Disclaimer: No I do not own Yugioh. I do own Temarocia though.
Song of Temarocia
Chapter 31: Emergency Escape
"Whoa…" King commented quietly, dropping his used cigarette into a small leather pouch he carried with him for just such occasions when he was running low on cigarettes and wanted to try to preserve what few remained. "I can't be the only one who finds this extremely surprising, can I?"
"I find it pretty surprising too," Saika muttered, shivering as a strong breeze blew by and reminded her she was wearing clothing not meant to be worn in an outside environment.
Their amazement was because in the middle of the forest there was a train station…with electricity if the lights around it were any indication of its functioning status. In a place filled with giant monsters and terrifying creatures this was amazing enough, but to add to it there was a strange aura of peace coming from the structure. It was as if the station was a world separate from the one just a few feet from its borders, granted some kind of divine immunity to the troubles of being in the middle of the wild.
"What's so surprising?" Flair seemed to relax a little now that they had reached the station. "Up to this point all of the machines you have seen don't seem to elicit such a response from you."
"That's not the point I'm getting at," King protested. "How is there just a train station sitting here in the middle of the woods? Wouldn't it be vulnerable to attack by monsters?"
"Most monsters dislike electricity and things using it, hence why this place has little need of security." Alita sighed in frustration and crossed her arms daintily across her chest. "I still dislike the idea that things like this from Tuletia are in my country, even if they do help the people. Technology can't be trusted, running off something as hard to control naturally as electric currents."
"…" King and Saika wondered whether they should comment on how difficult it was to believe that someone who used magic had any right to comment on the reliability of technology.
"Oh well," Alita shrugged her shoulders and headed up the steps into the station. "If we want to get as far away from this place as we can then we'll have to use this form of transportation. Beggars can't be choosers, after all."
"At no point, even when on your own, have you ever considered yourself a beggar." Flair paid for this comment as he took a strong staff hit to the head.
King winced and walked past Alita with his hands in his pockets. ("I've got the sudden feeling that things are about to upgrade…") He could feel a powerful tingling feeling running up and down his spine and the bones in his legs. ("Somewhere nearby there's a powerful martial artists…no, there's at least two…") His eyebrows rose in confusion. "Rick's here…probably."
"Rick?" Alita and Flair asked at the same time, followed by Alita continuing the inquiry since the samurai realized by the name that it was another member of the Freaks Gang. "You mean the other Freaks Gang member besides Kim?"
"Ricky's here?" Saika looked down at herself. "He's going to complain about how I'm dressed wrong…" She skipped over to Alita and tugged on the other girl's clothes. "Hey Alita-san, do you have something for me to wear that's not quite so revealing?"
"Sure, I've got the spare dress in my bag that I was wearing before we got to Karot's Kingdom." The magician frowned suddenly as a question came to mind. "How do you know that Rick is here?"
"It's nothing big, but I can sense powerful martial artists depending on how my body is reacting." King lit up another cigarette, tossing the last box away in disgust at the fact he was out of supplies already. "I sense two and a half incredibly powerful martial artists in that building. The half, without a doubt, is Rick. He's the only guy I've ever known that's elicited such a weak feeling from me."
"And the other two?" The question was from Flair, because the idea of going against a powerful opponent was something that excited him. He'd spent far too long sitting around being Alita's babysitter and not having a chance to do what he did best, fight.
"I know one of them from my temporary employment under Kyris." The fake Frenchman pursed his lips in displeasure. "It has to be Aenpest." Alita's gasp told him what he already knew. "If Jason doesn't show up I wonder whether I'll get a whole Warlord all to myself."
"Like hell you will." Flair's thumb unsheathed his katana just barely. "I have a special attack I wish to test against an opponent of that level. Therefore you'll just have to sit back and deal with that second martial artist, fishbowl."
