Chapter 2: The Tournament

Six Years Later.

A boy with brass colored hair and copper eyes sat on the edge of a mountain top. A castle towered behind him, providing shade from the blinding, late afternoon sun. He peered into the distance and spotted an open roof dome stadium with all types of magic and spells being casted into the sky.

He grinned widely and gripped the binoculars that were looped around his neck. "My big brothers are going to fight soon. I can't wait to see them."

There was a small barking sound, and he turned to face his raijū; a white wolf with saber teeth, its eyes resembling Zeno's. It had stripes the shape of lightning bolts running across the sides of its body. The creature walked up to him, small bluish-white sparks flew from under its paws when it walked since its body was made from Zeno's lightning. It barked softly again.

The boy's grin disappeared. He released his binoculars and they dangled from his neck. "I know, Kiyo. They'd want me to stay here with mommy."

The raijū licked the side of the boy's face and panted with its tongue half out. It barked again.

The boy smiled as he wiped the spit off his face. "You're right, Kiyo. I'm sure they'd be happy to see me. He climbed on the back of the raijū and gripped its fur. "Alright. Let's go!"

The raijū released a cry that was a mix between a tiger's roar and a wolf's howl. It jumped off the ledge of the mountain and bounced from rock to rock until it reached the bottom of the castle grounds. It started to run past the guards and the gates towards the town with the stadium. None of the guards saw them since Kiyo was as swift as a lightning bolt.

""""""""""

"Go Boren!"

A tall mamodo with long white hair and lavender eyes swung his arm at his opponent. His opponent shielded himself with his arms to lessen the pain from the blow, but he was still knocked back several feet and landed outside of the ring.

The referee examined the fallen mamodo and declared that he was disqualified for stepping out of the ring. "The winner of this match is Wonrei!"

The crowd in the stands roared with cheer. Mamodo who participated in the battle to become King, or God's Trial, were favored and betted on during the tournament. Whenever two mamodo who both participated in God's Trial were up against each other, the bets went to the more intimidating one, but the winner wasn't always the one who was expected to win. Some mamodo who lacked in physical strength managed to advance to the next round using their natural skill and strategy. Brute force didn't always win. The proof of that was in their King, Zatch Bell. Zatch was strong in all avenues of fighting and strategy, and he only got better over the years.

Wonrei stepped from the ring and was on his way to the hot springs to relax his muscles when a girl with long red hair and red eyes approached him. "Wonrei, that was amazing. You've grown strong."

He smiled at her. "You as well, Tia."

Tia threw a punch and a kick in the air. "I only have defense spells, but your Kung-Fu really helped me with hand-to-hand combat. Thank you."

Wonrei frowned.

Tia paused and realized she shouldn't have used the word Kung Fu. "Wonrei, I'm sorry. I know she taught Kung Fu to you."

He shook his head and smiled again at her. "It's OK. She taught me well, and now, I've taught you."

Tia grinned and nodded her head. She turned to the ring when the crowd started cheering for the next fighters. "Zatch is about to fight. I'll see you later, Wonrei."

Wonrei waved as she ran off to sit by her best friend in the front stands. Since she and her friend both knew Zatch well, they easily got good seats. He noticed the huge smile on her face when she mentioned Zatch and smiled to himself.

""""""""""

Kiyo leaped from one building to another in hopes that no one will see him. He was slowing down since it was a long trip from the castle to the town. He finally rested at the top of a building that sat across a fruit and yellowtail shop. The shop was not particularity busy and an older female mamodo outside was trying her hardest to sell her produce with her young son. She would tell passersby what was on sale and even offer discounts, but the citizens would ignore or turn her down.

The boy slid off Kiyo's back as he looked at the stadium and brushed off some fur from his dark purple mantle. The stadium was much larger than he expected. The outside was painted gray and black, so outsiders wouldn't be able to see inside without a ticket. There were still lines snaking around the entrance while other mamodo decided to set up camp outside the dome and watch from screens that appeared around the dome in certain areas.

