Disclaimer: I don't own the game of Duel Monsters, but I do own the world of Temarocia.

Song of Temarocia

Chapter 2: A Bizarre Encounter

"Will he survive? Those wounds were rather severe…"

Jason winced and tried to open his eyes, but it was impossible. He was in too much pain to even attempt such a thing. ("Where am I? Is this a hospital?")

"Back up a little bit Flair, this is a very delicate test of my healing skills and since that is only my secondary I do not think that it would be wise for you to distract me."

After a few more moments of trying to open his eyes, Jason gave up and passed out once more.

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

"There, his wounds are healed." Someone nearby said.

Jason's eyes slowly opened, blinded by the bright light of the sun which was right in his face. ("What's going on? Why am I outside?") "What kind of hospital is this?"

"A hospital?" A female voice asked quietly. "What is that?"

"I can only assume he is talking about some place where those who are injured would be taken for healing, at least if we take his body's condition into account." The other speaker was a rather curt male voice, calm and collected.

Jason tilted his head over and blinked in surprise at the two which had been speaking. ("Okay…this is kinda weird.")

The girl was wearing long flowing black and pink robes, her blond hair done up in a ponytail. Sitting at her side was a wooden staff with a green jewel on top of it. "Good morning, you've been asleep for a few days now."

"Considering how badly damaged he was, I'm sure that how long he slept is the least of his worries." The guy was wearing a long black getup that looked like it was some kind of weird bathrobe, his long black hair hanging past his shoulders. At his side was a sheathed curved sword…Jason was pretty sure they were called a katana.

"Where am I?" Sitting up, the black-haired boy patted himself down a couple of times and was amazed to find that all of the wounds he had suffered were gone. "Wow, what did you do to me?"

The blond-haired girl rubbed an index finger under her nose and smirked. "Heh, it was easy for one such as myself to heal such minor wounds…"

The black-haired man shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Ah yes, of course, it took no effort at all…except for the effort you said it was going to take to accomplish this healing effort, correct?" When a blush rolled across the girl's cheeks he sighed and stood up from his tree stump seat, brushing his robes free of dust. "Well then, we must be on our way. I apologize for your arrival here as it was, sir. Alita is still learning to master some of her spells, and I'm sure wherever she pulled you from couldn't have been too far away from here."

"Pulled me from?" Jason took in his surroundings, and realized they were sitting in the middle of a forest clearing. "Where the heck is this, New Jersey?" He noticed the broken remains of his Duel Disk next to him, and grabbed up the destroyed device with wide eyes. "No! I paid over a hundred bucks for this stinking thing!"

"A hundred deer for that?" Alita lifted her eyebrows and poked the Duel Disk a couple of times, watching it hiss and spark. "Wow, you got ripped off. A hundred deer could have kept you fed for months on end."

Jason stood up and checked his pocket, relieved to find his deck there. "Well at least I've still got my cards."

"Are you an Adventurer?" Alita looked over his shoulder at the cards, and blinked at some of them. "Wow, that's a pretty shotty strategy. I guess you must be a patchwork if you are an Adventurer."

"…What?" Jason blinked at her and then at his deck. "Hey! I worked hard on assembling this thing, and I certainly ain't patchwork!"

Rubbing her chin for a few minutes, the blond-haired girl grinned suddenly. "Hey, what element and class are you?"

"Element? Class?" Jason lifted an eyebrow at her in confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"…I guess you're not an Adventurer, but some of those cards seem too rare for just a commoner to have." She paced across the clearing, looking deep in thought. "Hey Flair, do you think we could use him?"

"I have no idea." The man sighed as he realized that Alita was scheming again. ("We may be in need of additional hands, but I do not think this boy is normal.")

"Hold on!" Jason yelled, grabbing Alita's shoulder and turning her around to face him, a hand dropping down and resting on that same shoulder to hold her still. "Where am I? What's going on? The last thing I remember I was dueling against that Xeno guy, and then I blew myself up to take him down. Now all of a sudden I'm here and you're talking about weird stuff I don't understand…" He turned his head to look at the guy that was apparently named Flair. "As for you, who the heck are you?"

"My name is…" Flair's eyes widened as Alita suddenly screamed and slapped the young man across the face, sending him crashing to the ground.

