Diabolus Vulpes

Chapter 10-The Zealot

Tails and Raiu fell silent, still staring at the dragon that had identified himself as Victor. "...Zealot Division?" Tails echoed, glancing at Raiu slightly.

"What's that mean?" the demon murmured with a slight blink.

Victor's eye twitched in irritation from Raiu's comment. "It's basically a portion of the Famulus that focuses on enforcement and whatnot. The soldiers patrolling their side of Sanctimonia? They're a part of the Zealot Division. They only send them here if it's something big..."

Both glanced at Victor. "And if this guy is REALLY their second-in-command...it's obviously a big deal."

The dragon smirked back, chuckling. "Yes, that's right." He waved his hands outwards, calling, "This is the largest slave mine in all of the Hellfields, and we're here to liberate them all. So be a good little boy and step out of the way."

Tails furrowed his brow and stepped forward in response, Raiu glancing at him worriedly. "I think not. I am Miles Prower, son of the great warlock Amadeus Prower. And by my family's pride, I will NOT let you get away with this."

Victor fell silent, before recoiling with a mocking shocked expression. "The great warlock Amadeus Prower? Oh noooooo, I'm so scared!" The dragon began prancing about, waving his hands in a mockingly sissified fashion. "Someone help, I'm so scared by a simple name! Waaaahhhh!"

"...you just about done?" Raiu mumbled flatly.

Victor responded to this by lifting up a finger. "One moment." A few moments passed in silence, the only sound being that of the wind and some stray pieces of rock tumbling down. Finally, Victor took a more stable stance, murmuring, "Alright, I'm done. Point being, I don't care who you are; I'm gonna beat you into a bloody pulp all the same unless you back down quietly."

Tails furrowed his brow, both hands glowing faintly. "Didn't you hear me? By my pride as a member of the Prower warlocks..." He lifted both hands towards Victor, both glowing a deep purple. "...I will NOT let you get away with this."

With this comment, several blasts were abruptly fired from Tails' hands, streaking towards Victor. The dragon smirked. "I was hoping you'd say that."

Before the attacks could impact, Victor abruptly vanished, Tails and Raiu blinking in shock. "H-he's gone!"

Tails looked around, just in time for Victor to appear above him, foot stretched upwards. The fox looked up and barely managed to lean back to avoid a downwards axe kick, Victor's talons ripping at his robe as the foot smashed into the ground, overturning several rocks in the process and knocking Tails and Raiu backwards. "S-so powerful..."

Victor retracted his foot with a wicked smirk. "Still feeling confident?"

Raiu glanced at Tails with a nervous expression. "M-maybe we should leave and get help, I don't think we can take him by ourselves..."

The fox fell silent, glancing at Raiu with a serious expression. "Raiu...please understand...I would've done it before..." His gaze went to Victor, who had began stretching. "...but after that little display mocking my family name...I'm going to mount his head over my fireplace."

Tails abruptly stood up, eyes fixated on Victor. "Raiu, I'm going to set up an array that'll boost your abilities, try and keep him off of me."

"Understood," the furry dragon responded with a nod, charging towards Victor.

Said dragon smirked. "Hmph, so now tubby wants a piece of me? Very well."

Raiu furrowed his brow. "Don't get arrogant, gecko." With this comment, he lunged towards Victor, preparing a roundhouse kick; the dragon blocked by holding up an arm, which he used to attempt and grab Raiu's leg. With surprising agility, the demon managed to spin around, plowing his other foot into the side of Victor's head and sending him staggering to the side slightly. The resulting spinning motion forced Raiu into a handstand, the demon landing back on his feet as Victor turned to him with an annoyed glare.

"You're starting to piss me off," he uttered, lunging at Raiu and extending claws from each finger. Raiu blinked in shock and leaned away from each swipe, managing to do so until one of the dragon's claws nicked at his belly. The furry demon winced, Victor shouting, "Come on! I've squashed roaches that were more entertaining than you!"

Raiu barely managed to lean away from another attack, using what energy he had to duck and spear Victor in the stomach, his shoulder barging against armor and catapulting the drgaon backwards. Raiu rubbed at the shoulder he had impacted, wincing. "Ouch...he's tough...not to mention ferocious..."

Victor stood up, quickly taking notice of the purple array beginning to appear on the ground, expanding from Tails' position. The dragon furrowed his brow, uttering, "Try and make a fool out of me, will ya...?"

He abruptly lunged towards Raiu, claws still extended. The demon's eyes widened and he quickly ducked under the attack, sticking a foot up to kick Victor in the stomach. Instead, the dragon had spun to the side, grabbing a hold of Raiu's leg and using his previous momentum to spin about. Tails blinked as Victor abruptly flung Raiu at him, the bloated demon smashing into his master and sending both toppling backwards. Victor skidded to a halt and began cackling madly, shouting, "You didn't think that little trick would work on me, did you?"

Tails looked up, now wearing a rather confident smirk. "No, but I assumed this one would."

