Chapter 3: Evil's New Name.
Zatch was walking through the hallways of his castle, eating some yellow tail for breakfast. He heard that Zero, his new leader of his enforcers, wasn't feeling well so he thought he should go cheer him up. After entering the room where he last saw Zero, he couldn't find him but when he was about to leave he spotted the hybrid mamodo outside on the balcony where he once was last night. The king walked out onto the balcony and was then by the other's side.
"Morning, Zero." the other didn't respond, but looked drowsy instead. "Zero?"
"What is it, Zatch," Zero spoke at last.
"Zero, it was just a dream, I'm sure you'll feel better." Zatch held up his yellowtail to Zero. "Have some yellowtail, it's good," Zero took the fish, took a quick bite out of it, and handed it back to the king.
"Zatch, even as the king... you can be really clueless. It makes me wonder why I lost to you in the war," said the hybrid as he turned and began walking off.
"Hey, where are you going?"
"I need some fresh air." Zero said out before he closed the door to the room.
"Ah well, more for me." Zatch said to himself and began eating the rest of the fish.
Meanwhile, Zero was walking over the hills and down the roads near the castle. The dreams he's been having are interfering with his sleep. 'I need to get these damn dreams out of my head, but why aren't they going? This pisses me off! So, how many days has it been since Tiko and Flame went to Earth? I say... a really long time. This is pathetic, I'm stressed out by these damn dreams and my 'friend' chose now to go to Earth? This is not my day either. I need to talk to someone.'
Zero was thinking to himself for awhile, he didn't notice a familiar face was nearby. A 10 year old female mamodo with blond hair and green eyes that was wearing a blue shirt with a wave on it, an indian leather necklace with a sapphire on it, blue jeans and gray sandals was walking down the same road as Zero carrying a small basket of flowers.
"Hey, Zero!" the mamodo called out to the hybrid. Zero came out of his thoughts and turned around to look at the mamodo.
"Shami Maloaki? What're doing here?" He asked in his normal tone which sounded a bit rude, but he really meant as just asking a normal question. Shami understood this.
"My Auntie Debbie wanted me to go out and gather some plants for some stuff she's working on. I don't really know, but she just wanted me to get her some things. How are you doing?" asked the water mamodo.
"I'm under some stress right now," Zero replied.
"Is it about becoming the Makai's future king?"
'Woman, you have no idea what I'm going through.' the hybrid said in his thought before speaking out loud "No,"
"Oh, well is there anything I can do to help?"
"Only one thing,"
"What's that, Zero?" Shami asked.
"Send a letter to that brother of yours to hurry up with his mission on Earth. What in the world is taking him so long? Gah!" Zero grunted impatiently. Shami giggled at the hybrid's expression. "What's so funny, Maloaki?"
"Nothing really, Zero,"
'Then how come you're laughing?' Zero thought.
"It's just that, well... do you miss Tiko?" Shami asked. Zero made a mutter and turned his head to the side. "What was that, I can't hear you?"
"I said yes!" the hybrid replied. The stress he was going through was getting to him.
"I... I understand. You two are buddies, so I'm sure he misses you as much as you miss him," Shami said to the male mamodo. "And I miss him too,"
'Well at least I'm not the only one. Tiko, wherever you are, finish your stupid mission for my sake!' Zero yelled in his thoughts. "Miss Maloaki, I need to ask you for something,"
"Okay, what is it?"
"I have a feeling inside that's causing me stress, and I believe it's gonna get worse. If anything else shows up that has something to do with me, let me know,"
"Will do, Zero." Shami smiled. "Oh and here, have this." She reached into the basket she was carrying and handed the hybrid a beautiful bright colored flower. "You can give this to Arisha, I think she'll like it."
'Too bad she only likes dark colored plants.' Zero thought again, but he nodded and took the flower. "But don't think this means I'm becoming all shiny sun-face. Just because I miss your brother doesn't mean I'm gonna still be my own self. I gotta go somewhere." Zero then turned and began walking down the road.
