Journey to the West

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

Kilnorc: Sorry for the... -checks last update time- ...5 months of waiting ya'll. But, if people can wait for LittleKuriboh's Abridged eps, you can wait for my GX series.

"Where are they?"

"I don't know, sir!"

"Where the hell are they?!"

"I don't know, sir!"

Kristerr rubbed his temples as he stood behind one of the technicians, "Find them, dammit, find them!"

Kairi watched from a fair distance. Just a little bit ago, she watched as her friends won a match against Lady Kotako, then get attacked by a corrupt sprite, who lost at the hands of the strange man who called himself Noah, and the, out of the clear blue sky, disappeared out of the game and off the virtual map.

The only duelist that could still be traced was Chazz and he was way off in a different part than the last location where his friends were last seen.

For now...

"I hate this place, I hate this place, I hate this place...," Chazz muttered as he tried to keep sand out of his eyes as he rode behind the Sand Gambler called Charlie, "Note to self, if I get invited to something and I find out that Jaden and the others are involved, turn around and run like hell,"

"Aw, don't be like dat, Boss!" one of his Ojamas pleaded, "Cheer up, it could be worse!"

"Yeah, nyuk nyuk, it could be worse!"

Chazz glared at them, "I'm in the middle of nowhere, I've lost my best cards, I'm stuck with you...and to top it off, I'm riding a giant chicken! How the hell could it get any worse?!"

The three Ojamas were quiet.

"Exactly!" Chazz turned back to Charlie, "Hey!" he shouted over the wind, "Where are we going?!"

Charlie looked back at him, "We're headed to the Hikarian Plateau!" he called back, "It's the best place for you to be right now, my friend, and it's closer than anything else, so we're headed there!"

"Where is it?"

"Just wait a minute!" Charlie slowed his Niwatori bird down and came to a halt, "Just wait for this little storm to pass by and we'll have a clear view of the Plateau itself,"

Chazz pulled hard on the reins of his Niwatori to bring the bird to a halt, and it did come to a stop, but in the end, Chazz found himself being tossed onto the sand by the giant bird, obviously not caring for his way of treating it.

The black-haired duelist spat the virtual sand out of his mouth, "Stupid chicken," he glared at the Niwatori, "Try that again and I'll introduce you to a Colonel and his eleven herbs and spices!"

Charlie looked at him like he was crazy.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LOOKING AT, PRETTY BOY!?"

The Sand Gambler looked away, "A lunatic," he muttered under his breath.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"

"Nothing, nothing," Charlie waved him off, "Just trying to pass time 'til this little breeze blows over,"

Chazz snorted and looked ahead as he dusted himself off. There was a large gathering of sand ahead of them, but it wasn't a major sandstorm like one would see in real life or even in some sci-fi films. There was enough wind and sand to block their vision, but there wasn't enough to cause a fatal problem...probably.

"How long do we have to wait?"

Charlie shrugged, "Depends,"

"Oh, that is so cool!"

"It's like something from that old show...what's the one I'm thinking of? The one with the door that comes out of nowhere and a bright lights behind it?"

"Quantum Leap?"

"There we go,"

Christina and Siho watched as one of Noah's virtual doors disappeared from sight after the rest of the group stepped through. A short time before, they were in the dark forest outside Kotako's palace, then they passed through a glowing hallway with blue lights outlining the walls, ceiling and floor, and now they stood out in a large grassland area, somewhat similar to the Sogen Valley where Lady Kotako lived. This was more of a normal grasslands area with rolling hills of beautiful green grass and small buildings dotting the terrain, with people tending to what looked like crops.

"You know what this looks like?" Christina thought aloud, tapping her chin.

"Venice?" Alexis answered, "Something like in Italy or Greece, maybe?"

"Nah," Christina shook her head, "More like the Shire or Rohan from Lord of the Rings...,"

Everyone turned and gave her a look.

She turned away, "Excuse me, but my dad's a nut about that series and I find that it's a very good trilogy, so bite me for making references!"

"If we were to bite you for making references, you'd be covered in bite marks and bandages," Siho muttered, rolling his eyes, "Seriously, be real for once, Chrissy,"

Noah rubbed his eyes and shook his head, "Well, if you guys are done being idiots for a few seconds, I can tell you where we are,"

"It's not Rohan? Because, seriously, I'm half expecting the Rohirrim to come charging by chasing Uruk-Hai and other Orcs-MMPH!" Christina was cut off by Siho clamping a hand around her mouth.

"Thank you, Siho,"

"No problem, now tell us where the hell we are,"

Noah took a breath and looked around, "This beautiful countryside that you see is called the Kazemi Plains, Realm of Lady Midori, who is also the next Game Marshal," he shot a look to Bastion, "I'm warning you man, she's tough, you sure you don't wanna look at the database to improve your deck?"

