Chapter 60: Protect The Fighting Queen!

There I was, glaring at the person I despised more than anybody else. Vyle was somebody I could not stand for how sickeningly evil he was. "VYLE!" I heard Satan and Ex yell out as they flew in to join the fray. The former keeper had his golden dragon armor on, itching to beat down on the vampire lord. "Tch. It's you, Satan… and that man in the suspenders, I believe." Vyle didn't look happy to see them. "No wonder I haven't seen a bit of you since you died. It all makes sense now… Rather than being sent to the Puyo Underworld, you hung on to a rope of life, so to speak." Satan began to glare at him too. "And I thought that once you were dead, it was all over for you… I saw it happen with my own eyes, you burning from Dave's dragon-like flames. But as it turns out... apparently, I was wrong!" Ex said, then grabbed hold of the collar on Vyle's suit. "Gh-!" He uttered. "Do you think you have the power to kill me now? Sure, you have gotten stronger from what I can sense… but I'm more powerful myself. The way that I see things right now, I eclipse your power! Now, get out of my way!" Vyle shoved Ex away and began to make his way over to me.

"...!" My eyes widened. "Hey now, no touching the merchandise! Hoho Kick!" Hohow Bird suddenly struck Vyle's head. "Gah-! … Bird, you are becoming more and more of a nuisance… Bat Storm." The vampire lord summoned his group of bats. "Hohow Bird, look out! Don't let those things touch you!" I warned him. "Thanks for the warning!" He nodded to me. "Dave, let me heal you while he's keeping Vyle busy." Arle told me. "Yes, please." I allowed her. Meanwhile, Ex took the mic from Oshare Bones and spoke to the audience. "Everyone, I'd suggest you run before you guys get hurt. Things are getting too dangerous for normal people to stick around and watch." He said. The crowd screamed and fled to exit out of the area. "Good thinking Ex, that should keep the people safe." Satan told him. "We're coming, guuuuuuuys!" I heard Amitie's voice. It was the rest of our group coming to help us. Even Schezo came, despite not having anything to attack Vyle with. "Dave!" Ringo and Feli embraced me for protection. "Ringo, Feli!" I exclaimed. "We're here for you." Ringo said to me. "Like always." Feli followed up with. "Thank you, girls." I smiled. "Gyaaaaaaah-!" We heard Hohow Bird scream.

I looked up to see Primp's hero violently shocked by Vyle's bats. "...! HOHOW BIIIIRD!" I screamed in shock as he fell to the ground. "That's it, Vyle! This is the last straw!" Satan approached him. "Ha! What can you do to me, Satan? The last time we saw each other, you were weak compared to my power before. How can you possibly hope to last through my onslaught?"."It seems you don't know… I regained my original power level not too long ago!" "Wh-what?! Now that you say that… why didn't I sense this until now?! What made you regain this?!" "I will not say. I have no obligation to, Vyle…!" "Damn you, Ruler of the Puyo Underworld… Damn you!" "Why don't you give up now and run away... before we take your life a second time?" "...! N-never! I have made too much progress with this plan, I am not stopping now!" "Then so be it!" Satan and Vyle started to fight against each other with crazy power. "Just look at them go…" I stared at the action unfolding. "Don't worry, Dave. You'll get back into the swing of things soon." Arle said to me. "What about Hohow Bird? He's been surely electrocuted by Vyle's bats to where his wings and legs are paralyzed." I turned to face Hohow Bird. "Worry not, Dave… I will take care of Primp's brave hero." Accord went over to him.

What? Is she crazy? "Wh-what can you do for him, Ms. Accord?" I asked her. "You don't need to know the details, just know that he will be okay." She said. "A-alright..." I nodded. "Vyle is going to pay for this with his life…" Feli gritted her teeth. "Oh yeah, he's definitely getting his punishment!" Ringo nodded to her. "So, Schezo... why have you gotten yourself in danger when you know that you have nothing?" I turned to ask him. My question definitely caught Schezo's attention, but not exactly in a good way. "Tch. That's none of your business, Dave..." He didn't want to talk to me. "MEANIE!" Amitie smacked the back of his head. "OW! What the hell was that for?! Grrr!" Schezo became enraged. "Schezo, why can't you just get along with the rest of us?" Arle sighed. "... Are you seriously asking me that question...? I thought you would have known me for long enough to know what I'm like, Arle. I don't make friends with other people. Besides, I'm still aiming to steal your magical power after we defeat the Yogs." Schezo told her. "... Like I said to you in the past, Schezo: You can certainly try… but you'll have to go through me if you wish to take her power." I reminded him.