"Okay, bye Zero." Shami bid farewell to the other mamodo and went the opposite direction.
Ever Night Forest.
Nightfall came over the forest, yet that doesn't mean that the creatures of the night can't be out after dark, right? A familiar girl sat down and began picking up several twilight roses. Fonce felt like doing some research and an experiment at her home, but she need these roses to do so. She picked up another one and decided to play a little game.
"I kill him," she plucked one of the rose's pedals off.
"I torture him," she plucked another off another pedal. It went on in this pattern.
"I kill him,"
"I torture him,"
"I kill him,"
"I torture him,"
"I kill him,"
"I torture him,"
"I kill him,"
"I torture him,"
"I kill him,"
"I torture him,"
"Kill." a voice spoke out from nowhere as Fonce was about to pluck off the last pedal. She turned and spotted a figure walking off into the shadows. She narrowed her eyes. She recognized the figure's appearance.
"It's him." Fonce hissed but smiled a bit, setting the roses aside. 'I guess it couldn't hurt to speak to him... like old times,'
Fonce got to her feet and walked after the figure. Through the darkness of the forest, she followed the figure's voice, muttering dark words and repeating them.
"Kill,"
"Torture,"
"Slaughter,"
"Devour,"
"Suffer,"
"Destroy,"
Fonce every one of those words being spoked. This was making her a bit interested in what's going on with this child. This went on and on until following the creature led her to a hill that had a great view of the rest of the forest. The creature stood there at the very top of the hill. Fonce walked up to the creature, but kept her distance from it.
"Such similar words coming from you. You seem quiet interested in something, Zero. I hope it's me you're interested in. Have you finally left that wretched vampire for me?" Fonce acted 'almost' excited by the mamodo child she recognizes, but his expression changed to a frown shortly after. "Or have you finally decided to kill me?"
The child stood there with its back facing Fonce. Ying frowned again. "You still despise me, don't you Zero!"
"You've got the wrong guy." the child finally spoke, its voice sounding very dark and cold.
Fonce raised a eyebrow by this. "Huh?"
"How dare you mistook me for that OBSOLETE TRASH OF A MAMODO!" the child snapped at Fonce, turning around to revealed his face to the dark mamodo. The child looked exactly Zero with every feature. Same hair, same eyes, even the same face. The difference was that this Zero's skin wasn't pale, but caucasian white. His hair was gold instead of black and with silver streaks instead of white ones. His eye markings were the same, except the markings on the right eye is gold while the markings on the left eye are silver. He was wearing the same outfit as the normal Zero, but it's gold and the 'X' is silver. But the worse feature was that his eyes are an unholy color of rust.
Fonce took a step back in surprised. 'This boy, he's not Zero. He looks just like him, but there's evil in his eyes. An evil that I've never seen before. And his power, it's greater than mine but it rivals with Zero's. But if he's not Zero, then who is he?' Fonce felt a little shiver going up her spine. 'Why am I feeling like this? I never felt like this before, ever!'
"So I take it that you know about Zero. And I take it that you're Fonce Ying,"
"How do you know my name?"
"I know all there is to know. So how do you know Zero?"
"I'll tell you, but first tell me who you are," Fonce was determined to know what this mamodo is one way or another.
"Like that mamodo, I too am a hybrid mamodo created from the destroyed organization of Project Yin-Yang. But unlike him or the others, I was created for a different purpose-"
"-and you want to rule this world and the human world." Fonce interrupted, thinking she answered correctly the rest of the other creature's sentence. She expected the boy to be surprised. Unfortunately for her, the other laughed evilly by this. "I think I missed the joke,"
"Do you really think that I was created to rule this world of ours? Hell no. As I was saying before, I was created to eliminate anything and everything in Project Yin-Yang that my creator, Goren of the stone, sees as no longer useful. And in this case, Zero's obsolete to Project Yin-Yang, so I just can't let him live. I don't give a shit of what happens to this world or who rules it, I only want to see Zero's corpse at my feet burning away into nothing."