The boy shivered. "I'm stoked. We're almost there." He took a step towards the stadium and stopped. His gaze was ripped from the dome and glued to the small shop below with the female mamodo and her son.

"I sense something."

The boy leaned against the edge of the building closest to the shop and closed his eyes. His once perfect, unblemished face now had three mamodo lines running down each of his eyes and stopping at his jawline. His eyes opened, and his once copper pupils were gone. His irises were red, and his pupils thinned vertically to resemble a cat or a dragon's eye. He observed the shop and saw a hooded figure survey its surrounding before entering the shop. There was a scream, and the figure ran out of the shop with a brown sack full of food and money. The female mamodo tried to call for help, but no one assisted, and her son was too young to fully control whatever spells he may know and cowered behind his mother instead.

The boy closed his eyes again and the lines receded from his face. He opened his eyes to reveal their normal copper color. He jumped from the side of the building facing the stadium and landed flat on his feet in an alley between two buildings. He ran to the end of the alley and peeked around the corner to view the shop. He saw the hooded figure searching its surroundings and go into the store. The boy ran out of the alley and stopped in front of the store. He heard a scream.

"Someone, please, help!"

The hooded figure already loaded his sack and started making his way out to the front. He stopped when he saw the boy. "Oh, no."

The boy looked up at the figure and gave a smile as if he was just told that his parents were going to take him to the park and buy him ice-cream. "Excuse me, but I think you should put those back."

The figure took a few steps back.

The boy drew his hand from his mantle and pointed his index finger at the figure. The figure grunted, and the boy could tell that the culprit was male.

"Zaker."

A purple lightning bolt shot out of the boy's finger and covered the hooded figure. His clothes were torn to sherds, revealing his full figure; a green mamodo from the ogre tribe. He was bulky, but in fat instead of muscle. He was thrown towards the back of the store. He crashed through the wall and landed on the other side, body steaming from the blast.

The woman and her son emerged from behind one of the counters where they were hiding. "Thank you, Prince Zared."

Zared blew on the tip of his finger from where the lighting shot. He smiled at them and tilted his head. "You're welcome."

Zared ran out of the store. He heard some mamodo call out and refer to him as "Your Highness" or "Your Majesty", but he ignored them and went back to the same alley from which he came. He wall-jumped between the two buildings and landed on the top of the building where his raijū was resting. He looked back down. The citizen's resumed their normal lives and everything seemed the way it was, except for the fact that the woman now had a gaping hole at the back of her shop.

"I don't like being called 'your majesty'," Zared said as he looked towards the stadium. "I don't like all the attention. Maybe I should've stayed home after all."

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The crowd roared and stood from their seats when two twin boys stepped into the arena. One of the boys had shoulder-length silver hair and paler skin than his twin. His eyes were purple with white stripes around his iris. His pupil was black with a white asterisk in the center of it. He had two mamodo lines running down each of his eyes, and he had a small fang poking out of one side of his lip. He wore a white shirt with long white pants and white shoes. His pastel blue brooch looked like a bow and had an amethyst at its center. It was clipped to his shirt at the chest and held his white mantle in place like a cape.

His twin was dressed no differently aside from his colors. He had slightly shorter blond hair and golden eyes. One line ran down each of his eyes and he had no fangs. He wore a white shirt, dark khaki pants, and blue shoes. His ivory brooch also resembled a bow and had an amber stone at its center. The brooch was attached to his shirt at the chest, which kept his dark blue mantle in place to look like a cape. Both brothers were dressed casually and royally.

"Zatch!" A girl with turquoise colored hair and blue eyes sat behind Tia. She waved a banner with Zatch's name on it. "Zatch, I love you!"

"Penny," Tia tried to scoot away from her. "You're not supposed to be down here. Zatch never gave you a ticket."

"You, shut-up!" Penny pointed at Tia. "Zatch is so in love with me that he just forgot to give me a ticket."

"That doesn't even make sense, you bitch," Tia stood from her seat and balled her fists. "Haven't you learned anything about him after all these years?"