I waited for him to say more. "… You and your constant effort to protect others makes me ill. Why do you do so? You are a demon, not a human." He sighed. "You clearly have not learned why I do these things… I may be a demon, but doesn't mean I'm heartless and selfish. I was once a human before turning into one. I'm not somebody like Vyle over there. How many times do I have to drill this fact into that skull of yours? It's not difficult to grasp the why part in my actions. Then again… it's too much of a pain in the ass to get you to understand this concept right now." I eventually gave up for the time being. "It's funny, only just now have you called me a pain in the ass… I would've expected you to call me that much sooner." He pointed out. "Schezo, I always found you frustrating to deal with… I just didn't let that get in the way of things. At this moment though, why should I bother convincing you? Besides, we have a threat to deal with." I got ready as Arle finished healing me. "There you go, Dave." She stopped. "Thanks, Arle." I told her. "Ha! It looks like you see things my way." Schezo smirked. "Tch. Yeah, right…" I scoffed, then transformed into my bulky armor. "Dave, are you ready to fight now?" Ex called out to me. "Yeah, I'm more than ready… Let's kick Vyle's ass!" I began flapping my wings in the wind. I locked on to Vyle with my Cryogenic Bomb and fired. "Yah!" I shot. "Hard Drop!" Ex threw out his attack. "Hm?" The vampire lord looked at the incoming projectiles, but didn't move away.

After my attack's explosion, I was able to get a clearer look of the damage. "...! Our attacks barely did a thing!" I noticed. "Demonic Dragon, did you think that would hit me hard? I have already told you, I received a power boost. You are not worth my time anymore." He told me. "Fine, then it looks like I have to kick myself into high gear... Hrrrrrr- -raaaaaaaaagh! You're going down, Vyle!" I went into my dragon form. "W-what is this?! That looks different than how it was when I last saw it!" I saw Vyle tremble a little. He must be referring to when my dragon form was incomplete... "Vyle, eat this Revolution I've been saving up just for you!" Ex used to spin Vyle round and round. "Alright, it's my turn now! Claw of Shadows!" I slashed at him. "Gh-!" He was impaled by my claw, but not affected by its secondary effect. "*cough* *hack* Don't think you can win that easily… Bat Storm." Vyle sent his bats to my face so that they could obscure my vision. "Argh, get these fucking bats off me!" I tried to swat them away. I felt something slipping away from my claw before I did so. By the time that the bats went away, I noticed that Vyle's wound was completely gone. "Tch. Of course, your wound would just disappear like that…" I narrowed my eyes. "That is what you should expect from a-" He got hit by one of Satan's attacks. "Don't forget that I'm the one who engaged in a fight with you first!" He glared at him.

Vyle didn't like how we were beginning to outnumber him, three to one. "Damn annoyances… ... It's fine, because at the end of the day... I'll just keep regenerating from any near-fatal injuries that you DO happen to inflict me with. Kehehe..." The count laughed it off. "Dammit, we need another way to kill this guy! We'll all tire out at this rate..." Ex looked at his hand, then rolled it into a fist. "Any ideas then?" I turned to face him. "Can't you do that fire breath attack when you defeated him the first time, Dave?" He asked me. "Uh… can I…?" I wondered. I tried, but no matter what... I couldn't breathe fire. "No luck?" He turned to me again. "Nope, I got nothing out of that. Shit..." I gave up on it. "Kehehe… It's unfortunate that you cannot replicate the one thing that ended me last time. It looks like I won't die to the likes of you anymore." Vyle mocked me. "Hey! Just you wait, I'll have something that will send you to the Puyo Underworld for real this time... I can assure you, Vyle!" I pointed one of my claws at him. "Oh? I like to see you try, Demonic Dragon. … Again, the acidic black haze begins to form… … Very well then… Come, if it is permanent dormancy you seek!" The vampire lord started to assault me with a flurry of attacks. Ex and Satan backed me up as we all went toe-toe with him.