Under normal circumstances King would have started a fight over that insult, but with only one last cigarette remaining in his supply and a series of half-used ones he didn't much feel like accidentally losing his last beacon of hope. "Say whatever you like, Flair, but if this Warlord is a martial artist then wouldn't I be the best opponent for him? Plus we might have another situation like with Saika, except now we've got to save Rick. Do you really feel comfortable fighting for the sake of a member of your princess's gang?"
"She's only part of your little group because the lot of you seem to possess the power necessary to take down the Warlords…excluding Kyris." The samurai sneered. "I noticed that when I arrived you hadn't really taken him down."
"I'm not dumb enough to fight Kyris alone…" The fake Frenchman's expression turned slightly hurt, as he looked away, the painful memories of getting crushed by that little brat's butler still scarred into his brain. "His caretaker alone was enough to beat me down…that's why we're collecting the members of the Freaks Gang. We'll need all of their power to beat this kid."
"Well said," Alita nodded, a hopeful smile on her face. "We can win if we collect all of the members of the Freaks Gang together, right? And Jason has already proven that he's nearly invincible thanks to his ability to heal just by switching Grafts, right?"
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Several minutes, but in the wrong direction…
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"This is no good." Jason dropped into a cross-legged sitting position and sighed, his stomach grumbling at how he was mistreating it. "Shut up before I feed you a fist, you blob of useless flesh."
His weakness to something as stupid as hunger was the worst torture of all. Ever since he was a kid he had always been unable to do anything on an empty stomach. "The pain's nothing, but you just refuse to let me fight until I've filled you, huh? How am I going to beat a guy like Kyris when it took all my effort just to bring down Don Karot?"
Thinking back on how he fought it occurred to him that this Chimera thing was definitely a cool power. With the ability to mix and match his Grafts he could create a pretty big variety of abilities. While he didn't know anything about Temarocia and its monsters, that didn't matter. "I just have to use my imagination. I've been daydreaming ever since I was a kid, so that shouldn't be too hard. Let's see…"
His first combination was Vortex Beast, a form that used the resilient body of Stonequill and the air control abilities of Burst Fox to create a powerful form that gave him access to strikes equal to gunshots in power. ("The problem is that the best techniques, like the Railgun, are too powerful for their own good. Even with Stonequill's resilient and elastic flesh so much air pressure escaping from my arm at once instantly ruins it. That kind of damage disables that part of my body.") And using the technique with something like his tail or legs wouldn't work…he couldn't control the tail well enough and losing a leg in a fight was suicide.
("Well let's see, Flair's a samurai, Frenchy's a martial artist…or at least calls himself one, Alita's a magician, Saika's…") He had no idea what Saika could do. She could make illusions, so he guessed she fell into the realm of support. "Hmmm, that sounds pretty cool actually. So let's see, the Freaks Gang Adventuring Party has need of three groups."
"The first is melee combat," The Grafter started pacing, trying to take his mind off the fact that he was still starving and his stomach was telling him so in very loud words. "Flair, King, myself when I'm using Stonequill and Burst Fox…that's three. Well, I guess I shouldn't include myself in the equation, so it's just Flair and King for now. They should be enough though."
He stopped, watching some leaves float by peacefully despite how stormy it was outside. "Support is something I can't even classify yet, so let's skip it for now. I guess since Saika fits the bill for it I'll have to think about it eventually."
It was ranged combat that was the problem. Alita was the only one that had ranged abilities at all… ("Well, King's got that one trick but it's not reliable. He'll wind up pulling his muscles if he uses it too often.") So it was just Alita for now. "I guess that settles it, I need a powerful Chimera that uses ranged attacks. Hmmm…"
Curse-Eater and Subzero Shark were the most powerful when it came to ranged attacks, since the Epic had ranged too but he wasn't going to be using it in a Chimera. That would be suicidal since he was sure he still couldn't control it alone. ("So if I combine those two…")
In his mind he could see steam. "The combination of the icy poison Subzero Shark makes and the flames that Curse-Eater uses would nullify each other, and other than scalding the target steam can't do too much damage."
