Disclaimer: I do not own the original works, just this fanfiction.


Chapter 12: The Big Bull Evil King

Following the map, the group found a very large tree in the woods. It was five times wider than the other trees, but it was cut short at the top. It had a gaping hole on its trunk, large enough for people to go in. Inside, everyone could see a set of stairs leading down. They filed through the hole and down the stairs.

The inside looked similar to the other dungeons they have been through. It had the same stone walls and the same lit torches. There was nothing new about it.

"So it's another dungeon." Rosalyn said.

"That reminds me of my other theory!" Kisling said. "It seems like all Evil Kings want to fight in dungeons for some reason! Stan has said that he felt at home in these types of places, so maybe the Evil Kings prefer to fight on familiar ground."

"True, but no matter!" Stan said. "This Evil King will not escape moi!" He looked himself over, then he asked Rosalyn, "When are you going to put that stupid parasol back up? I do not want our enemy to see me like this when we trounce him."

"Maybe he can laugh himself to death." Ari said.

"Oh very funny, slave!" The shadow snarled. "I'll let you know when I actually want you to tell a joke."

"I didn't think you had a sense of humor, Ari." Rosalyn admitted.

Neither did I. Ari thought.

"As funny as it is to see Stan the Pink Shadow," the princess said, "I would like you to put your parasol back up, Rosalyn. I don't want us to be distracted while we're here."

"A good point, your Highness."

Rosalyn opened the parasol and held it over her head. Stan instantaneously turned from pink to black. He said, "Much better! Now, onwards! That Big Bull Evil King has challenged us, and I do not plan on delaying any longer!"


The dungeon underneath the tree wasn't a maze like the Escapeless Abyss, but that didn't mean it lacked obstacles. As usual, there were urns (though they shot fire this time around), tough ghosts, and switches to step on. However, when the group found a sign indicating a hidden pathway (Rosalyn thought that it might have been left by a previous adventurer), things became a little harder. They found that some rooms had illusory walls that hid pathways further into the dungeon. Having found that out, they now had to search every wall they came across.

Finally, everyone reached the stairs leading down to where the Evil King was. The ghosts they had fought earlier proved to be much tougher than the ones in the previous dungeon. Still, thanks to their experience in battle, everyone was able to persevere.

"He's down there." Stan said. "Are you ready, slaves?"

"I'm going to pretend you didn't call us 'slaves' and say 'yes'." Rosalyn said.

"With high spirits, let us go!" Kisling said.

"What about you, Ari?" The princess asked.

"I'm ready."

"Ari," Rosalyn said as she approached him, "I don't need to tell you this, but be careful. I don't want you to resort to using Gig's power again if you can help it."

Right, I'll just let the kid die next time.

"Really?"

Of course not, dumbass. I'm not letting this body die on me.

"I figured as much."

Everyone went downstairs. The room below was very spacious, and it did not take them long to spot the Big Bull Evil King, along with four purple bulls by his side. The Evil King grinned and said, "Thanks for coming all this way so I can pound you. You guys are good sports. I'll clobber ya into cute, tiny little pulps, then I'll stomp on you til' you stick to my shoes! Man, I'm excited!"

"Yep, one too many power drinks…" Rosalyn rolled her eyes.

"Um," Kisling spoke up, "excuse me for interrupting your excitement, but I have a question for you, Big Bull Evil King. Have you been behind that tunnel all that time without trying to conquer the world?"

"Yup. I don't care about world conquest. I just want to fight strong opponents. Meat grinding fights; that's my life! I won't give my World Evil King Belt to anybody!"

"World Evil King Belt?" Stan asked. "What are you going on about?!"

"Hm," the princess said, "it seems like many kinds of Evil Kings exist. If you are going to treat this as an arena fight, then I'll be the judge."

This isn't professional wrestling. Ari thought.

She moved out of everyone's way. Everyone got into their fighting stances. The princess announced, "You may begin."

"Here we go!" The Big Bull Evil King shouted.

He and his cohorts charged at the group, giving them no time to do anything. They were trampled over like bugs in the path of a stampede. Everyone was flat on their backs, and they ached everywhere. This was not a good start to the battle.