"You pervert!" The blond-haired girl glared down at the very confused-looking Jason. "Do you think I wasn't going to notice your hand?"

"Huh?" Even though he was used to girls hitting him, Jason was stumped as to what he had done wrong. Rolling to his feet, he rubbed his cheek gently and stared at her. "What happened?"

"Your hand slid down and you groped me, you sick…" Grinding her teeth together, Alita kicked Jason once in the stomach and stomped over to Flair. "Let's go, this guy can fend for himself."

Jason coughed for air and stood up slowly. ("What in the hell was that about?") Turning around, he glared at the two as they started to walk away. "Now hold on! I didn't do anything!" When they ignored him he realized that if he didn't stop them that he wasn't going to get any answers about where this place was or what was going on. "I challenge you to a duel!"

Hair flowing in the calm breeze around him, Flair turned to face the young man. "You wish to challenge one of us to a duel?"

"What, did I stutter?" Jason thumbed at his chest, smirking confidently. "If I win then you'll tell me what is going on."

"…" The dark-eyed man sighed quietly. "Very well, I accept your challenge. Alita is unskilled, but I am definitely the stronger out of the two of us." His arm lifted up. "Duel Carrier, come to me." A strange two-slotted large golden device appeared on his arm. "Prepare your Carrier as well."

"….ummmm…." Jason held up one finger and sweatdropped. "Hang on, we may have some complications…"

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

Flair looked across the small clearing at Jason, his black robes and hair blowing in the wind as he narrowed his eyes at the dirty young man. "You are a fool to challenge me to a duel. I am Flair Tsukimaru while you are just some commoner that Alita summoned because of a mistake in her spell. You don't stand a chance."

Jason held up his deck and smirked. "Yeah, I bet you'd like me to be scared by that kind of talk. However, I'm not afraid of some pompous jerk like you!"

From off to the side of the clearing Alita winced as she watched Flair lift up and activate his Carrier. "Maybe you shouldn't go and challenge my partner? He's not very fond of you, and I don't think he'll hold back…"

"That's exactly what I want." The dark-haired boy gave her a thumbs-up. "Don't worry about it. This guy wanted to insult me by calling me a commoner, and I'm more than happy to return the favor by blasting him out of the proverbial water." He looked down at the Carrier that he had borrowed from her, and blinked as he finally got a close look at it. ("What the heck is this thing?")

The Carrier had two deck slots, each one set to be on one side of the user's hand. It also had two different crystal displays…and no field. "Uhhh….what the heck am I supposed to do with this thing?"

A deep sigh left Flair's lips and he flicked back a lock of his hair in annoyance. "Commoner, if you don't even know what a Carrier is or how it works then where do you get off challenging an Adventurer to a duel?"

"It's not that I don't know how to duel!" Jason grabbed a nearby rock and proceeded to hit the strange bronze-colored device a couple of times, sending sparks flying from the points of contact. "This thing just doesn't have an on switch, and why does it have two deck slots anyway?"

Alita rubbed her forehead and stomped up to Jason, slapping him in the back of the head with her hand. "Stop striking my Carrier! You're supposed to use your magical power to activate it, alright?"

"My…magical power?" Jason tapped the device a couple of times and then scratched the side of his head. "What if you don't have any magical power?"

"Then why would you be challenging an Adventurer to a duel if you don't even have any magical power?" A few stray strands of her blond hair sticking from different points off her head, Alita slapped Jason in the back of the head again. "Are you suicidal?"

Jason frowned at her and inserted his deck into one of the slots. "Don't you worry about me; I'll be just fine in this duel. If there's anyone you should be worried about it should pretty boy." He pointed at Flair and blinked in surprise as the display for the slot he had inserted his deck into lit up. "Oh cool, it's on now."

Alita huffed angrily and slapped him in the back of the head again before she stomped back to the side of the clearing and sat down. "Flair, go easy on him. Apparently he's simple."

"Hey!" Jason pounded his chest once with a hand. "Be careful what you say about me! After all, I'm still recovering from my wounds."

"You seemed pretty healthy when you grabbed my chest," she muttered, eyes twitching in fury as she remembered the incident again.

"The duel begins here." Flair held up one arm to show the two decks that were in his Carrier. One looked like a normal deck of Duel Monsters cards, but the other looked different. The backs of the cards had a strange design, a golden sword crossed with a golden staff with a red background. "I choose to draw three cards from my Duel deck and two cards from my Life Deck."

