Author Notes: Wow, thanks for the nice reviews! Not only do they make me feel confident in my writing, and give me some pretty sound advice, but they also give me the drive I need to continue the story and come up with more ideas. So, again, a major thanks, it helps me a ton. :) I'd also like to note that school takes up much of my time, so I am sorry if there is sizeable delays between chapters.

Notes about this chapter: Small amount of gore (bodily injury, depiction of blood) but to no extreme. More violence and violent threats. I'm keeping to my original intent not to make this super bloody and gross, just realistic in the sense that wounds HURT. Also, I refer to Dark Flonne as both "Flonne" and "Dark Flonne" interchangeably. I know the prologue is a bit long, but I'm writing up till a point where I can find it suitable to end the prologue and begin the chapters. I wonder if anyone will recognize the little something I've added to this chapter…? Let's just say I'm a fan of what I believe to be a very underappreciated game. :) A new disclaimer will be added in the next chapter, so please don't sue, I'm broke. :(

Chapter 3: Prologue Part 3

Dark Flonne charged, claws outstretched and ready to slice into Laharl like a knife through butter. Quickly the Prince dodged to the side, but Dark Flonne skidded to a halt, whirled around, and delivered a painful slash right across his cheek, leaving behind four red gashes.

"AHHH!" Laharl cried as he reached up and grasped his face. The cuts seared with an ungodly burn. Obviously, her claws did more than just cut. "Grrrr…I'll make you pay for that!" Laharl said as he brought back his hand, and hurled forward a burst of red energy.

Dark Flonne raised both her hands in defense, and somehow caught the blast with an intangible field. The projectile floated in front of her for a moment, before the red energy suddenly turned to the same type of Shadow energy that she was composed of.

"I'll kill you…I'LL KILL YOU!" Dark Flonne screamed in a horrible rage as she released the blast back at Laharl. He was far too shocked by her words to react to the blast, and it hit him right in the stomach, exploding in a cloud of black mist, and knocking him backwards, though he remained standing.

The prince nearly keeled over from the immense pain caused by the burn of the Shadow energy. Backing away, Laharl gripped his stomach, and groaned. Why does it hurt so much…? It's just negative energy! I'm surrounded by it every day in the netherworld! He kept his eye on Dark Flonne, who was just staring at him. What's with her? I've never seen her act even close to this!

"Alright, fine then! If it's a fight you want, it's a fight you'll get!" With this, Laharl leaped high into the air, soaring directly above her, and raised his fist, thick red energy gathering into his palm. His hand suddenly became surrounded by flame, as a powerful force burned within him. "Here goes!" Reorienting himself, his jump turned into a direct dive towards Dark Flonne, fist out in front of him, blazing with an angry vigor.

Dark Flonne simply looked up, and frowned, as a barrier of shadow encircled her, and rose above her, to form a protective dome. Laharl's descent ended sharply as his fist met with the shield, the energy in Laharl's hand beginning to backfire and turn to shadow. The prince pushed as hard as he could, but the barrier held up strong, and without warning, the energy he was wielding exploded in a burst of shadowy fury that threw him back into the air, and left to go careening into the ground, landing hard and rolling to a stop.

The shield that surrounded Dark Flonne dissipated, and she watched the prince, being very quiet at this point. Laharl managed to get himself up on one knee, and wiped a trail of blood away from his mouth.

"You're…you're just insane, you know that? I always thought you were weird, Flonne…but even this is going too far!" he said, as he got to his feet again, though noticeably a bit more wobbly before. How does she do that…every time I try to hit her, she reverses it…

Suddenly, Dark Flonne took a few steps forward, a smile across her face, as she began to speak again. "Oh Laharl…" she paused. "Oh I'm so so sorry Laharl…can you forgive me?"

The Prince's eyebrows rose a little bit. "You try to kill me, and now you're telling me you're SORRY?"

"You…you don't forgive me?" Now, Flonne was becoming seriously dangerous. For her eyes turned blood red, and she was seething with absolute rage, so much so that the clenching of her fists was causing her claws to dig into her hands and blood to seep out. "You're so mean…so mean…why do you have to be so MEAN?" Raising her fists into the air, she brought them down onto the ground, and caused a small-area earthquake, a fissure rippling forth towards Laharl.

He barely had time to react, but he managed to jump and roll to the side. Now Laharl knew, this definitely was NOT Flonne. She was displaying a level of strength and emotion completely uncharacteristic of her. Leaning down, and putting his arms up to guard, Laharl readied himself as Flonne began to suck in air, leaning herself backwards and preparing for something.