Bastion chuckled and shook his head, "You underestimate me, Noah, I'm quite confident in my deck's ability and the formula it's based on...if I alter now, I'd throw into complete chaos,"

Khamille leaned over to Jaden, "Bet you a rare card he's the next one to lose,"

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

After the sandstorm disappeared, Chazz and Charlie were greeted with a magnificent sight. Ahead of them was a very large plateau and if he squinted hard enough, Chazz could see something sparkling up at the very top.

"This is the Hikarian Plateau?" Chazz turned to his guide, "It's a friggin' hunk of rock!"

"A hunk of rock, yes," Charlie nodded slowly, "But that's also where you need to go, my friend,"

"What the heck is up there?"

"Someone who can help you in your troubles. We just need to get up there,"

Chazz looked at him in disbelief, then pointed to the formation, "Get up that?! Hello! There's no road or anything leading up there and I'm sure as hell ain't going to risk my life riding this walking bucket dinner!" he kicked his Niwatori in the sides, "Can these things even fly?!"

"Not that I know of, but there are other ways,"

"Like what?"

"Getting up that trail," Charlie nodded to the base of the plateau, "Just like everyone else,"

"Trail? What trail?" Chazz pointed to the rock, "There's-,"

"Look closer, and you'll see it...," Charlie clicked his tongue and his Niwatori trotted forward, "Or if your eyes are that bad, just follow me,"

Chazz just stood there, looking very annoyed as he watched his suppose guide move towards the Hikarian Plateau. He scoffed and ran a hand through his head of black hair, "This guy's just yanking my chain...why'd I even follow him?!"

"Uh, Boss?" Ojama Yellow tapped him on the shoulder, "Looky!"

The duelist waved the Ojama off, "Get away from me, you're not helping my mood!"

"But boss-!"

"I SAID GET AWAY!" Chazz turned and tried to shoo the Ojama's off, but if he accomplished anything, it was making himself look like a jackass to anyone who could be watching him.

His Ojamas darted back and forth, avoiding their boss' flailing arms.

"He needs to work on his anger issues,"

"Got dat right,"

"Boss, calm down!"

After awhile, Chazz found himself leaning against his Niwatori, tuckered out after trying to hit his Ojamas. As he leaned against the giant bird, he noticed that Charlie was not only still at the Plateau, but he could see that he was actually walking up the mountain.

His eye twitched, "There...is...a...trail?"

Ojama Yellow nodded as he floated near his head, "Remember boss? Charlie said that there was one! You might wanna hurry up or you'll be left behind!"

Why couldn't you three have been taken instead of my dragons? Chazz thought bitterly as he climbed onto his Niwatori. He kicked the bird hard in the ribs, "C'mon, Drumsticks, get moving you stupid bird!"

Ojama Yellow turned to his brothers, "Chazz just named his chicken,"

"It's a Niwatori, Yellow," Ojama Black corrected him.

"Whatever...,"

"C'mon, already, move it!" Chazz barked, kicking the bird again.

Apparently, the Niwatori bird had had enough of abuse from Chazz and started to buck. Chazz yelled as he held onto the bird's saddle for dear life, but in the end, he found himself being thrown back and landing on the desert floor again. But the bad karma to the Niwatori didn't end there, because the bird's saddle got caught on Chazz's shoe and before the duelist could realize this, the bird took off at a high speed, following Charlie and his fellow bird up and towards the Plateau, dragging poor Chazz Princeton behind him.

"I HATE THIS PLACE!!"

"This place is beautiful!" Alexis breathed as she and her friends followed Noah down a cobble path, "It's about time we find a Game Marshal in a livable area...,"

"No rugged mountains,"

'No dark forests and palaces,"

"Where are the orcs, where is the Rohirrim?!"

"Chrissy, is there an off switch on that reference-spewing mouth of yours?"

"Nope,"

"Damn, we're stuck with a Konata wannabe,"

"Oi, don't mock Konata, she's epic!"

As the two friends bickered, Noah and the others caught sight of a beautiful castle ahead of them in the distance. They were near the ocean, they could tell by the virtual smell of salty sea air and the faint sound of ocean waves in the distance. The castle itself lay on top of a cliff.

"Welcome to the home of Lady Midori, Game Marshal, ruler of the Kazemi Plains and Priestess of the High Breeze,"

The group of duelists looked in awe at the large castle ahead of them.

Christina turned to the others, "Seriously, where are the Orcs?"

"Shut up, Chrissy!" they shouted together.

Kilnorc: I think I'm getting back into the groove here...but I can't guarantee anything, so please bear with me and be patient. Thank you!