Whoohoo! I am so happy - i successfully managed to complete the fight scene in this chapter! (rejoices) So very happy indeed! Does anybody know how DIFFICULT it was to write this fight? -. -. Anywho, sorry if it isn't that good later on or may seemed rather rushed, but it was getting late at night and i wanted to get this over with so very badly.
Anywho, i'll start working on the next chapters after this very soon. Now that this is done i can work on what i have planned at the end and then determine how many more chapters are left. I know that there should be about at least 35... If any maximum it would be 40 but i don't think it'll go that high. It just depends what i have come to mind. n.n
Read and review! (rubs eyes tiredly) Yeesh... Happy April Fools, minna!
NOTE: Oh yeah, and the combination of the two spells (you'll see later on in this chapt what i mean by that) combining really did happen at one point in the show, i just don't know exactlyHOW it happened but i know it did, so i kinda made some stuff up and added it in there. n.n.' They originally did it in episode 98, or so it says on this one site.
Alrighty then... yeah... I am tired now so i'm going to sleep. -.-
A Gift from the Dark
Chapter 32
Combination of the Two Spells
Sherry watched with wide azure eyes as the fight continued on. And she thought that her husband was skilled in the past when both of them had to fight together? He was even more of an expert on his own! She realized just how much the books must have dragged the demons down during that war and having to pair up with someone, not that this was a bad thing. Memories flooded her mind as she glanced down at her daughter lying on the ground.
"Even if a demon is strong he can still lose if paired with a weak human!"
This was just an example of some of the harsh things Brago would constantly tell her in the beginning before their relationship grew. However, he would not do that anymore. He had become... kinder... more considerate... Now he cared about her. He cared about Kalu.
She observed every movement Brago and the others made with alert eyes, preparing herself to move if necessary. Both she and Kalu couldn't interfere with the other three demons' fight; they would just be in the way. The woman stared back down at her daughter and she stared back with her half closed, clouded purple eyes. Sherry brushed the side of the hybrid's face with her hand gently and whispered quietly to the girl, comforting her and letting her know that she was there. She saw the obvious tiredness and pain in the girl's eyes and yet another spark of worry rose inside her.
"Hang on, Kalu..."
Somewhere to the side where the fight was taking place, Zatch was seen running as fast as he could. His Rauzaruk spell had been activated and he was glowing with a rainbow aura, Ponygon was beside him still engulfed in his powered up armor, while Brago was darting a little ahead at full speed. They were chasing Zophise and, at the same time, trying to avoid the oncoming flaming boulders he was throwing at them.
Taking his hands that had energy rapidly gathering in the palms, Zophise thrusted another one of his attacks at his three opponents. They all easily dodged it but he sent another one coming, this time they blocked them. Brago furiously punched them away while Zatch shot one of his lightning spells, destroying a blast almost immediately since his Rauzaruk spell wore off while Ponygon knocked them to the side by slamming into them.
"Just die already!" shrieked the enemy as he continued his barrage of attacks. They were continuously avoided and or blocked each and every time.
"Zophise!" snarled Brago as he suddenly jumped up into the air after spotting a clear section to pass through, an area where no spells were being thrown at. He was only a foot away from him when the other quickly brought him down with an energy whip.
Explosions were both seen and heard as the whip wrapped around the dark demon's body, setting off blasts in the process and dragging Brago farther away from Zophise. He laughed in a maniacal way seeing the mighty demon before him fall and almost crashing into Zatch.
However, he didn't see Ponygon right behind him and narrowly dodged another swipe from the large horn on his head. With a growl, Zophise sent a Radom attack hurtling towards the horse demon's way to get more distance between them in.
With a cry, Ponygon was sent tumbling to the ground right as Brago stood up. Brago wiped away some blood from his mouth and glared up above him, his crimson irises contracting.
Zatch ran up to Ponygon and panted as he put his hands on his knees. "Ponygon... are... you... alright...?" he asked his companion between gasps.
"Meru," said the other as he slowly stood up on weak legs. His small, beady black eyes darted up to where Zophise floated up in the air. He had stopped to watch the others in amusement; seeing their suffering was pure entertainment.
Brago stepped up to the Demon King before him, his fists clenching. "Do you have any other plans?" he asked coldly. "This isn't working. It was easier to beat him during the fight-- he had a large weakness back then that enabled us to have a better advantage. He has no human partner this time."
Zatch nodded his head. "I know, but..." he trailed off. "I can't just send him away to the dungeons; I have to defeat him first."
"You?" Brago scoffed. "There's no need to send him to the dungeon, I'm going to kill him!"
"Brago!" The tiny king before the dark demon stood with a fire in his golden eyes, his head shaking. "You can't just kill him! Even if he's evil, and I'll admit that he really truly is, you can't kill him. He still has a life!"
