Io stared down his opponent.
"You'll never win!"
His opponent stared back at him and laughed.
"To the contrary, I already have."
Io's face betrayed his sheer terror. He closed his eyes and waited for the final blow.
"Checkmate, I win!"
"Damn it!"
Io threw the game board at Cj.
"You always win at this game."
Vincent walked in the room.
"Is there a game of chess going on? I didn't know you played chess."
"What's chess?"
Vincent looked at the open case for Monopoly. Mamodo could be such morons sometimes.
"Let's fire it up and beat those chumps!"
"Shut up, Firebrand! I've really had enough of your stupid puns! If this is how it's going to be, then I won't take help from you. Even facing Clear Note himself isn't that bad."
Firebrand scowled for a second at the comparison, then took a deep breath, shrugging his shoulders and returning to his usual demeanor.
"Ryu figured something like this would happen, so he assigned me to take out someone else."
"Who?"
"Zalior, the scythe mamodo."
Just then, the mamodo saw sunlight as the giant mole emerged from the ground and the armor plate on its forehead opened up. Firebrand and his bookkeeper jumped out. The giant mole mamodo went back into the ground. Firebrand saw Zalior in the distance and motioned to his bookkeeper.
"Fureido!"
"How did Ryu recruit a mamodo as powerful as Morkis?"
"Well, my power is nothing to sneeze at. I'm Ryu's third-in-command, after his lieutenant and Firebrand."
"Who's his lieutenant?"
"I don't know. Only Firebrand, Ryu, and the leader of the special forces ever get to see him. But he doesn't matter. I'm just as powerful as him or Firebrand."
"Are all of you like this? Ryu's a bit odd, but from what Hori tells me, he's at least got enough power to back up what he says."
"Take it back, human."
"Enough; this is pointless! Meida, let's go- now!"
Hori's bookkeeper grabbed his arm and a ring of purple flames surrounded them, teleporting them to the target.
"Slash, I'm hungry! Are we there yet?"
The remaining mercenary quietly sighed, addressing his young bookkeeper.
"No, not yet."
"Well, we better get there soon! If I don't get something to eat, some bitch is gonna die!"
"Watch your mouth, child."
"You watch it, you emo bastard!"
Slash slapped his head in frustration. This was going to be a long ride.
"At least I have entertainment", Slash thought as Kiichiro bit down on Wayne (Neuro's bookkeeper)'s head. Wayne was screaming in pain as he tried to remove her from his head. It was almost comical. Slash removed his bookkeeper from Wayne's head and sat her down on his lap. Kiichiro started whining again and trying to jump at Wayne, as Slash, who was restraining her, glared daggers at the bookkeeper and mamodo. Slash grumbled and turned to his bookkeeper, trying to tell her that, as fun as it may be, she couldn't attack and bite his allies, because Ryu might get mad if anything happened to the weakling under his watch.
"I'll never win this game."
"Looks like you go back to start, Io."
Io slammed his fists down on the Stratego board, sending pieces flying everywhere, including in Vincent's face.
"That's not even how you play that game!"
"Well, look at Mr. Games Expert here."
Vincent was about to throttle Io, but he froze as he saw a figure on the hotel balcony.
"Hey, how did you get there?!"
"Nekoruga!"
A blast of purple flames flew out of Hori's hands and disintegrated the balcony door.
"Get your books and meet me outside in fifteen minutes in the field across the street."
"Did we fall into an ambush, or is this guy just late?"
A ring of purple flames appeared a short distance away from Io and Cj; Hori and Meida stepped out of it.
"Nekoru!"
Hori wasted no time, shooting a purple flame from his palm.
"Gaelsir!"
Io was caught off-guard, but Kirk was prepared, casting the spell. Io fired a blast of wind from his mouth. The two attacks collided, and Hori's attack won out. Cj jumped in front of the spell and raised his paw, signalling Vincent to cast a spell.
"Foshield!"
Cj's fur turned into a giant fur ball, blocking the purple flames.
"Fogar!"
Cj charged at Hori as his fur turned into fire.
"Nekoruga!"
Hori fired out a concentrated beam of purple flame from his hand, knocking Cj back into Io.