At that moment, Dark Flonne bellowed forth a horrifyingly loud scream that pierced the air, and sent ripples distorting everything around it. Laharl's hands went immediately to his ears, but that could not block out the terrifying sound, forcing him to his knees.

"AUGHHH!" His cry of pain went unheard, however, as the sound was just too great. After what seemed like minutes, but was only a matter of seconds, the screaming stopped, and Laharl fell forward, face against the ground, breathing heavily.

Dark Flonne seemed to be calming down again, her eyes returning to a lesser red color. "Laharl…why don't you love me? Why do you have to be so mean to me for…?" Her voice was almost weak at this point, and full of sadness.

That did it. Now the Prince was PISSED. Leaping to his feet, he stared straight at Flonne. "You wanna know why? CAUSE YOU'RE NOT FLONNE!" With this, he raised both his arms into the air, and streams of red energy began to collect into a sphere that was forming just above his palms. After the sphere had grown suitably large enough, it broke apart and split into many smaller orbs of energy that hung in the air all above him.

Dark Flonne backed up a step, fear in her eyes, and tears running down her cheeks. "Laharl…please…please don't hurt me Laharl! I love you…please!" She begged her voice full of terror and sadness.

Laharl paused for a moment, the energy still suspended above him. "Flonne…" He spoke, beginning to lower his arms.

"Yay…I knew you loved me!" Dark Flonne spoke, her eyes sparkling with happiness, but not so noticeably, her claws becoming longer.

"Flonne…" said the prince again, and suddenly, a sly smile crossed his face. "DROP DEAD!" he yelled, as he threw his arms forward, and unleashed the blasts of energy, all of them flying straight towards Flonne, and combining into one, giant sphere, just before slamming into the despicable creature, and exploding in a dazzling display of power.

"I…HATE….YOUUUUUU!" Screamed Dark Flonne, as she had been unprepared to block the blast, and it consumed her, enveloping her completely in a field of destructive magnificence. As the smoke cleared away from the blast zone, there was nothing left except Dark Flonne's dress, which shriveled up and disappeared in a cloud of shadow.

Rolling his eyes, the prince turned around, and crossed his arms, grinning. "Hah hah hah hah! That's what you get for trying to take on Overlord Laharl! Hah hah hah HAH HAH HAHAHAHAHA---OOMF!" He was cut off quite sharply, as some unknown figure slammed his shoulder into the Prince's back, and forced him to the ground, before jumping off and landing a few feet away. Righting himself, and spinning around, Laharl saw his assailant, but felt his balance was off, the injury caused to his stomach earlier having not near healed. "Who the heck are YOU?"

The man was a strange one indeed. He appeared to be anywhere from five foot five to six feet tall. He had bright red hair that grew WAY off his head in a cone shape, ending in perfect spikes at the tip, white eyes with wide irises and black pupils, a long nose that was pointed at the tip; he wore a sort of blue tuxedo with wide sleeves, and white ruffles running down the center of it. He also donned a strange green orb just below his chin against his neck. His most unusual feature was the fact that his left hand was a deep purple in color, and his fingers ended in long, very thin, claws that dripped with purplish ooze.

"Oh ho ho ho…me? I'm not important, oh no, not at all. This is all about you, Overlord." The man spoke, producing a rose from under his suit and sniffing at it. "Yes, all about you. I was watching that whole fight, you know. You did very poorly, up until the end. I surely would have thought you would lower your guard, but how wrong I was! You are not so swayed by emotions to let them cloud your judgment completely, oh no."

Laharl was getting annoyed. "Whatever you're babbling about, I don't care! Either tell me where my Vassals are, or get out of my way!"

The stranger sighed, closing his eyes and smiling lightly, bringing the rose up to smell it again. "I wish I could, Overlord, I so wish I could. But, I cannot. I must see more of what you can do…see if you're…worthy. Yes, worthy…"

Rolling his eyes, Laharl turned around and began walking away. "How annoying can you get..? Sheesh!"

Smelling the rose one last time, the man dropped it on the ground, and slowly brought his arm back, green lightning swirling around his arm. "I must see your ability, Overlord, even if you do not comply." He paused for a moment, as Laharl stopped walking. "Now…time to test your mettle!" At saying this, he threw his arm forward in an upwards curve. "KILL WAVE!" The green lightning converged and formed into a tidal-wave like current that traveled along the ground, straight for Laharl.