"AHHH!" He started rubbing his head with both hands frantically. "This is so hard! I wish I had some food in my stomach so I could actually test out Chimera combinations instead of just stand here and think about it!"
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"It's really surprising to think that there would be a train station here," King muttered to himself. "This though…"
"So are you going to buy something," The owner of the stand said, motioning to his stock of food and other basic commodities. "Cause you're really clogging up business just standing there, bud."
The fake Frenchman looked left, and then right. "What business?" He asked honestly, pointing out the fact that he was the only one in sight. Flair had gone to get the tickets and the girls had gone to the restroom to change. "Whatever, I just need cigarettes."
"Sure, how many?" The man motioned to a series of small wooden boxes, opening one to show off the fact that it was filled with little rolled bundles of tobacco that King could call cigarettes…if he was blind.
"That's pretty fragrant stuff, but it looks terrible." The fake Frenchman sighed. "Do you have rolling papers?"
"Yup, but we really don't sell raw tobacco here." The man shrugged his shoulders. "After all, why would people go to the effort of making their own when it's already made and ready to be bought."
"I'll be buying your whole stock." King cracked his knuckles in preparation for what was going to be a harrowing amount of work. "All your papers and all your 'cigarettes,' if that's what you could call them."
"You sure about that?" The man sounded a bit incredulous. "What are you gonna do with all those cigarettes?"
"Remake them into something worthy of a man of France."
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"Hey Alita," Saika called from the other side of the one-person restroom located near the entrance. "This dress seems a bit big on me. Are you sure it fits you properly?"
"Last I checked it did, why?" The blond-haired girl was crouched down in front of the door, more than a little nervous thanks to King's warning about a Warlord like Aenpest being somewhere inside the station. ("Why would the Warlord of Elegance be here though?")
"Because it seems a little snug in the top area." A thud came from the other side of the door as it sounded like the girl had fallen. "Owie…I tripped on Shiny Kitty-san's tail…"
"That would be your tail," The magician barked sharply, finding the backhanded insult thrown her way rather hard to swallow. "You're a Graftborn now, don't forget that."
"So I'm stuck as a cat-girl?" Saika sounded extremely disheartened. "Does that mean I'm going to wind up having to wear really embarrassing clothes like the bunny-suit all the time?"
"Why would you think a crazy idea like that?" Alita could have sworn that someone nearby was playing a violin.
"Well in the anime my brothers always watch all kinds of really bad stuff keeps happening to the cat-girl…" Saika sniffled a couple of times. "This dress is really too small…"
Amidst the twitching of her right eye Alita wrote the word anime in her tome and scribbled a question mark next to it.
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The sounds of the violin were light, a kind of phantom waltz playing off the walls of the train car. It wafted across the air like an aroma, the kind of thing that you could feel more than hear. "Ah, how I love a fine music along with my wine." A pair of supple hands lifted up a wine glass filled with a deep red liquid and brought it up to a pair of lips painted a fine purple sheen. "While this is nothing like the luxuries back home I suppose it will do until we've returned to the Country of Pathways, eh?"
"Indeed, milord." The attendant nodded his head slightly, still playing the violin with extreme skill.
"Neh Roe-chan," The sitting Warlord sighed tiredly. "When are we supposed to take off already? I've been waiting in here for an hour already."
"It shouldn't be much longer, Lord Aenpest." Off to the side a man dressed in bright green frilled clothing lisped his answer out, his voice absolutely grating to the ears. "Would you like me to go beautifully convince the conductor to get us underway?"
"There will be no need for that," Another voice lisped out, a near copy of Roe stepping into the car. The only difference was that he was dressed in frilly bright orange clothing instead of green. "From what I just heard there was a tornado nearby, so we're heading out in a few minutes."