Rosalyn was the first to get up, followed by Ari. They saw that the stampeding group had stopped a few feet from crashing into the back wall and they had turned around. Ari looked around for Kisling and saw that he was still on the floor. He was not moving.

"Professor?" Ari went over to his side and shook him.

No response. He saw that he was still breathing, so he was still alive. The Professor had fallen unconscious from too much damage.

"Woo hoo!" The Big Bull Evil King hollered. "One Hit K.O.!"

"Is he alright?" Rosalyn asked.

"He's alive." Ari reported.

"Get him somewhere safe. I'll take care of these guys."

Ari grabbed Kisling by the arms and started to pull him over to the nearest corner of the room. Meanwhile, the enemy group was charging again. Stan emerged and said, "It looks like you weak slaves need my help."

"About time you contributed!" Rosalyn said.

"You will certainly owe me for this, hero."

"Just do something!"

Stan reached his arm back and swung it in the direction of the enemy group. Explosive blasts engulfed the enemies, knocking them all down. Rosalyn used this chance to cast a Frost spell on them, dealing more damage.

Ari, meanwhile, set Kisling's unconscious body against a corner. He looked at the enemies and saw that Stan and Rosalyn were actually holding their ground, if but for a few moments. He focused on healing Kisling. Though the healing magic seemed to have worked, the professor was still unconscious, and it didn't look like he was getting up any time soon.

Princess Marlene's scream broke his concentration. He turned his head and saw that all the enemies had ganged up on Rosalyn and were attacking her simultaneously. She collapsed onto the ground in less than ten seconds. Stan shouted at her, "Get up! Get up, pathetic hero!"

Rosalyn lay motionless on the floor. All the enemies turned to face Ari. The Big Bull Evil King asked, "Is that it? You chumps are weak! Oh well, an easy victory for me!"

Ari froze in place. This fight was much worse than the one against the previous Evil King. Kisling was unconscious and he was unsure if Rosalyn was still alive. He was the only one left standing, and he wouldn't last long unless he resorted to drastic measures.

You gonna let me take over now? Gig thought.

Before Ari could give an answer, the enemies were knocked down once again by more explosive blasts. Though Rosalyn was down, Stan was not. He looked at Ari and commanded, "Slave number two, get over here right now!"

Ari ran over to Rosalyn's side. She was badly beaten and out cold. Her breathing was shallow, and Ari was worried that she might die.

"Listen carefully," Stan said, "that useless hero is dying, and I can't stay in her shadow if she dies. I'll keep attacking these fools as long as I have power, but you have to save her. If you don't, I'll haunt your shadow."

Ari focused all of his power into healing Rosalyn. However, though the light seeped into her, it did not seem to be helping her.

Looks like she's done for.

No! Ari thought frantically. She can't die! Gig, you can save her, right?!

I told you before I'm not all for healing, but I may be able to help. Heh heh…

Ari could tell right away that Gig was lying by the way he laughed.

Damn, is it that obvious? Gig thought. Yeah, nothing I can do about that. I'm a god of death and destruction, if you couldn't tell already.

"No." Ari shook his head.

He couldn't let Rosalyn die, and if Gig couldn't help, then who would? He focused intently on healing her, refusing to give up so easily. However, he could feel the power quickly drain from him.

No… Ari thought.

"No!"

He couldn't let her die, he just couldn't! He couldn't give up, not now, not when his companion was on the edge of life and death. Though he had no more power, he still continued to focus on saving her. His thoughts became frantic.

No no no Rosalyn don't die Rosalyn don't die Rosalyn don't die don't die don't diedon'tdiedon'tdiewakeupwakeupwakeup-!

Something suddenly clicked inside him.

Ari's hand glowed bright green. The light flowed into Rosalyn and she stirred slightly. Ari's heart leapt. This power was not the same as the one he was using earlier, but he wasn't going to question that now. He focused some more and Rosalyn opened her eyes.

"Rosalyn!" Ari exclaimed.

"Wha…?" Rosalyn sat up. "Ari?"

"About time you got up, zombie woman!" Stan said. He let out an exhausted sigh and said, "These beefed up fools are still standing, and I've used up all my power!"

Sure enough, none of the enemies had been eliminated. On the bright side, they looked considerably weaker than earlier. Ari stood in front of Rosalyn and got into his fighting stance.