Victor's smirk faded as he looked down; he was now standing on the array Tails had set up, the markings of which began glowing brightly and abruptly letting loose a blast of lightning that zapped Victor, the dragon yelping in anger. "GAH! What?"

The fox and demon stood up, Tails murmuring, "You fell right into my trap. I don't even KNOW any array that boosts a demon's powers." He pointed forward. "And any novice warlock should be able to notice the differences between a support array and a debilitating one."

Victor scowled in irritation, Tails and Raiu stepping towards the outside of the array. "And now that you're trapped in my paralyzing array, we can take you in for questioning..." Tails smirk widened even further. "I can't WAIT to see the look on Kachimi's face when he learns that we managed to single-handedly captured one of the Famulus's highest ranking officials!"

Raiu and Tails turned towards each other, giving an excited squee and hugging. Victor sweatdropped slightly, muttering, "If you two fags are just about done spazzing out, I'd LIKE for you to pay attention when I crush your skulls like grapefruit."

Both glanced back around at Victor, noticing the lightning kicking up again as the dragon let out a rather enraged snarl, which soon deteriorated into a bestial roar. Both pair of eyes widened as they noticed a faint light coming from his chest, the array beginning to flicker. Tails' eyes widened, the fox mumbling, "N-...no way...what is he..."

With one last roar, Victor abruptly jerked his fists outwards, the array seemingly exploding and sending streams of light and dark energy outwards, smashing into the walls and knocking away the rubble surrounding the Famulus war machine. Tails and Raiu were also knocked backwards, toppling to a halt as the smoke cleared. Victor stood where he was formerly like normal, panting and smirking widely. Both looked up, Raiu stammering, "Wh-...h-he just..."

Victor proceeded to reach into his beastplate, pulling out what looked to be a pendant wrapped around his neck. On the other end was a star-shaped trinket with a green gem embedded in the middle. "See this? It's my little lucky charm. And with it...I can overload any warlock curse mark, array, whatever." He waved his hands outwards. "You can't restrain me, weaken me, anything! The only way you'll be able to beat me is if you overpower me."

The dragon lifted up a fist in an intimidating fashion, showing off his razor-sharp fangs. "...and I can tell you right now, that will NEVER happen."

-Meanwhile-

Kinshou was quickly in lifting up a hand, firing off several black darts towards Chi and Viridis. The skunk was swift in his movements, expertly avoiding each one as Viridis seemingly melted into the ground, streaking towards the fox. Kentan and Milio looked down, the cat gasping, "He's traveling along the ground!"

"I got it!" Milio shouted, abruptly hopping forward and sitting on Viridis. Kinshou glanced at the otter with a blank expression, only to be cut off when the otter was abruptly catapulted into the air, slamming head-first into the ceiling and becoming stuck there. All looked back down, taking notice of several very dark brown tendrils sticking from Viridis's back.

"...he's made of soil," Kinshou uttered, stepping back slightly as Viridis's tendrils lashed at the fox; they were, however, intercepted by Kentan, who managed to grab a hold of them with a grunt. Viridis frowned as Kinshou leaped up, using Kentan as a footstool to position himself in the air above Chi. The skunk furrowed his brow as Kinshou planted both palms together, slowly separating them and unveiling a ball of sparking, dark energy in between them. "You made a mistake in stayng to fight."

Chi frowned slightly. "No, you made a mistake in picking a fight." Kinshou abruptly shot the ball forward, Chi lifting up a hand; a pair of dark claws materialized on each finger. with a simple poke, Chi jabbed the incoming ball and caused it to abruptly dissipate, Kinshou's eyes widening.

"What the..." The fox finally landed, now on the ground in front of Chi. The skunk expertly leaned forward, tapping his claws all over Kinshou's body. The fox let out a strangled shout and shivered, grunting, "Can't...move...!"

The skunk retracted his hand, flexing his fingers. "My special technique, generating claws of pure dark energy on each finger...with points so precise that I am capable of expertly dismantling any attack that's fired at me...or stopping up a warlock's magic reserves."

Kinshou growled lowly, Kentan blinking and glancing at Kinshou. "O-oh no, Kinshou!"

The cat's momentary break in concentration enabled Viridis's soil whips to go right through his hands, enveloping them both and pushing the cat boy backwards, smashing him against a wall. The force, however, caused Milio to be dislodged from his spot in the ceiling, falling down and smashing onto Viridis once again, who was less than prepared this time. "Oof!"

Milio abruptly stood up, Viridis giving a slight twitch as his tendrils released Kentan. The otter blinked upon noticing the frozen Kinshou, Milio shouting, "Hey! What'd you do?" With this comment, he opened his mouth, abruptly flinging his tongue towards Chi, who cast him an uninterested glance. With great speed and precision, he swung his claw outwards, abruptly severing Milio's tongue as it approached. The otter's eyes widened as the appendage dropped to the ground with a splat. "AH! MY TONGUE"!

Viridis managed to recollect himself at this time, abruptly extending several more tendrils and binding them around Milio's overly swollen form. Kentan attempted to step forward as well, however, Viridis did the same to him, both struggling and trying to break free. "Well, it looks like we're victorious this time around. It's a shame, I was expecting something more."