Amitie's POV

"Hm… it looks like it's too dangerous for the rest of us to be near them. Dave's dragon form is still emitting that aura... let's go over there." Accord told us. "Is there gonna be time where we WON'T get messed up from his aura?" Lemres wondered. "But… I really wanna help him." I looked up at Dave. "Amitie, you'll die if you stay close to Dave!" Ringo grabbed my hand and began to pull me away. "No, I don't wanna go away!" I insisted. "Amitie, don't be so stubborn!" Raffina got irritated and smacked my face. I fell to the ground from the force of her hitting me. "R-Raffina...? What was that for...?" I got back up, while in shock. "Amitie, being stubborn leads to stupidity… And, what does stupidity lead to?" She frowned. "..." I didn't say anything to answer that question. "*sigh* You'll end up doing stupid things that will pointlessly risk your own life. Is that what you want? Do you want to die? Look, we might not have been friends when we met each other around five years ago, but… ... I care about you now, that's the important thing. And I'm not the only one in Ms. Accord's class that cares for you..." She embraced me.

This was something that I didn't expect her to do, especially after smacking me in the face. "R-Raffina…" I couldn't believe Raffina was wrapping her arms around me. "That's right, we're here together because of Dave, and we don't want our friendship to die along with us." Klug nodded. "Amitie, Dave wouldn't want ANY of us to die like this." Arle told me. "Amitie, I know you want to help… but this isn't the time for that. You do know that, correct?" Accord placed a hand on my shoulder. "... Y-yes, Ms. Accord... I'm sorry everybody..." I started to cry. "Let's just get outta here already; we won't last much longer if we remain this close to the fight!" Feli dashed away. "L-let's follow her!" Tarutaru hurried. The rest of us followed behind them, leaving the scene in the hands of Dave, Ex, and Satan. I noticed that Oshare Bones was also with us, completely scared from this. "Th-this whole thing has been a disaster after the final round ended…!" He panted. "Oshare Bones, are you okay?" I asked him. "I'm fine, physically speaking… but my mental state is all over the place...!" The skeleton expressed. "Minotauros, how's Rulue doing?" Arle wondered. "Arle, she's still unconscious... I don't know when she'll wake up." He answered. "Now what will we do? There's no way for us to help those three out..." Yui looked back. "... …" We didn't know if there actually was something that we could do. Besides watching things unfold from far away, we had no idea.

Draco's POV

For a while, I was flying around in the hopes of finding Dave. Then, I found almost everybody else standing around in a seemingly random area. "Ringo?! Feli?!" I saw and called out to them. "D-Draco!" They reacted as I began to land. "I'm glad to see that you're alright..." Arle approached me. "Yeah, it honestly wasn't that bad… but I prefer living the way I was before." I nodded. "What do you mean?" Feli got curious. "The bird guy gave me food whenever I requested some before nighttime. And he gave me a lengthy book to read, which I ended up reading with enjoyment." I told her. "Y-you reading books…? That really doesn't sound like you, Draco…" Arle didn't know how to feel about that. "I know, I know. It's weird, Arle… So, what's happening?" I looked to see Dave as a dragon from a distance. "Vyle came back and he's taking his revenge on Dave." Feli told me. "Whaaaat?! Him?! ... We all thought he was dead..." I exclaimed, then sighed. "Somehow, a Yog was able to revive him a day after he was supposedly killed. That's what he said, anyway..." Ringo explained. "This shit isn't helping me understand... but, we just have to kill him for real this time, right?" I guessed. "Easier said than done, Draco… Dave, Satan, and Ex are still having so much trouble fighting against him as a trio. He apparently got stronger since the last time we saw him." I heard Schezo's voice. "Aw man, what a load of bullshit… Ah-! What happened to him?!" I complained, then noticed the bird's current state. "Hohow Bird was fried by Vyle's bats when he was protecting Dave, Draco… Don't worry though, Ms. Accord is taking care of him. He'll be fine." Arle assured me. "Oh, thank God for that… And, I'd oughta thank the bird after he's fixed up." I smiled in relief.

Dave's POV

We continued to fight Vyle, but almost made no progress whatsoever. "... Goddamn! How tough is he?!" I panted, then reverted back to my armor. ...! No! I used up too much energy, my body couldn't take much more prolonged use… Damn it! "Oh? Well, isn't that just sad... Your body couldn't even handle the extreme nature of a dragon for ten minutes in a fight. That proves that you're nothing to me, Demonic Dragon. Kehehe…" Vyle mocked me. "But that doesn't mean he can't fight anymore! Come on, Dave, you can last through this with us." Ex exclaimed, then turned to face me. "Yeah... as long as I have something to fight with, I'm NOT giving up...!" I ignored my exhaustion. "No. Don't over-exert yourself, Dave. If you couldn't majorly hurt him as a dragon, then there's no way that you can do so now." Satan told me. "You mean, there's no reason I should have myself be thrown in here... Is that it?" I looked at my hands, which I rolled into fists a second later to show frustration. "Yes. You are our last hope here, should I happen to fall in this battle. You need to live for the sake of the rest of us." He nodded to me. "Fine then, you guys hold him off at least for my energy to replenish." I told him and Ex. They nodded and fought him on their own.