"I've got this." Ari said.

Rosalyn stood up and took her place next to him. She said, "Thanks, but I don't need protecting."

Go ahead, don't thank the kid for saving your life again, Brainless.

All the enemies charged forward again. Ari and Rosalyn swung their swords at two of the bulls, vanquishing them. They moved to the sides just before the others could get them. Ari's eyes fell on the still unconscious Kisling. Could he help him with this new power too? He ran over to his side and decided to try.

The green light from his hand flowed into the professor, and he stirred and opened his eyes. He sat up and rubbed his head. He groaned, "What a horrible headache!"

"Are you alright?" Ari asked.

Kisling looked past him and saw Rosalyn facing the three remaining enemies. He sprang up and ran towards her, shouting, "I'll save you, Miss Rosalyn!"

He opened his book and cast a Storm spell on one of the bulls, vanquishing it. Rosalyn ran at the remaining bull and finished it off, leaving only the Big Bull Evil King left. Ari ran to his friends' sides, ready to take the Evil King out.

"You can do it, my servants!" The princess cheered them on

"You're good," the Big Bull Evil King grinned, "but I can still take you out on my own!"

He pounded his fists together. Without warning, pillars of fire sprang up from everyone's feet. They all moved out of the way, but not before being set on fire. Ari dropped down and rolled to extinguish the flames on him. The next thing he knew, something had grabbed his head and hoisted him to his feet. He saw the Evil King's fist rush at his face for a split second before he was sent flying.

Ari honestly didn't know how he was still conscious. He lay on his back, his face throbbing with pain. He placed a hand over his face and found that his nose was bleeding and broken. He focused on healing himself. While he was doing this, he could hear the sounds of the fight continuing without him.

Man, that guy is brutal. Gig thought.

I don't know how long we can keep this up. Ari thought.

He finished healing his face and got back up. He saw that Rosalyn and Kisling were doing their best to stay alive. Rosalyn made a few quick strikes with her sword while Kisling continued to use his Storm magic attack. Ari saw that his back was turned to him, and he knew that there was no better time to strike. He ran at the Evil King and swung his sword as hard as he could.

The hit knocked down the Big Bull Evil King. Everyone expected him to jump right back up, but he didn't. Rosalyn asked, "Did we do it?"

"Owwww…" The Evil King groaned painfully.

Everyone backed away. The Big Bull Evil King slowly got to his feet and stared at everyone. His body briefly glowed white. Like with the Chairman Evil King, there seemed to be no actual change.

Stan emerged as his form also briefly glowed. He laughed and said, "Yes! More of my power has returned to me! I was actually worried you slaves wouldn't have been able to pull it off, but victory is ours! Let us go and pound more Evil Kings!"

Give us a break, Ari thought.

"Whoa," the Former Big Bull Evil King spoke up, "you say you're going to go pound things?"

Ignoring him, Stan said to the group, "I know you couldn't have done it without me. Some appreciation would be nice."

"Appreciation?" Rosalyn asked. "You only attacked once!"

"Not true at all! I used nearly all of my power fighting them while you were out!"

"It's true." Ari said.

"I have to admit," the princess said, "Stan actually pulled his weight for once. You would have all been finished off if it wasn't for him."

"Stan…actually helped out?" Rosalyn asked in disbelief.

Hard to believe, isn't it?

"You shut up, foul mouth!" Stan snapped.

"It is not Stan alone who defeated him, though." The princess said. "You all did your part in achieving this victory."

The Former Evil King said, "You are strong indeed, brother! That was the toughest battle I ever fought!"

"Wait, who's a brother?" Rosalyn asked.

"Brother!" The Former Evil King went on. "I know you will keep my fighting spirit glowing forever! Right, Stan, brother?!"

"Me?" Stan asked. "I'm no one's brother!"

"The reason I waited here was so that I could fight with a kindred spirit, a brother!"

"Uh, listen, Former Big Bull Evil King…"

"Don't be stiff, brother! I don't need a title! Just call me Big Bull!"

"Big Bull, I think you misunderstand-."

"Before becoming an Evil King, I heard fate calling me. It said to me: 'Hi. Once you become the strongest, head deep into the sewer, okay? Bye.' It was confusing at first, but now I get it! It's not me heading there; it's you, brother!"