"Hang on a second Boe-chan," Aenpest put his glass down on the small table in front of his cushioned futon. "Where is Van-chan? She's going to miss the train if she isn't back from her hunting yet."
"Don't worry," the man tittered. "She was coming on-board at the same time I was. What's even more interesting is that she had this beautiful specimen with her…"
"Ho," The Warlord said in surprise, rubbing his goatee with a gloved hand. "I never knew you to be one to appreciate hunting, Boe-chan."
"Well it wasn't the dead animal she brought back that surprised me." The man grinned from ear to ear, looking pleased to gossip a little since the subject of it wasn't around. "It was actually this silver-haired guy; he must have been like her…" He trembled a little in excitement remembering the disheveled and wild appearance of the unconscious young man. "He was such a cute hunk…"
"Oh really?" Roe leapt out of his chair and did a little high-kick, nearly breaking into his dance routine right there. "Shall we go intrude, brother? I know how much you love to pry!"
"You love to pry too, brother!" Boe leapt up next, and the two of them were about to head out of the car.
Aenpest chuckled and waved his hand at them both to get their attention. "Leave her be. The girl did well on our business here, so let her enjoy a bit of pleasure. If she wants to bring a strange boy onboard and do what she will with him then let her do so unmolested."
"Yes sir," The two moped and collapsed into a pair of seats in perfect unison.
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"It's still feels really small…" Saika, dressed in the black dress Alita had been wearing yesterday, squeaked in fear as the blond-haired girl turned and glared at her angrily. "I'll stop complaining now."
"Good." Alita huffed over to Flair, who had just finished up 'convincing' the ticket vendor to sell them tickets for cheaper. "You didn't overdo it, did you?"
"I don't know for sure," The samurai had a look on his face that could probably kill a charging rhino if used correctly. "He passed out so many times I wondered whether I should just cut the wall down and get our own tickets. However," He held up five slips of paper. "We need to hurry; the train is leaving in ten minutes. Because of the dog's stunt the conductor has demanded they leave much earlier than planned."
"Well what should we do?" The magician rubbed the back of her head, realizing that she should have used the mirror and brushed her hair when she had been at the restroom. "Maybe we should just camp out here?"
"And let the Hell find us?" Flair snorted. "Are you getting too soft towards these fools for your own good, Alita? We'll leave the ticket with the vendor and make sure that he gives it to the dog when he arrives. If he blows it then we'll just have to meet up with him in a couple of days at the place we were going anyway. Staying here isn't an option."
Alita nodded and took Jason's ticket. "I'll go give this to the vendor and leave instructions. Get King and let's get on board before it's too late."
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Flair and Saika entered the main section of the train station and found King wrapping up the last of his cigarettes.
"Yo," The fake Frenchman half-saluted to them and puffed on his remaining original cigarette, savoring its normal flavor. "Where's my angel?"
A vein bulged out of Flair's forehead at the 'my angel' part, but he kept himself from going straight to violence. There would be time for that later. "Alita is making preparations since the dog is stupid. What's with all of those cigarettes?"
King glanced to his side and the huge number of hand-made cigarettes piled on top of each other, their numbers having to be at least two thousand or so. "It's not much but I had to make do. After all, there are no convenience stores in Temarocia…" Rubbing his chin he tapped some ash off the butt of his current cigarette. "Actually, until I have proof of that I won't believe it. So far this place has everything else I wouldn't expect from a fantasy setting…"
"Hurry up and take as many of those disgusting things with you as you can, we're leaving." Flair started to walk towards the train…
"I'm already to go." King stood up, the piles of cigarettes gone.
"…How did you do that?" Flair asked, while from behind him Saika sweat-dropped.
"Do what?" King asked with real confusion in his voice.
To be continued…
And so, escaping from the wrath of Kyris the Hell, the Freaks Gang boards the regional transit. Where is their destination, and with another of the seven Warlords onboard as well will everything go as peacefully as hoped for?
Next Chapter: The Greatest Ninja in the World