"….What?" Jason blinked in surprise as the black-haired samurai drew two of the red-backed cards and three of the normal brown-back Duel Monsters cards from his deck. "What's a Life Deck?"

Right eye twitching, Flair grabbed the top card of his Life Deck. "I will go first, draw!" He pulled one card free from the red cards and added it to his now half and half colored hand. "At the cost of two cards from my hand I place myself into the duel." A pair of cards, one brown and one red, was sent from his hand into the graveyard slot of his Carrier.

Jason twitched a couple of times and rubbed the top of his head. "What the heck is going on?"

Alita groaned and ground a palm into her face. ("This guy is clueless about what a Life Deck is? Great…just great…")

Flair closed his eyes and frowned. "You challenged me to a duel and I accepted because I assumed your wounds were from a duel, but now I wonder if you just didn't fall on something sharp dozens of times."

"Shut up!" Jason snapped his free hand up and pointed at the samurai. "What's a Life Deck though?"

"A Life Deck is this." Flair tapped the stack of red cards. "These cards are formed from our personal collection of experiences and from treasures. They are very unique to each player, but like the Duel Monsters cards that you have are similar to them in that there are certain rarities to cards. In a duel when you draw you may choose to take cards from either your normal deck or your Life Deck, both have their benefits and downsides."

"Okay…but what was that you did with the discarding of two cards?" Jason felt a strange tingle of energy in the air, but he wasn't sure where it was from.

"That is because I placed myself in play as a monster on my field." Flair held up the displays of his Carrier. "This represents my magical strength into terms you can comprehend, numbers. All spells, items, and techniques in a Life Deck cost Magical Points, which is what the second number is."

Flair- 8000 (6000)

Jason- 8000 (0)

Jason frowned a little, but at least now it made sense. "Okay, I guess continue."

Flair removed a card from his Life Deck and held it up. "I summon myself at the cost of one card from my deck." The card disappeared and he rested his free hand on the hilt of his katana gently. (1000/1000)

"You just have a 1000 attack points?" Jason snickered out.

"Have you noticed that I have yet to draw my sword?" Grasping a card from his hand, Flair held it up and tossed it off to the side. "I summon Mataza the Zapper from my hand to the field in attack mode." A dark-skinned samurai appeared alongside him, the card having completely vanished. (1300/800) "End turn."

Jason scratched the top of his head and sighed. "I still don't totally get this, but here goes nothing." He drew and added the card to his hand. "I activate the field magic card Five Elements Field!" An explosion of energy erupted around them both as the card disappeared and there were now five different colored squares of light in front of him. "And then I summon Spear Dragon in attack mode!" The card he had selected from his hand disappeared, and the blue-nosed dragon monster appeared in the green-colored square and roared loudly. (1900/0) "Spear Dragon, attack that pompous ass now!"

"Is that so?" Flair grabbed one of the red cards remaining in his hand. "I pay 200 Magic Points to activate Shadow Intimidation. This spell allows me to redirect your attack to a different monster in play." He barely flinched as the Spear Dragon fired a blast of green energy that slammed into Mataza and shattered it.

Flair- 7400 (5800)

Jason- 8000 (0)

Jason grimaced as his Spear Dragon switched itself to defense mode. "I place one card face-down and end my turn." The card disappeared out of his hand and appeared in a much larger form face-down behind his dragon.

Flair drew from his Duel Deck. "I activate the magic card Graceful Charity, drawing two cards from my Life Deck and one card from my Duel Deck." After drawing his cards he grasped two from his hand, discarding them to his graveyard. "And then I play The Warrior Returning Alive, adding Mataza the Zapper from my graveyard to my hand." The magic card he was holding changed into the monster card he had named, which he threw and it disappeared as the samurai reformed on his field. (1300/800)

Jason rubbed the side of his head, his brow knotted tight in frustration. "I don't get this crap at all…"

"That's a shame." The other two cards he was holding disappeared within his robes as Flair drew his katana and charged at the Spear Dragon. "Here I come!" Then he slashed through the creature and it exploded. "My first special ability, simply translated, is that when I defeat a monster in battle the controller of that monster takes 1000 points of damage."

