Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh. I do own Temarocia though, and everything in it.

The sound of a car honking loudly could be heard on the streets of New York. "Watch out!"

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Jason grinned widely and took a sip of his soda. "I'm telling you King, with your kicks and my…ummm…"

"Stupidity," The fake Frenchman said after taking a sip of his espresso.

"Yeah that…wait no!" Jason slammed his hand down on the table in front of him. "I'm just trying to say that you and I could rule the streets with our power! We're the ultimate in warriors and we could easily rule all of New York!"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right…" King stood up from his seat and took a step back. "Oh yeah, and heads up."

"Hu…" Jason glanced over to his right and his eyes bugged out of his head right before a car went barreling through the window of the restaurant and bounced him off of its hood.

King continued to drink from his cup while casually watching the vehicle roll to a stop in the middle of the restaurant, luckily not having harmed anyone else in the process. "Maybe we'll get our meals free…"

"Why didn't you get your friend out of the way faster?" One of the waiters shouted at the black-suited young man.

"Because I didn't feel like spilling my drink." King pointed at the unmoving Jason. "Plus…"

"Now I'm pissed!" Dirtied and bloody, Jason leapt to his feet with a couple of veins bulging out of his head. He ignored the screams of 'zombie' that some of the already terrified patrons yelled. "Whose fault is it I spilled my drink?"

King pointed at the car sitting in the middle of the restaurant. "There are your culprits, my good man."

"Good, I'm going to kick their ass!" Stomping over to the driver's side of the bright red car, he opened the door and wound up his fist. "I'm going to…" He stopped in his tracks and his right eye started twitching. "…ummm, what are you doing?"

Sitting in the driver's seat was a girl wearing a t-shirt with a picture of a cat playing with a ball of yarn on it and a pair of jeans. Her facial features said that she had an Oriental heritage. What were strangest about her were two things though. The first was that her hair was rainbow-colored, meaning that from one end of the straight mass to the other it went through the spectrum of color…and the other weird part was that her arms were straight in front of her, wrapping around the wheel of the car while her eyes were squeezed shut and she was holding perfectly still. "Did I stop?" She squeaked this out and opened one eye carefully. Then she screamed as the first thing she saw was a bloodied hand reaching for her. "Keep away from me!"

("That sounded like a…") King's eyes widened and he did a flying kick across the restaurant, kicking Jason in the head and sending the black-haired young man flying into a wall. "Prince Charming to the rescue!"

"Prince Charming?" The girl opened her eyes all the way and crawled out of the car, standing up and blinking at the heart-eyed King in confusion. "You're not a Prince, you're just a weird fishbowl-hair guy." Her eyes scanned the restaurant…and stopped when they came over the twitching Jason on the ground. "Oh my goodness, did you do that to him?"

"Well, I suppose I did…" King rubbed the back of his head nervously. "He had it coming though."

"That's so mean of you!" She yelled in King's face before running over to help Jason up. "Are you okay?"

"Just dandy," Jason grinned weakly…and then a small spout of blood erupted from his forehead. "Name's Jason, what about you?"

"I'm Saika Higa, nice to meet you Jason!" She smiled sweetly at him while behind them both King sulked at having been shot down.

Song of Temarocia; Rainbow Flower Arc

Chapter 18: Adventure in the Kingdom of Gold

A loud roar echoed across the brilliant green forests of Temarocia. "Insolent mortals, how dare you interrupt my meal!"

"Would you look at that, a talking lion," Jason whistled in amazement up at the giant white-furred feline that looked big enough to swallow him whole. "It's not our fault that we're starving and you had to go and kill such a big thing."

He motioned to the giant purple sloth-looking monster that the lion-monster had slain. "And it's not like you're going to eat the whole thing either. Just let us take a little bit of it and we'll be on our way."

"This is crazy…" Alita whispered fearfully from behind Flair and King, the three of them standing a good distance from the Grafter and the titanic monster.