"Ha! I don't care if he has nine lives, he will die by my hands!" retorted Brago angrily, turning to look at the little king. "I'm not letting this bastard hurt my wife and child any further. He's caused Sherry enough hurt in her past, dammit, he got to her with her old friend's words and we almost ended up dead!" The look on the demon's face deepened with fury. "She couldn't even cast the spell anymore, and if it weren't for me she would be dead! And now he's killing my own daughter-- how much more of this do you think I'm going to tolerate?"
"But it's not just your family that's suffered by him, though!" snapped Zatch, shaking his head. "What about the 1,000 year old demons? How do you think they feel? Or even the humans that were controlled and manipulated by him, what about them? Don't be so selfish, Brago, there's more to it than just yourself!"
"I don't give a damn!" With a spiteful look, Brago clenched his fist, trying to resist the temptation to hurt the king before him to make him shut up. "He was never your enemy in the first place!"
"Zophise was everyone's enemy!"
"He was ours and ours only!"
"Meru meru mei!"
Chuckling, the demon identified as Zophise watched in amusement as the ones before him continued to bicker. He would stall for time, he could not ever resist a good argument between allies, or at least someone close enough on the same side. Even though they weren't human-- the weak humans were more fun to watch be tortured-- this was still a riot.
Raising his hand to his face, Zophise hid the pure amusement that was obviously seen on his face. He laughed maliciously even more, watching the scene before him.
To the side, Sherry was staring down at her daughter, whose head was lying in her lap while she lay on the ground. Kalu had become even weaker than before and she couldn't even talk at this point... This really wasn't good. What would happen to her?
The mother gritted her teeth, trying to hold back the painful tears that had been gathering in the corner of her eyes. No, I won't cry! I will be strong! I will be strong for my family-- I'll be strong for Kalu!
But why did this have to happen? Sherry continued to wonder as she turned her head to watch the fight going on between Zatch and Brago. This wasn't good... Once again it was a demon that had brought her so much misery. It was always just that...!
But Brago and Kalu had demon blood and they didn't bring her sorrow...
Brago was her husband... Her very lover...
And Kalu was her precious daughter... Hers and Brago's child...
What was bad about them?
There was no reason to blame them.
Sherry sighed sadly and closed her eyes. No, there was no reason to blame them. She couldn't blame them... What right did she have to accuse them of anything; they never did any harm to her! Sure, in the past Brago may have made her angry before though he never did now that their relationship was what it was, but... Kalu? Her innocent daughter?
Maybe, mused Sherry, the reason why she kept discriminating Kalu like this for being part demon was because she never entirely healed from the wounds Zophise had inflicted upon her in the past. The hurtful words, the betrayal of her best friend, the fear and knowledge of being alone with no one there for support...
Could that be it?
The woman cursed herself for this. How shameful of her! She had no right to discriminate her own daughter like that! How wrong of her, so very wrong! Kalu had nothing to do with the past-- she was all about the future!
And the future didn't look very bright right then...
Kalu's breaths were slowing down by the minute. It was a miracle she was still with her, alive. However, feared Sherry, this may not last very long... Brago, would you hurry up? Stop arguing with Zatch and beat Zophise!
"Enough!" declared Brago finally after a long time of verbal shouts with the King. "I've grown tired of this nonsense, I am going to kill this demon whether you like it or not!" Whirling around, the demon turned his back to the world's ruler. "I'll beat this monster... You wait and see!"
"Well I'm going to help you whether you like it or not!" insisted King Zatch Bell as he stepped up to the darker one before him. "Kalu's my friend! I want to help you!"
"Fine," hissed the other. "But his life is mine."
Zatch still frowned as he looked up to Brago. Funny, Zatch mused. In the past I remember he didn't care about others, just for himself. Now look at him, a father and everything...
"Alright," said the King, still not liking Brago's idea too much. He turned to face his horse friend and hopped on top of his shoulders. "We'll have to combine our forces to defeat him, so let's go!"
And with that command the three darted off again in attempts to defeat the demon before them. Zophise glared. That was a little too much time he had allowed them to quarrel with another. He cursed to himself as he raised his hand. Oh well, better kill them while he still could. Better late than never.
Once more the demon thrusted his hand down, sending various flaming rocks down upon his opponents. Quicker than ever, however, Brago dodged them easily and quickly reached the evil being. Zatch and Ponygon stared when they saw the furious hatred in his eyes as he ran past them. Someone sure was angry...
Zophise gasped in shock when Brago reached where he was in just a matter of seconds. He jumped and hovered in the air for a moment before he growled nastily and thrust his fist in Zophise's face. There was an unpleasant cracking sound as the demon fell from his spot in the air and landed on the ground, Brago pushing him down all the while.