"Did you just call me a bitch, you bitch?" Penny raised her arm, chanted a spell, and a claw made a water covered her hand. "You're going to regret that."

Tia brought up both of her fists and stood her ground.

Penny lowered her claw, but was stopped midway when a green frog mamodo held her arm. "Stop, Penny,"

Penny turned. "Let go, Byonko."

Tia eased a bit when she felt a hand on her shoulder and heard a familiar voice. She turned and faced her best friend. "Kolulu."

Kolulu, a girl her age with pink eyes and short pink hair that curled at the ends, gave her a worried look. "That's enough."

Penny's spell evaporated. She placed one hand on her hip and picked up her banner with the other. "Let's go, Byonko."

Byonko gave Tia and Kolulu an apologetic glance before following Penny up the stands. The two girls sat back in their seats and were silent for a moment.

Tia was the first to speak. "I'm sorry, Kolulu, my potty mouth just slipped out."

Kolulu grinned. "It's okay. You do that all the time."

Tia cringed at her behavior in front of her friend. She tried to change the subject. "She doesn't deserve him."

Kolulu frowned. "Well, he is the King. Do any of us deserve him?"

Tia turned away. "She's just annoying. When is she going to realize that Zatch has no feelings for her?"

"Who's to say Zatch has feelings for anyone?"

"I know, but…"

"But?"

Tia went silent for a time.

"Tia?"

Tia shook her head and faced the stadium. "We should concentrate on the fight. Zatch is going to do great. Kick his ass, Zatch!"

The silver haired mamodo snorted at Tia's comment. "Tramp."

The blond mamodo turned to his brother. "Hey, Zeno, that's not nice."

"You're right, Zatch. I should choose a more appropriate word, like bitch."

"Zeno!"

Zeno teleported to the other side of the ring, away from his brother. "I'm just trying to get you riled up for the fight, little bro."

"You know, you always picked on me when we were younger."

"What are you talking about? I still pick on you."

Zatch walked up to the referee and asked for the microphone. The referee bowed and handed him the mic without question. Zatch cleared his throat and all the mamodo in the stands stood up in silence before he started speaking. Zeno crossed his arms.

"Thank you all for coming. I would like to remind you that I did not create this tournament out of mere pleasure. Instead, this was to harness our skills into making each other stronger for the next mamodo battle."

The crowd murmured among themselves. Tia turned to Kolulu since she knew this was a touchy subject for her friend.

Zatch raised his hand, and the crowd gradually fell into silence. "I know. The next battle won't be for another millennium, but I plan on making your families strong in case your descendants ever want to participate in the next battle. We'll learn from each other like we did during the previous battle and teach them to our offspring. It is also to release any tension or desire we have to use our spells, and…" he stopped and turned to Kolulu. "We'll make it so that those who do not want to fight, won't have to."

Kolulu stood stiff when Zatch looked at her. Zatch smiled and spoke into the microphone. "Never again."

Kolulu was lost in his eyes, two soft pools of gold that seemed to suck her back in time. She remembered the small, frail boy she used to tell her dream to, the dream of a peaceful world where the mamodo battles would stop, and how he promised to be king and make it happen just for her.

"Kolulu?"

Kolulu snapped out of her memory and noticed that Zatch was facing the other side of the stadium. She looked at Tia and scratched the back of her neck. "Oh, I'm fine, Tia. Don't worry."

Zatch finished speaking and returned the mic to the referee. He took it and bowed. "Is there anything else I can do for you, my King?"

Zatch smiled at Kolulu one last time before smiling at the referee. "No. That is all. Shall we start the fight?"

"Yes, sir." The referee stood at the edge of the ring and looked at both fighters. "This battle will be between the illustrious King Zatch who wields Boa and his brother, Prince Zeno, also known as the Lightning Emperor."

Zatch did some small stretches and planted his feet into the ground, ready to take any blows if Zeno were to strike first. Zeno made no movement and continued to stand with his arms crossed.

"Begin!"