"You cannot seriously expect me to just hand over my prey to you without a fight, can you?" The lion leaned in close and snapped at Jason's head, expecting to remove the young man's skull from his shoulders with the attack.

"You're a jerk," Jason muttered this while in his Stonequill Graft, his arms holding the lion's jaws perfectly still. "I guess we don't have a choice. Get him King."

"You dork." The fake Frenchman hurtled through the air and slammed the heel of his foot on the giant monster's head roughly. "Charger à la tête!" His heel connected and there was a loud explosion of pressure as the monster lion's head pushed back into its neck and its body fell over, having stopped moving. "Why did you need me to take it down though?"

"Because it was being annoying and I didn't have any reason to kick its ass." Jason nodded wisely at his own words, as if that was enough…

King glared from his position still hanging in the air and dropped out the sky to slam his heel down on the back of the Grafter's head, crushing him into the dirt below them roughly. "You really are testing my patience with your stupidity. I didn't mind it so much since when we were in Shunsuna, but it's been three days since then and you're still acting like you're the leader of this group! If anyone here is qualified to lead it would be me, not you!"

"Is that so, fishbowl head?" Jason changed back to normal and tackled his friend. The two of them rolled around in the dirt kicking and punching each other angrily.

Alita sighed tiredly and sat down on a nearby rock. "They've been fighting like this day and night…don't you think they need to start acting like a team or else there's no way we're ever going to be able to defeat Kyris the Hell?"

"They said that they had companions, so perhaps we should focus on locating these friends of theirs. After all, I doubt any of their friends could fight as much as these two seem to." Flair looked up at the sky and his eyes widened slightly. "Oh look, a News Winger."

"News Winger," King took a puff of his cigarette, sitting on top of the mass of collapsed and bruised flesh that was Jason. "What's the heck is that?"

Something that looked like a seagull and a hawk combined landed on the tree branch overlooking the clearing the fight had taken place in. "Welcome to the Golden Region of the Warlord of Pleasures, Don Karot. The cost for an information scroll is 100 tem."

"Did he say Warlord?" Jason said this from his position sitting atop King, who he had proceeded to somehow overcome in the short amount of time it took the bird to speak. "There are more Warlords than just Kyris?"

Flair nodded quietly and rested against his sheathed sword, which he placed the crook of his arm around. "Yes. The Warlord of Hell was their leader, but ever since his death all of his lower subordinates started calling themselves Warlords as well and began splitting up the country into their own chunks called regions. Kyris the Hell doesn't seem to care either, finding all of them a good source for amusement."

"Yes, we'll take one information scroll." Alita pulled some gold coins out of her pocket and placed them in a small leather sac the creature lowered to the ground. The sac rose up and moments later a rolled up scroll landed in her lap, the bird taking flight. "Now let's see what the deal has been with this region lately." She unrolled the scroll and started reading it.

King kneeled down next to her, acting as if he hadn't just gotten into a fight at all. "What might you be reading, my delicate flower?"

"It's called an information scroll, you creepy stalker." Flair pushed himself in between the two and sat down, angling his sword up to intercept King in case he tried to get to Alita again. "It's a scroll printed daily that puts out information of importance to the range of influence it is meant for. This scroll is for this specific region, so therefore the information here is more than likely heavily influenced by the Warlord of Pleasures."

"Oh, so it's like a newspaper." Jason had a bloody chunk in meat in his hands and was in his fire Graft form, breathing flames on the chunk to cook it. "I love this Curse-Eater form; it's like being my own barbecue!"

Alita continued to scour the scroll for useful information, and suddenly she blushed bright red. "Oh, nothing at all in here…" She crumpled the scroll up and hurled it at Jason. "Please burn this now."

King's leg shot out and blocked the ball of parchment, kicking it into his grasp. "It's been awhile since I've read something, and I don't want to turn out to be like Jason." Unfurling the scroll, he started looking it over while Alita bit her lower lip worriedly. "Hmmm, what's this? It looks almost like an advertise…" His eyes suddenly changed into hearts. "We must go to this place!"