Fonce continued to look at the other with an almost 'curious' look. 'Behind all of that sick cheerful look,' she thought. 'I see a never ending abyss of rage, hatred, and power inside his heart, if he does have a heart that it. Just like Zero, but his personality is almost the complete opposite,' a little smirk crept on Fonce's lips. '... I wonder,'
"Now answer my question, Ying. How do you know Zero?"
"Lets say that we met during the war for king. I forced him to join me on my quest to dominate this world, but he defeated me, yet he didn't burn my book,"
"So revenge is what you seek?"
"I'm not really the vengeful kind, but I'll admit that he's a major threat that stands in my quest back to power. Yet... that last things he said to me back in the way really, really irks me!"
"Because, he's right." Fonce gasped in shock by this, but quickly calmed herself down. "Look at you, mamodo. You have the mind of a heinous person, yet you're a pathetic person who think's she's the best, but really isn't. You say you're cunning, yet you're plain clueless. You say you're smart, yet you really know nothing and understand nothing. And you say you're strong, yet you're really weak. So Zero was right after all, the reason he lost to you was out of mere dumb bad luck."
Fonce frowned again. 'I don't need to hear this.' she turned heel and was about to leave.
"But..." Fonce stopped in her tracks. "You really did once had knowledge and strength. You just lost it when you first met Zero, but quickly regained it, but lost it again. Fonce Ying, I can help you reclaim the knowledge and strength you lost during the war. Don't get me wrong, I don't need any help, I can kill Zero simply all by myself. But I sure won't mind having some company with me. So, dark mamodo, do you want to knowledge and strength you once possessed to be yours again?"
'The knowledge and strength I once lost can be mine again. Hmm. Yet...' Fonce thought about it for awhile. The other mamodo waited patiently for her to make an answer. "Nope. Not interested, I'm going. I can get what I want back my own way." she turned and began walking away from the other child.
"Are you sure?"
"Yep,"
"Totally sure?"
"Uh-huh,"
"Honestly?"
"You bet,"
"No second thoughts? No regrets?"
"Goodbye,"
"Have it your way then, and I seriously doubt that there's anything out there that's gonna get rid of that curse." the lookalike agreed with Fonce and turned his back. Fonce immediately stopped dead in her tracks after hearing the last word. Her hands balled up into fists.
She slightly turned her head to the side so her left eye was revealed a bit. "How do you know that I have a curse on me?"
"Because," the other mamodo turned around and walked up to Fonce, until they were about a few inches from each other. "I know all that there is to know. Not only that, but I can see it all in your eyes. Your entire past, including the curse that the new king has placed on you. I can remove that curse from you... I know how." the child cupped Fonce's right cheek with his left hand. Her purple eyes were fixed onto the boy's rust-colored eyes. "I... know... how," he whispered darkly to her.
Indeed, she absolutely despised the curse that Zatch Bell had placed on her as punishment for all the evil she's caused. She has been looking for ways to remove the curse, but nothing had worked. Maybe this boy was telling the truth, maybe he does know how to remove curses such as this one. Oh what Fonce would do or give anything... to have the power of her ancestors once again. The power of Serpente.
A devious smile crept on her face, as she placed her hand on the other mamodo's hand, holding his hand even closer to her cheek. "You win, I'll join you." She said in a bit of a satisfied tone.
"Good. That's very good. But I must take care of some things first. Oh how will I enjoy watching Zero suffer before literally ending his life. Miss Ying, do you know where I can find a mamodo named Arisha Antonidas?"
"Yes, yes I do." Fonce nodded. "It's an honor to form an alliance with you. But I afraid I didn't catch your name yet."
"For who I am? I'm the most powerful of all of evil's incarnates. But I do have a name. You, along with everyone else who opposes me, shall know me as... Zero X."
To Be Continued...