"Again, 'deep in the sewer'…" Kisling said. "Why? What is the importance?"

"I don't know the meaning, but I believe there will be a cool muscle paradise that only the strongest can reach!"

No one said anything to that.

"Now, let me join your family!" Big Bull said excitedly. "I want to travel with you from now on! You're cool with that, right brother?"

"Uh…sure…" Stan said hesitantly.

Dumb as he is, it wouldn't hurt to have more muscle. Okay kid, dominate him.

Ari approached Big Bull. Gig was right: it wouldn't be a bad idea to have someone else join them. Considering that he had nearly wiped them out, he should be a big help. He said, "Big Bull, I dominate you."

"Huh? Dominate?"

There was a brief flash of light, showing that the power of dominion had worked.

Okay, you're with us now, stupid man-cow.

"Cow? I am not a cow; I'm Big Bull!"

"Never mind him." Stan said. "Now, Big Bull, as a new slave, there are several things you need to know. Number one: you are to refer to me as Master Stan. Number two: we are on a quest to vanquish fake Evil Kings and get my magical power back so that I can conquer the world. Number three-."

"Number three is that I'm the one who's actually in charge of this adventure." The princess interrupted.

"No you're not!"

"Maybe we should start with a proper introduction." Rosalyn suggested.

"Good idea!" Big Bull ran up to Rosalyn. "We'll start with you, sister!"

"I'm not a sister! I am the Hero Rosalyn, and I am on a quest to get rid of all Evil Kings!"

"And I am Gutten Kisling, forty-five, and greatest ghost scholar in the world!" Kisling spoke up.

"Oh, so you're the Doc? Nice to meet you! Sorry about roughing you up too much."

"Ha ha, quite alright! I am just glad to still be alive!"

"I am Princess Marlene." The princess introduced herself. "I believe you people in the lower world refer to someone like me as a 'Don'."

"Oh no, not that, your Highness." Rosalyn groaned.

"Don? Gotcha, Don!" Big Bull nodded. He looked at Ari and asked, "What about you?"

"Ari." He simply said.

The name's Gig. Forget it and I'll pound it into your thick skull.

"Ari? Gig? It's like you're two people in one!"

The kid and I are one, so yeah.

"I'll just call you 'kid'! You know, you didn't go down easily back there. You're tough, kid!"

"Thanks." Ari muttered.

"This was rather tiring." The princess spoke up. "We should head back to Madril and call it a day."

"I agree with you completely, your Highness." Rosalyn nodded.

"Then let's head out, sister!" Big Bull said as he ran up the stairs.

"I'm not your sister!"


Ari had a lot to think about in his room at the hotel that night. First was that they had nearly lost to Big Bull. He was strong, and he was glad that he was now a part of their group. With him on their side, it should be easier to take out the remaining Evil Kings.

A thought crossed Ari's mind and he mentally asked Gig, What do you think of Big Bull?

What do I think? Why are you asking that?

Just curious.

He's dumb, but not as dumb as Brainless. At least he's strong.

He reminds me of you.

What? How?!

You both love to fight and you don't call us by our actual names.

Don't compare me to that stupid man-cow. He loves to fight, I love to kill. He calls you by different names because he's dumb. I call everyone different things because I don't give a flying shit about them. There are big differences between me and him.

Ari changed focus in his mind. He now thought about was the power he had used to save Rosalyn. It was different from the healing power that Gig had given him. He wondered if he had given him that power.

I didn't do anything. Gig thought. That was all you, soulmate.

Me? Ari asked. How?

I think you had it in you all along, just like Brainless with her ice magic.

I never thought I would actually have this kind of power to call my own.

Don't get all high and mighty over that, kid. It still doesn't compare to my power.

I know.

Ari climbed into bed. Tomorrow was going to be another rough day. His group was practically taking out one Evil King a day, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they came across the fifth Evil King tomorrow. He thought it would be pointless to hope that the next day would be easier, but he hoped nevertheless.


So yes, Stan actually contributes more. Next time, personal questions are raised, feelings get hurt, and another Evil King shows up.

Before anyone screams "Deus ex machina!" at me at Ari's new power, I will say that he actually gets the ability to revive fallen party members in the original game.