Jason's eyes widened as the samurai continued forward, slashing a shallow cut in his chest and sending him stumbling backwards in surprise and pain.

Flair- 7400 (5800)

Jason- 7000 (0)

"And then," Flair jumped back and his Mataza charged in past him, sword drawn. "My Mataza the Zapper makes two direct attacks against your life points!"

Jason's eyes widened in fear right before a pair of bloody gashes were added to the number of wounds on his chest.

Flair- 7400 (5800)

Jason- 4400 (0)

Alita winced as Jason dropped to his knees in pain. "I think he's had enough, let's call it the end there alright Flair?"

The black-haired samurai turned to face her with a glower on his face. "After what he did to you I have no intention on holding back. If he dies here then it is his own fault." When she glared at him he relented slightly. "Commoner, if you wish to stop the pain then bow down before Alita and apologize while groveling. I will not let you get away with something as low as what you did to her without there being correct punishment."

"Grovel…" Jason's hands dug deep into the soft earth below him, and then he stood up and sneered at Flair mockingly. "Not a chance. Reverse card open, Jewel of the Five Elements!"

His card started to glow. "From my graveyard one air, water, fire, light, or earth attribute monster will be revived, after which I cannot revive another monster of that same type!" His Spear Dragon appeared in play. (1900/0) (Counters: 4/Fire/Water/Light/Earth)

Flair scoffed and stepped back, sword hanging at his side loosely. "End turn."

"Draw!" Jason added the card to his hand and then motioned to his Spear Dragon, which started to fade away. "I offer my monster as a sacrifice to summon my Elemental Monarch!" A white-colored steel machine with a hollow inside appeared on his field. (2400/1000) "This guy's effect depends on the type of monster sacrificed for his summon. In this case I gave up a wind, so his ability is that when he attacks I can return one card in play to its owner's hand." He pointed at Mataza the Zapper. "That's my target, go Elemental Monarch!"

Flair didn't flinch at all as his monster disappeared, and the Elemental Monarch charged in to strike him with one of its massive fists. "I cannot be destroyed, but it does cost 500 magic points to keep myself from losing."

Flair- 6000 (5300)

Jason- 4400 (0)

Jason grinned and held up one of his cards. "Hold on then, I'm about to get another hit in thanks to Instant Summon! From my hand one monster will be normal summoned, and I choose my Goblin Elite Force!" (2200/1500) A squad of armored goblins appeared on his field. "Attack him now!"

Flair slid back a little more as the troop of monsters charged in and tackled him as a whole.

Flair- 4800 (4800)

Jason- 4400 (0)

Jason's Goblins returned and switched to defense mode. "And now I end my battle phase and play the continuous magic card Elemental Charger. During my standby phase for every attribute of monster I control I gain 800 life points. End turn." He couldn't help but smile confidently now, as he had just slammed down the insolent jerk with ease.

Flair brushed his shoulders free of some dirt and then he drew from his Duel Deck. "It seems that you are becoming confident that you can defeat me without a Life Deck. That is impossible." He held up the drawn card. "I activate Pot of Greed, drawing two cards from my Life Deck." Adding two more red cards to his hand, he held up and discarded Mataza the Zapper. "At the cost of one warrior type monster from my hand I can activate the item card Shadow-Cutting Katana." The sword hanging from his side started to glow. (2200/1000) "My power is increased by 1200 points. Also, if I battle with a monster that cannot be destroyed in battle then its effects are negated."

"At the cost of one card from your hand, that's pretty sad." Jason smiled at the samurai confidently. "I don't really run any monsters with those kinds of effects, and during the next turn my Monarch will tear down your monsters."

"What a foolish thing to declare." Flair grabbed two cards from his hand. "I activate these two technique cards. They are called Flash Cut. They can only be played if I have a sword type weapon item in my possession, and they allow me to attack an additional time during my upcoming battle phase at the cost of 400 magic points apiece."

Flair- 4800 (4000)

Jason- 4400 (0)

"I'm not done yet!" Flair held up the last card in his hand to reveal another technique. "I activate Power Slash, which can only activate if I have a sword type item in my possession. At the cost of 200 magic points my power rises by 500 points when I attack a monster during this turn!"