He landed flat on his back and Brago was feeling generous enough to lay a few more punches on his face. Crying out in pain, Zophise tried his best to make the other stop but his attempts were fruitless.
Zatch and Ponygon finally caught up with Brago and the king gawked at the scene before him. Zophise really wasn't looking too good now... "Brago!" he shouted, running towards the dark mamodo. "You're going to kill him!"
"Good!" shouted Brago angrily in response as his fist collided with Zophise's face once more. "Let him die!"
"STOP!" The Kings efforts to make him stop ended as Zophise yelled out something incoherent and thrusted a Gigano Radom right in his stomach. Brago gasped as he was sent hurtling backwards and ended up crashing into a tree. The force of the contact was so powerful that the tree cracked and then broke, half of it falling to the grassy earth below. Zatch now turned his attentions to Brago, whom was slowly standing up.
"Damn thing..." he cursed and staggered forward. With a painful gasp he staggered forward and fell to the ground, clutching his stomach. Cursing a few more times he tightly shut his eyes closed and gritted his teeth together. "This is not my day..."
"Brago! Are you alright?" Zatch ran up to Brago and bended down, looking at him on the ground. Hissing ever so slightly he slowly pulled his body back up off the ground and opened an eye. More blood trickled from the corners of his mouth but he didn't bother to wipe it away.
"I'm fine," he snapped bitterly and slowly managed to stand up. Glaring towards Zophise, Brago then muttered, "No more games... I've had enough of this."
Zatch stood up as well, Ponygon right by his side. "What do you propose to do?" he inquired, now turning to look in the direction of Zophise. After the previous assaults that Brago had just given, he looked badly injured. "Brago?"
"I'm thinking!" said Brago angrily. He closed his eyes and began to ponder what he should do. With a sigh, he reopened his clouded eyes and turned to look at the sky. A few trees had been knocked down all around him, enabling to see the clear blue sky above.
There were even a few clouds out and a couple of birds flew by quickly. While the world was at peace he was fighting, trying to save his daughter from Death's grasp, and the only way to do that, he knew the only way to have even the slightest chance of helping her was to kill Zophise. There was no book to burn this time, but his life could be taken.
"You know," began Brago after a minute. He clutched his stomach a little tighter, pushing the thoughts of pain away from his mind. "I remember a particular incident where we combined forces to defeat this one enemy..."
Zatch stared at Brago, contemplating every word he was saying. He nodded.
"I don't remember his name," said Brago, "but I remember combining our attacks at one point... You remember, yes?"
Eyes widening, the Demon King stared up at Brago in bewilderment. Right then and there he knew exactly what he was talking about. "Unuu, I remember."
"Good," said Brago as he walked forward, staggering a little. He removed his hand from his side, revealing that it was slightly damp with blood-- the red liquid could be seen on his ash pale skin. He ignored it, the wound would heal. "Now are you going to help me with it or not?"
Hesitant, Zatch looked around him. "I have to think on this, Brago..." he said quietly. Brago shot him a look and Zatch responded, "I can understand you want revenge, but I still have to think of the effects on my kingdom, you know! I am the King, and maybe if you had won in the final battle some of your opinions on things would have changed!"
"Whatever," muttered Brago, spreading his arms out, "Let's just do it already!"
Inhaling and then exhaling a breath, Zatch nodded his head. "Al... Alright. Fine, I'll help you!" Ponygon merely watched in confusion. What were they talking about?
Between the two demons energy started to gather all around them. With Brago, it was in his palms, Zatch, a bright yellow light was emitting from his mouth as he slowly opened it. Electricity shot out everywhere while Zophise stared in shock.
"What are they...?" He didn't finish his sentence. "NO! You are not going to beat me with any more attacks!" Raising both of his arms, Zophise began to collect energy in his own palms as well. "My Oruga Radom will finish the trick!" he shouted.
Suddenly Brago leashed out an immensely powerful gravitational attack through his hands as he jumped back from the power. A golden dragon of lighting was summoned from Zatch and it shot out of his mouth in a raging fury, its howls echoing across the forest. Zophise glared as he watched the two spells suddenly combine, "DAMMIT!"
There was a bright light that suddenly vanished, and when it did it revealed that Zatch's dragon had turned a dark royal purple with yellow streaks of lighting shooting out of the furious dragon's mouth which traveled down its whole body. A dark glow embodied the creature as it shot up to the sky, slowly turning its attention towards Zophise who was cowering in fear as he shot out his own spell.
Brago roared with anger and power, releasing his energy into the spell. Zatch merely stood back, slightly unconscious, as he too released all the energy he had. This spell had only occurred once, only once. These two powerful demons had been fighting yet another, and they at one point combined these two magnificent spells to create the monster that was now there.
With an elegant glow it swooshed through the air, the enormous dragon's jaws opening up wide enough to clasp the demon before it in its jaws.