"Huh?" Jason looked over King's shoulder at the advertisement. "Karot's Kingdom, the newly established center of gambling and good times in the Golden Region. Come on over and our lovely female staff will cater to your every need as you party the night away…"

We…" King turned to look at Jason, a dead serious expression on his face. "…are going to this place for information. We will be able to find the rest of the Freaks Gang if we go there, Jason."

"Are you serious?" The now back to normal boy shouted around the huge chunk of cooked meat hanging out of his mouth. "Let's get going then!" He turned and broke into a mad dash straight ahead, disappearing beyond the trees. "Freaks Gang, we're heading to Karot's Kingdom!"

"…" Alita's left eye twitched a couple of times as she stared at the spot where Jason disappeared into. "Does he even know where he is going?"

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Several miles away in the direction opposite the way Jason had gone…

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The sound of slot machine levers being pulled, the glow of neon lights, the taste and smell of a fine wine, and the touch of velvet carpet…it could all be found in this one place. Established by the man who had once served under the original Warlord of Hell as a master of ceremonies, it was a place where one could have their dreams come true…at a price. It was a multi-story tower painted gold or perhaps made of real gold…either way it was a sight to behold. It was the stronghold of Don Karot, Karot's Kingdom.

"Are you serious?" A rumbling voice yelled out from within the confines of an office overlooking a bustling casino floor.

"Quite serious," The image of Kyris the Hell reflected through the golden mirror hanging from the wall in the office showed the young Warlord grinning to whoever he was speaking with. "Don Karot, there is a Grafter out there that defeated Ruerto Masquil. According to my information network he may be entering your territory very soon, or perhaps he already has."

"And the bounty on this man's head…" A pair of trembling hands wearing an amazing number of bejeweled golden rings held a piece of paper in their grasp tightly, the crumpled image of Jason visible in the shadows of the office. "This isn't a typo?"

"20,000,000 Tem for the man that brings me this Grafter, dead or alive." Kyris continued to grin cheerfully. "I thought I would tell you about it personally, Don Karot, as I'm sure that you were going to be skeptical about the actual bounty amount. However let me reassure you that I am quite serious. This man is very important to me, and I want him taken care of properly."

"If he dares to enter my territory," One of the two hands curled into a fist and slammed down onto the desk with enough force to shake the whole room. "Then you can expect a call from me the following afternoon to receive my reward for his death."

"I look forward to hearing the good news about it," The image of Kyris disappeared and the room grew brighter as the lights turned back on.

"Gansaku, Bronzo, Revlis!" The rumbling voice yelled out loudly. "Get your useless asses in here right now!"

The door to the office opened and a trio of men wearing silver, bronze, and pyrite-colored trenchcoats entered the office. The lead was the one wearing the silver trenchcoat, his Cimarron-colored dreadlocks dangling around his Rastafarian features. "Whatcha be needin', boss?"

The second man, the one wearing the bronze-colored robe, adjusted his sunglasses and sneered as he brushed back a lock of his long brown hair coldly. "Well I gotta say that so far boss that this meeting has been pretty boring."

"We haven't even started yet!" The other three shouted at him.

"Well hurry up and let's start then so I can say this meeting is boring." Sitting down at the leather couch located near the door, the man crossed his legs and started tapping his hands against the arm of the couch impatiently.

"You're far too quick for your own good, Bronzo." The third man had a glittering head of golden hair, his shining curls bobbing with each of his movements. "You must learn to control your speed and when you do you shall find that an eloquent life will be waiting for you."

Bronzo crossed his arms across his chest and seemed as if he went deep into thought…before he yawned. "You're boring too, Gansaku." Then he turned to look at Don Karot. "Hey Boss, can I go already? We've been here for fifty minutes and haven't gotten anything done."