The skunk stepped in front of Kinshou, still unable to move and grunting. Chi ran a finger down Kinshou's chest somewhat seductively, murmuring lowly, "I would've loved to see your true strength. But in such a small area, I suppose it's to be expected."

With this comment, he abruptly reached into one of Kinshou's pockets, pulling out the familiar Demon Mark. "I can only imagine the result if someone with TWO demons utilized this...I don't think it's ever been done before."

"Only once," Kinshou uttered lowly. "And while I know it would work, the results are beyond even my comprehension...I'm only going to use it in a time of extreme crisis."

Chi chuckled lowly, a rather sinister smile coming across his face. "Now I'm insulted. I could kill you right now, and yet you don't think that's a good enough excuse to use it?"

Kinshou returned Chi's icy glare, both staring off for several moments before the skunk turned away. "Very well." With this comment, he stepped towards the dial keeping Baril and Musou in the cage. He stuck all five clawed fingers into the gem, abruptly giving off several sparks and a fizzle as the gem abruptly exploded, sending shards flying everywhere and causing the bars to dissipate. Baril and Musou abruptly rushed out of the cage, a rather noisy alarm being set off in the process. All four looked around, Chi murmuring, "And now is when we bid our farewells."

All four began dissipating amidst a black pillar, Viridis releasing Milio and Kentan. "See ya, loser!" Baril called, cackling madly.

"We'll meet again...and when we do, I'll kill you," Chi uttered, all four finally vanishing.

Milio and Kentan abruptly rushed to Kinshou's side, the otter gasping, "Kinshou! Kinshou, are you alright?"

The fox responded with a grunt, Milio scooping him up as both demons rushed out of the room, searcing for help.

-Meanwhile-

Victor had began slowly stepping towards Tails and Raiu at this time, both inching back at an equal speed, still subconsciously clinging to each other. "Wh-...what should we do...?" Raiu mumbled in fright. "Our arrays won't work, and there's no way we can outmaneuver AND overpower him..."

Tails gulped nervously, wincing. "Ggh...I hate to say it...but we can't win by ourselves..." The memory of his scolding by Kachimi after the events in the Aquilus Atrium came back like a bad nightmare. "W-we're going to have to pull out and get help..."

"Don't even think about it." Both blinked in shock, having not noticed Victor moving behind them. They abruptly whirled around, Victor abruptly grabbing a hold of both their necks. He lifted them up, murmuring, "You can't fight back...you put too much effort into that array. And yet I STILL managed to break it..." He smirked widely. "I commend you for knowing what you're up against...but it still wasn't enough. Weaklings."

With this comment, Victor abruptly threw them both forward, both smashing into the war machine and slumping down. Tails and Raiu were both too jarred to stand back up, though they contineud to try and do so. Victor walked towards them, cracking his knuckles. "Any last words?"

Both remained silent, taking a few more steps away, only to abruptly trip over and rock and fall onto their rears. Victor's smirk widened. "Didn't think so."

Tails and Raiu both winced, anticipating the next attack. However, their preparation was met with a few seconds of silence, Tails finally opening an eye to notice Victor's eyes wide in shock. He looked down, taking note of a small dagger of dark energy sticking from Victor's chest. The dragon let out a low grunt, the others looking down at it. "Wh-what...?"

The duo's attention went to the figure standing behind Victor; a somewhat small female figure wearing a light blue dress that extended past their knees. They were a brown-furred creature with longer, dark brown hair and an equally dark brown "mask" over their eyes; combined with their large, striped tail, they were easily visible as a raccoon.

"Wh-...who..."

Tails' half-question wasn't given an answer, as the raccoon lightly tapped Victor's body. "...he's not dead. That's good."

"Damn. I was getting hopeful."

Both blinked, eyes turning to the raccoon girl's tail, which seemed to have actually opened a mouth at the tip and spoken as if it were a separate, sentient being. "G-good? What're you..."

With this comment, the raccon's tail abruptly lunged at Victor, its wide, fanged mouth opening up and grabbing a hold of the dragon in its jaws. With a mighty toss, the raccoon's tail tossed Victor towards the top of the Famulus war machine, where the spectating soldiers quickly managed to grasp a hold of him. "Leave, or your superior will die," the female body said.

"If it's not of blood loss, then it'll be because he tastes good," the tail remarked, a rather long tongue licking all over its "lips".

The Famulus soldiers exchanged a glance, only to be interrupted when Victor gave off a hoarse cough. "You...heard them...get us outta here..."

Victor cast a glare to Tails and the others, grunting and shivering slightly. "Hear me, ya little pipsqueak...you haven't won this battle, or the war...don't get arrogant because you got lucky. Ya hear...?"

With this comment, the war machine abruptly closed up and shot off, leaving Tails and Raiu to stare after it in silence. "Um...thank you for-" Raiu's attempt at thanks was cut off when he noticed that the raccoon were gone. "H-huh?"

"She's gone..." Tails murmured lowly, looking down slightly. "Was...that a...warlock...? Or..."