In a futile attempt to get away from the spell's wrath, Zophise made to fly away to save himself.
Too late.
It came crashing down on him with an enormous rumble; the earth shook as the spell moved downward to the soil, forcing Zophise to the ground in a high pitched scream.
Dust was scattered into the air, and for a while everyone couldn't see through the billowing dirt in the air. When a clear view finally came Zatch's eyes returned to normal after his usage of the spell and he fell forward. He gasped for breath and then looked up in confusion.
"Hey, where's Brago?"
Ponygon, who had been to the side the entire time watching in awe at the dragon's power, awoke from his trance and shook his head about, stating that he didn't know.
Suddenly a shriek caught Zatch's attention and his head jerked to the side and his eyes widened. There, right in front of Zophise, was Brago pounding the living daylights out of him.
Brago was throwing punches by the second to Zophise, who was close enough to unconscious now. He spat in his face with disgust and cried out, "You worthless, arrogant, bastard! You coward! You--"
His hand was suddenly stopped by Zatch who grabbed his hand and pulled it away, a frown clearly seen on his face. "Brago, stop! He has a life, he'll be punished, just don't kill him!"
"I will do whatever the hell I want, Zatch," argued Brago angrily as he turned his attention back to Zophise. "It's time I end all this once and for all!"
"But Brago--"
"SHUT IT!" yelled an infuriated demon as he thrusted the other demon into the ground. At this point Zophise was knocked out cold. Turning around, Brago stared down at the little blonde before him and scowled. "If you let him live he's just going to come back and try to hurt my family again, I will not allow that."
"I'll make sure he won't," promised Zatch. He shook his head slightly and stared at the dark demon with an intense look. "I just don't want you to kill him, it's not right! Yes, he's evil, but he doesn't deserve to die."
"Hn, it's always better to get rid of most of the things that offend you," said Brago coldly as he looked down at the knocked out demon before him. "He'll probably die anyway without my help at this point. I don't need to do any more damage."
"..." Zatch was silent as he stared at Brago oddly. There was a silence between the two and Ponygon soon walked up to the King.
"Meru meru, meru meru mei meru mei!"
Zatch stared. "What is it, Ponygon?" The horse demon was frantically jumping about on his hind legs, pointing over in some direction. "Well?"
"BRAGO!"
There was a distinct tone of panic coming from Sherry's voice as she screeched to her husband, trying to get him to hear her cry. The demon turned around and turned a shade paler when he saw the expression on his wife's face.
"Brago, get over here now!" cried Sherry worriedly. She was standing up, holding onto Kalu whose eyes were now closed. "You must help! She's stopped breathing! I've tried everything but she's not waking up, she's going to die if we don't do something!"
A look of pure terror overwhelmed Brago, and, without second thought, he ran over as fast as he could to the distressed woman. He didn't even feel the tingling pain that was running up his side from the wound he gained when smashing into that tree, all he cared about right now was Kalu.
After a moment he finally reached her and looked down at the frail girl and put his hand to her chest. There was no heartbeat, and she definitely wasn't breathing.
"Damn it..." he cursed. Zatch was soon at their side along with Ponygon. When the blonde took a look at the situation his amber eyes widened.
"Sherry, Brago," he said quickly, trying to get in what he needed to say. They both turned to look at him. "I know what I can do to help her, though you two are going to have to let me take her to my castle where I can help her-- there's not much time left!" The King was insistent, and, since the two parents were in such a mess, they nodded their heads.
"Alright, do what you must," said Brago as he watched Sherry help Kalu onto Ponygon's back. Zatch hopped on his back too and held onto Kalu with his left arm.
"I'll be at the castle, meet me there!" he said as Ponygon suddenly darted off at full speed. Brago and Sherry watched in anxiety as their daughter was rushed off to go get help.
Both stood for a moment in silence, but then Sherry couldn't take it any longer. Finally releasing the tears that she had been holding back all this while she cried out and buried her face into her husband's chest as she embraced him. He immediately wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders, comforting her.
She cried as he held her, slowly rocked her back and forth and laid his own forehead against hers. The two stood like this for a long while and Sherry continued to weep. Brago didn't cry, of course, but he could feel his anger rising towards Zophise. It was his fault all this happened...
But at the moment, he couldn't worry about that. The first thing he needed to do was to go to the King's castle-- to where their daughter was-- to Kalu.
"Come on," murmured Brago as he wiped away some of the tears from Sherry's eyes. "It's time we go. We need to get a move on. Besides, I don't want us to be around when another demon comes around to inspect any dragon he may have seen."
Nodding her head, Sherry tried to stop crying. The two quickly then began to run as fast as they could, following Zatch and Ponygon's path, Brago leading Sherry the entire way.
And while they ran they hoped against hope that their daughter was alright.
"Let's hope she doesn't die..."