"You haven't even been here for fifty seconds yet!" The fist crashed down hard enough to send a crack through the wood of the table. "Now listen up, all three of you!" It held up the picture of Jason. "If you see this guy enter the casino contact me immediately and send security to catch him. Don't let him escape if he shows up!"

Revlis grabbed the piece of paper and scanned it slowly, making sure to remember all of the little nuances about the young man's face. "Alright Boss, you be wantin' us to take down this guy if we see 'im?"

"Use your own judgment in such situations." The hand reached into a pocket and removed a golden pocket-watch which it flipped open. "Hmm, it's time for me to check the floor. Remember your orders and Bronzo, wake up!" A heavy golden paperweight was hurled across the room, bouncing off the now sleeping bronze-coated man's skull and awakening him with a snort.

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At the same time…

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"We're here!" King skipped up to the rows of golden-handled glass doors that led into Karot's Kingdom. "This oasis in the desert of my heart will be the perfect place to revitalize my energies…" He tugged on his torn silk shirt and sniffed himself too. "Blech, I smell terrible and look terrible."

"The place was less than ten minutes from our location," Flair commented casually. "I also note that the dog isn't here, which means he is lost."

"Aren't we here to find information on your friends?" Alita asked from off to his side, eyeing the fake Frenchman suspiciously.

"Ah yes, of course," Nervously lighting up a cigarette, King started chuckling. "How careless of me to make it sound like I'd forgotten." He turned to face Alita. "However, don't you think that this would be a good place to recover from our last three days living out in the wilderness?"

"Well now that you mention it," Alita tugged on her dirty robes gingerly. "These are getting pretty rank…" Just imagining being able to take a nice bath warmed up her insides. "It would be so nice to finally pamper myself again. Don't you feel the same way Flair?"

"Alita," The samurai commented quietly from off the side. "Even while at the palace I was living in the Royal Garden and bathing in the ice-cold waters of the pond there."

"Such is the life of a samurai," King commented before pointing at the doors. "Now let us go, Alita, and return to the beautiful glory of cleanliness we once knew! I'm sure they must have tailors here too!"

"Alright," She smiled happily. "We may as well take advantage of our situation, right?"

"Yes ma'am!" The fake Frenchman saluted her with one finger and walked inside the coolest he could, trying to counteract the fact that he looked like someone had dragged him through the mud.

Flair followed immediately after, with Alita at his flank. "Take as much time as you need, I'll be wandering around the gambling floor trying to pick up information on interesting people located outside the Region."

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Jason was staring at a tree. "Maybe it's a parrot?"

The giant brightly-colored pterodactyl screeched in anger at the young man and adjusted in its perch on the branches of the towering oak tree he had come across.

"Or maybe some kind of weird flying lizard!" The Grafter started pacing back and forth while the creature up above him continued to hiss in anger at being disturbed. "I wonder if it tastes good or not."

The pterodactyl-parrot thing launched down from its perch and grabbed his shoulders with its talons, starting to lift him up into the air as it got ready to crush him against the ground.

"Oh, maybe it's a chicken that can fly!" Jason declared this to himself while the monster dropped him from a height of fifty feet to come crashing into the earth. Then it returned to its perch and fluffed up its feathers…before sweat-dropping as he stood up from the crater his body had created in his Stonequill Graft, apparently unaffected by the fall. "Actually now that I think about it maybe it's a penguin? No wait, Penguins can't fly…"

"And now that I think about it…" Jason looked around in confusion. "Where am I? Where is everybody?" He looked up at the parrot monster thing as it dove for him again. "Hey…" His tail snapped up and smacked the creature across the face, sending it hurtling into the trunk of the giant oak. "Do you know where this is?"

The monster collapsed in a heap on the ground with swirls in its eyes before it disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving a Prize Card in its place.

"I guess not." Pocketing the card, Jason sniffed the air and started wandering. "Guys! Where are you?"

To be continued…