Flair- 4800 (3800)

Jason- 4400 (0)

Then he grabbed his katana and ran in at the two monsters, his weapon moving rapidly and slashing through both the Goblin Elite Force and then the Elemental Monarch, with one last strike going straight through Jason with enough force to send a crescent-shaped spray of blood going from his chest to against a nearby tree. (2700/1000) "Also, you take an additional 1000 points of damage from my translated effect, though I can only use this effect once per turn."

Flair- 4800 (3800)

Jason- 900 (0)

Alita flushed white as the now profusely-bleeding Jason collapsed to his knees. "That's enough Flair, he's lost. Without any magical power these blows are very real, and therefore he is one the verge of dying. I don't want to have to expend my magic anymore than necessary to heal his wounds, after all."

The samurai nodded and sheathed his katana as he returned to his side of the field. "Indeed, this duel is done."

"Not yet!" Jason held up the Carrier he was wearing. "At the end phase of this turn I restore Elemental Monarch and Goblin Elite Force!" (Counters: 2/Fire/Water)

Then he drew from his deck. "Elemental Charger increases my life points by 1600!"

Flair- 4800 (3800)

Jason- 2500 (0)

He pointed at the samurai. "Go Elemental Monarch, attack him!"

Flair slid back a little as he was punched in the chest by the attacking monster. "Even now you still refuse to give up, hm?"

Flair- 4600 (3300)

Jason- 2500 (0)

"I set one card face-down and end my turn." Jason did not want to acknowledge that he was scared of dying at this moment. Before when he had dueled Xeno he had known that he was going to die, so only taking down the creep was on his mind. Now though, he could live if he didn't get slashed to bits by the psycho samurai wannabe. ("I have to hold on.")

Flair drew from his Duel Deck. "I attack Goblin Elite Force!" Grabbing the handle of his katana, he charged forwards rapidly.

"Reverse card open!" Jason's set card flipped up and a swirling vortex of power appeared, stopping the samurai's charge immediately. "Negate Attack stops your attack and ends your battle phase, sorry."

"I place one card face-down and end my turn." Flair tossed the card out and it grew giant, floating to land in front on him on the field.

"Draw!" Jason felt his body heal slowly as his Elemental Charger activated. "Go Elemental Monarch!" He smirked as his monster pounded on the samurai once more. "Then I place one card face-down and end my turn."

Flair- 4400 (2800)

Jason- 4100 (0)

Flair drew from his Life Deck and flipped the card up so it was facing Jason. "At the cost of 1000 magic points I activate my ultimate technique!" An aura of black energy lit up around him. "It is called Chorus of One Thousand Shadow Swords." The card disappeared and he drew his katana. "This is the end! All face-up cards on your field will be destroyed, and for every one destroyed you'll lose 400 life points!"

Alita gaped at Flair in horror. "You can't be serious, he has no magical power! The force of the technique will kill him!"

"Be quiet, Alita." The samurai lifted his sword up, the edge of the glittering blade starting to glow with a shadowed energy. "I offer you one last chance to surrender before I cut you down. Do you accept or not?"

Jason clenched his fist tightly, sweat dripping down his forehead and chest, mixing with the blood already there and creating a burning sensation through him. ("Just like before, I'm completely outclassed by somebody I can't hope to defeat. And yet…") Even though he was shaking bodily, he slowly grew a cold sneer. "Do you intend to stand there and act tough, or will you show me just how powerful you supposedly are?"

"Very well!" Snapping his arm out, Flair swung his sword down and five crescents of black-grey energy exploded from it, slashing down the Five Elements Field, Elemental Monarch, Goblin Elite Force, Elemental Charger, and Jewel of the Five Elements in one shot, sending all of Jason's field up in one massive explosion.

Flair- 4400 (1800)

Jason- 2100 (0)

Despite her anger concerning him, Alita was staring into the smoke cloud that had been created with a look of despair on her face. ("Please don't be dead…please don't be dead…")

Flair's eyes narrowed and he sheathed his katana, eyes closed. "This is the truth of the matter. Despite how hard you try, someone without a Life Deck cannot defeat the powers of one who possesses such a skill. Without magical power in this world you are worse than even a commoner…for even they have such powers. You are a dog…a weak, insignificant animal I could kill with a glance."