I'll put my faith into you guys, please don't fail us. … Still though, how can we kill a damn-near immortal being with so much power? Any wounds we leave on him are healed off almost instantly, and that's bad. It would be great if I could whip out that one fire breath attack that Ex saw that one time, but I can't do it now for some reason. Why? Is it because I can only use it when I'm out of control...? Oh God, I hope that wasn't the case! I can do that other beam attack as a dragon just fine, but that's it. I don't think THAT will work, given the circumstances. And so, there's a very good chance that we could all die here. … What happens if Satan dies? He's the ruler of the Puyo Underworld, so... do demons who die just cease to exist? The Puyo Underworld is essentially Hell, where dead people and demons remain for eternity. And what about me? ... I also have to remember that I'm a demon myself… Although, I was turned into one while barely alive. My case is different… I'm just a demon when it comes to supernatural power, my body is still living, as a human. ... Bah! I don't fucking know at this point!

Hohow Bird's POV

The last thing I remembered before conking out was me getting zapped. I woke up in pain. "Ugh… that was something…" I began to open my eyes. "Mr. Hohow Bird, are you okay?" I heard a voice right beside me. "Hm…?" I looked in that direction and saw a woman with this cat. "Looks like those bats did a number on you, meow." The cat said. "Yes… ... I can't move either… which is a shame. To think, my body was indeed able to become paralyzed. It just took that kind of electricity to do that. ... How is Dave holding up, with me gone?" I began to wonder. "It's not looking too good for him. The most powerful form that he has… it can't last for too long. His body can only sustain that power for what looks to be ten minutes. And, it appears to have faded for the time being." She told me. "Most… powerful form? You mean to tell me that his armor wasn't the best he can throw out?" I grew a little irritated from Dave restricting his own strength. "Mr. Hohow Bird, the form past his armor is extremely dangerous. It emits an aura that will kill anything else nearby, unless that thing has a powerful enough itself." She explained why, but I didn't get it initially. "Uh… what…?" I was rightfully confused. "He becomes a dragon and his energy spikes in a way that becomes a double-edged sword for himself and other people." She described it to me.

That's... huh. "So, in other words... it's a last resort option. ... I'm curious... who are you?" I went ahead and asked. "I am Ms. Accord, an instructor at Primp Magic School. I teach Dave and his friends magic." She introduced herself. "And I'm Popoi." The cat followed. "So that's how he was doing some of those attacks, huh… Bah! What am I doing?! I need to help him stop that evil guy and save Primp Town! This is the one time where a hero is really needed here…!" I forced myself to stand up. "...! Mr. Hohow Bird, stop. You have yet to heal, and your arms and legs…" Ms. Accord tried to stop me. "No. I'm fine, Ms. Accord. I have a job that must be done, for Primp Town's safety. I'm not doing this for my own image anymore… I'm doing this so that we all can rest easy! CAAAW! … Anyway, thank you for doing what you could for me while I was down. I owe you one..." I stretched a little and began to dash where Dave was. Don't worry, Dave... Hohow Bird is here to save the day! I don't know how, but I will somehow! "Dave!" I exclaimed. "H-Hohow Bird?! You recovered quickly!" He noticed me. "No, I still feel pain... I just came by to protect you and try to save Primp Town from this new threat. I don't care how grim things are right now… If the two of us team up, there's no stopping our heroic hearts from triumphing in the end! What do you say, hm?" I held out my wing. "When we get the perfect opportunity, we'll strike him with everything we have… just like how we finished our match!" Dave grabbed my wing with his hand, then we both nodded to each other.

Author's Notes: While Hohow Bird was keeping Vyle busy, Arle healed Dave. The bird was then zapped by the count's bats, causing him to go down for some time. Dave joined up with Satan and Ex to take Vyle down, but it didn't really change things. The vampire lord's near immortality made him so difficult to try and take down, so how can they deal with this? Dave lost his dragon form due to exhaustion, and was forced to sit on the sidelines. Hohow Bird woke up, thanks to Ms. Accord doing her work. He talked to her for a bit before forcing himself to a stance. He dashed off to support Dave in defeating the count once and for all. How will our heroes triumph over Vyle for this second time? Next chapter, Chapter 61: The Rise of Primp Town's Heroes.