Christina whined, "You serious?!"

"Lady Kotako awaits you both on the top level of the castle, challengers,"

Christina moaned and gripped Bastion tighter.

The brainy duelist patted her hand, "It's alright, Christina, just stick by me,"

"Alright...but keep an eye out for a drugged out hippie and a talking dog hiding in a suit of armor!"

"What now?"

Christina kept her eyes closed throughout most of the ascent of the creepy castle. But when Bastion tapped her, she opened her eyes to find herself (along with the others), in a large room. It was decorated with different kinds of weapons from nunchaku, zanbatos, katanas, etc. as well a large, ornate throne on the opposite end. On that throne was a young woman with long, light brown hair, dressed in magnificent silver armor. Though it was a different color, it was the same armor that Evan wore back in the Dragon Region. She also wore a belt at her hip.

"Welcome back, Samurai," the woman greeted.

The six warriors bowed low to her, "Thank you, Lady Kotako,"

Celeste bowed as well, "Lady Kotako, I have done what you have ordered me to,"

"Excellent job, Celeste," Kotako rose from her seat and walked a few feet towards them, "How bad did the girl beat you?"

"W-what? How did-?"

"I predicted that you would duel, and I also predicted that you would lose by her hand," Kotako turned to look at Christina, her green eyes locking onto Chrissy's blue eyes, "Word has reached the rest of the Game Marshals about your challenge, my friends. I look forward to a duel with you,"

Christina grinned and cracked her knuckles, "Same here,"

Bastion looked at her, then at Kotako, This came sooner than expected, but I suppose there's no stopping it now.

"Well, hello there,"

Startled, Bastion watched as Kotako approached him, a flirty look in her eyes, "Uhm...hello,"

Kotako smiled and ran a finger along his cheek, "You're a cutey, aren't ya?"

Bastion blushed, "Uh, w-w-well...I...I...,"

"Hey, you wanna duel, let's duel!" Christina came between them and pushed Kotako away from her friend, "This boy's had enough girl duelist problems in the past, he doesn't need another one,"

Kotako scoffed, "I see. He's your man, then?"

The blush on Bastion's face was soon matched by a blush that crossed Christina's face.

"WHAT?!"

"How about this?" Kotako smiled mischievously, "We duel like we wanted, but we up the ante. If you win, not only do you get a free passport to the next Game Marshal, but you get to keep your man,"

"He's not-,"

"But if I win, he becomes my man,"

Bastion frowned, "Now, hold on-,"

"Deal!" Christina activated her duel disk.

Kotako giggled as she pulled her sword glowed a bright light. The glowing sword moved from her hip onto her left arm, where it morphed into a strange looking duel disk. The disk tray looked like the blade of a katana, but the arm and deck area looked like a shield.

"AWESOME DUEL DISK!" Christina yelled, her eyes widening at the sight of the strange disk on Kotako's arm.

"Come, Six Samurai, serve me once again in battle!" she declared, holding up her arm.

The six warriors glowed brightly and became orbs of light which flew into the Game Marshal's duel disk, followed shortly by numerous other glowing orbs.

"This is gonna be fun," Kotako grinned as she shuffled her deck and drew her cards.

"You bet your ass it is!" Christina agreed as she mimicked Kotako.

"LET'S DUEL!!"

Kilnorc: Alright, time for the second Game Marshal duel! I know we got here sooner than the last one, but I bet a lot of you are wanting more Game Marshal duels instead of filler duels. Let's rock, ppl!