A weak laughter echoed out of the smoke and it cleared just enough to reveal Jason, covered from head to toe in a series of bloody cuts where the crescents had connected with his body. Blood dribbled from his lip the dirt and his laughter slowly died down, though that strange cold sneer was still on his face. "It's always the same…no matter how hard I try…"

Flair stood in silence; eyes now open as he waited patiently for his dog of an opponent to continue speaking.

Alita was horrified by the fatal damage that was obvious just from looking at Jason's body. She didn't have the magical power to heal such wounds, at least not for another day or so.

Jason's confident look faded, and his fists clenched tightly in quivering anger. "I'm always the underdog in every conflict I've ever fallen into. I'm the guy that winds up getting laughed at, or made a fool of, or just outright beaten to a pulp. And then I fought that Shadow Duelist, and I was dying just like I am right now. In that moment I felt like a hero that was killing himself to make sure the villain stayed down…"

The anger in his voice grew stronger. "And then you revived me…just to bring me here and treat me like this! Even in another world I'm apparently the guy that's supposed to be kicked around like some kind of fool…"

"Would you have preferred to die?" Flair glanced over at Alita. "She gave up her own energy to save your pitiful life, so if you dare appear ungrateful then I'll cut that life right out of you."

"Shut your face." Jason's cold sneer returned, his eyes glistening in the sunlight. "I ain't done talking yet, jerk. Of course I'm grateful to her, hell the moment I laid eyes on her I thought I was looking into the face of an angel…but that's not the point!" His hand shot up and he pointed at the samurai. "If I back down then what does that make me? What's the point in living if I don't have the respect to back it up?"

"An interesting proposition, but my stance about you will not change while you have no magical power." Flair pulled his katana out of its sheath just enough to reflect Jason in its image. "I am not sentimental. If you are weak, I will cut you down."

"It's my turn." Jason drew and held the card up with a dark smile on his face. "And let's just say that at the moment I'm feeling particularly lonely. I'm trapped in a strange world with no way to get home…and at the moment I want to really kill you."

"Should I be afraid?" Flair fingered his katana's handle. "I have no reason to fear you."

"That's true, you don't…" Jason's set card flipped up. "I activate Five-way Road of Despair! At the cost of 1000 life points this trap card reveals the top five cards of my deck to you. Then you select one and it goes to my hand." Five cards appeared in the air above him. (Pot of Greed, Research on the Pot of Greed, Big Shield Gardna, Solar Flare Dragon, Elemental Whirl)

"My choice is Elemental Whirl." Flair watched the other four cards disappear and he narrowed his eyes at Jason. "I wonder now, what exactly that little card of yours does."

Jason threw the one card in his hand out, the piece of cardboard disappearing and quickly being replaced by a fish-tailed girl. "I summon Enchanting Mermaid in attack mode and activate Elemental Whirl, removing one water, fire, earth, wind, and light monsters from my field or graveyard to pay for its cost! And with that complete all cards in play return to their owner's hands."

Flair flinched as a powerful storm swept across the field and his Shadow-Cutting Katana and set card returned to his hand. "I cannot be removed from the field in such a fashion, unfortunately for you."

Jason steeled his resolve and looked directly into Flair's eyes. "End turn."

The samurai drew from his Life Deck and held the card up. "At the cost of 100 magic points I activate my Improvised Weaponry spell, allowing me to discard any number of items in play or in my hand to power myself up by 1000 attack points for the turn." He held up the Shadow-Cutting Katana, which dissolved out of his grasp. (2000/1000)

Jason's legs started to tremble…and then he was laughing. "Same story, different world huh? I'm just the butt of the joke, and that is my purpose." Then he tilted his head back. "Kill me, if you please. I can already tell that living here is not something I want to do."

Flair nodded slowly, drawing his blade and bringing the glittering edge in line with the young man's throat. "As you wish, dog." He charged inwards towards Jason…

Alita leapt in between the two of them, arms out and glare in full force at her fellow Adventurer. "That's enough, Flair! I don't even care about the incident anymore!"

Stopping and sheathing his katana, the samurai shrugged his shoulders and stepped past her. "Very well."

Jason blinked a couple of times in surprise…and therefore was caught completely off guard when Flair flicked him right in the forehead and his completely wasted body gave out, crashing back-first to the soft dirt.

Flair- 4400 (1700)

Jason- 0 (0)

Jason felt his eyelids growing heavy, and he passed out.

To be continued…