"This is too easy!"
"Diro-Gaelsidon!"
Io fired out a huge concentrated whirlwind from his mouth and hands at Hori.
"Nekoruga!"
A concentrated beam of purple flame hit the concentrated whirlwind and broke through it. At the same time, Io's eyes glowed with a bright teal color and the broken spell reformed to become a giant lynx made out of wind that broke through Hori's spell easily and pounced on Hori.
"Aagasu Nekoru."
A giant dragon head made out of purple flame emerged from the ground. The giant dragon head closed its jaws and blocked the giant wind lynx.
"Ganzu Gaelsir!"
Io fired out several blasts of wind from his mouth and hands at Hori. The blasts of wind hit the giant dragon head and dissipated. Meida cancelled the spell and the dragon head disappeared.
"Fureuken!"
Cj became covered in an armor with blades and guns on it. Cj took off like a jet.
"Nekoruga!"
Hori fired out a concentrated beam of purple flame that hit Cj's armor and dissipated.
"Jauro Nekoruga!"
Hori formed a ring of purple flames in front of him that fired out many Nekoruga beams. The beams all hit Cj and he fell to the ground, his armor shattering.
"Cj, no!"
Hori pointed his palm at Cj's book.
"Nekoruga!"
"Kirk, do something!"
Kirk glared at Hori and Io's book glowed with an aura that it had never had before.
"Gaelsir!"
Instead of a blast of wind, a concentrated beam of wind that looked like a thin laser cut through Hori's spell and pierced his arm. Hori clutched his bleeding arm and cursed under his breath.
"Meida, the strongest spell, now!"
"Dragonos Nekorudon !"
Hori summoned an enormous dragon made out of purple flame.
"Kirk, if our weakest spell can become that powerful, then our strongest spell must be much more powerful."
"Diro-Gaelsidon!"
A huge whirlwind enveloped the dragon. Io's eyes glowed teal with the intensity of a star and the four sides of his spell turned into four giant wind lynxes that grabbed the dragon and mauled it, completely destroying it. Afterwards, each giant lynx turned into a separate whirlwind as large as the original one and flew at Hori.
"Dragonos Nekorudon!"
A dragon, only about half as big as the one summoned before, struck the whirlwinds. Both spells dissipated. Before Hori could regain his balance, Cj was back up on his feet, motioning for Vincent to cast a spell.
"Fogarusen!"
A huge guinea pig flew at Hori.
"Teonekoru!"
A very powerful blast of purple flame hit the guinea pig and slowed it down a little, decreasing its power.
"Nekoruku!"
Purple flame surrounded Hori's body and he leaped at Cj's spell, striking it with all of his might. As he did, Vincent smirked and put his plan into action, pouring all of his heart energy into the spell and making it twice as powerful. The giant guinea pig hit Hori with full force and smashed him into the ground, knocking up a large amount of dust. When the dust cleared, Hori was barely standing and panting incredibly hard.
"I know when I've been bested. Ryu won't stop, though. Be prepared. He never stops until he achieves his goals, and this time, he wants both of you gone."
A purple ring of fire appeared around Hori and Meida, making them teleport back to Ryu's lair.
Hori and Meida showed up, with Hori looking battered and bruised.
"You failed. Your punishment is in order."
"Punishment?! I don't work for you! I only agreed to take your offer because we were friends in the mamodo world! Are you waiting until I'm weakened to take me out- is that it, you pompous ass?!"
Ryu almost left his seat, but settled back down when he heard the ground rumble underneath him.
"You don't get a say in this. Friend or not, I still have a duty to protect the mamodo world from evil, and you will do your part."
Morkis came out of the ground and swallowed Hori and Meida. Ryu leered at Hori deviously as he watched his former friend get swallowed by the massive mamodo.
"Take them to the base for my special forces. They will not leave there until they defeat another mamodo besides mine."
Morkis nodded and drilled back into the ground.
"These dirty mercenaries are no good, but soon all of the mamodo world will know what real justice is, and they'll all get what they deserve!"
A sly smile snuck its way onto Ryu's face. All was going according to plan.
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- Iostorm.