Chapter 46 Training Day
Authors note: Time that I get back into the story on hand and have the mamodo children train like crazy
Zeno found a broken Play Station two and Dufort fixed it; it had two controllers and a racing game. The three of them, Zatch, Zeno and Tia decided to play it in Kiyo's room.
"What, how did you do that?" Zatch asked while playing on a ps2 with his brother Zeno
"I'm not telling you" Zeno responded while his car got in first place
"You won't beat me" Zatch proclaimed then accidently fell into 20th place which was last place. "No fair that car pushed me" Zatch complained
"Hey I'm playing winner" Tia stated
"Fine by me…" Zeno said finishing another lap
"Hey Zatch, Zeno how many books have you burned" Tia asked
"I didn't really keep track, maybe both of us combined we burned around 10" Zatch said counting
"Ten books, ten mamodo" Tia exclaimed.
"I think it was nine…" Zeno said pausing the game then started to count
"I burned a guy's book called Reycom" Zatch said
"I burned Kikupopu's book, he had a thick head" Zeno stated counting with his brother
"We had to burn Koruru's book who was forced to fight against her will through the power of the book, I swear to myself that, that rule will be changed someday" Zatch explained but was still counting
"I burned some dudes book that was crazy fast but was very stupid and weak, I didn't even need my book to crush him" Zeno explained
(He was able to beat a mamodo without his book!) Tia thought
"I burned Eshros's book, an earth user, and he manipulated the heart of his human partner" Zatch explained. "Then there was Mars…" Zatch said still counting
"We destroyed one together, his name was Baltro, and he held hostages so me and my brother decided it was best if we double teamed him" Zeno explained. "At the amusement park I burned two books, that lizard and that prep who shouldn't have been in the mamodo battle to begin with" Zeno explained
(Didn't I help you with one of those?) Tia thought
"Then I let one mamodo go because I was going to be late for dinner" Zeno stated and was done counting.
"Wow, you two fought well" Tia complimented.
"Well we couldn't have come this far without Kiyo or Dufort's strength" Zatch stated
"I wonder how many mamodo are left." Tia wondered.
"Hey Zatch help me out" Kiyo shouted downstairs holding a large tablet
"Kiyo what is… it" Zatch said coming down the stairs
"Here just carry it up" Kiyo said handing it off to Zatch
"You found another one!" Zatch said happily while he carried it up the stairs and placed it next to the first one they found.
"This is interesting…" Zeno said looking at it
"Well this is the third one we know of, the other one is in England at my father's university" Kiyo explained
"Well back to the game" Zeno said not caring
"Can you get serous" Kiyo yelled
Zeno paused the game "fine" Zeno said listening
"Where did you even find this thing" Zatch asked looking at the stone tablet
"At an antique shop" Kiyo responded. "I was able to buy it for 500 Yen from the old man" Kiyo explained. "So can you guys read any of the text?" Kiyo asked
Zeno and Zatch took a good look at it
"Something about stars" Zeno responded
"Unu that's all I can read too, the rest is all scrambled like a jigsaw puzzle" Zatch explained
"So it's encoded?" Kiyo asked
"No, it has no code" Zeno said still looking at it
"It's like the writing in the book, only the book reader would be able to read it" Zatch explained
"That's just a theory though" Kiyo retorted
"Unu" Zatch quickly responded
"Well then I better look into this a little bit more, I will see if I can locate any more of these things on the internet, until Dufort comes home from his job that is" Kiyo explained
Tia smiled a little bit "Kiyo you always work hard for us" Tia said
"It no problem really, since Megumi has been working harder right?" Kiyo asked
"Yeah" Tia said happily. "Zatch, Zeno lets go outside" Tia ordered
"I want to play my new game" Zeno complained
"Too bad, Zatch get your brother" Tia demanded
"Come on, Zeno" Zatch said dragging his brother outside
"Whose side are you on anyways" Zeno asked
While outside the house
"Zatch, Zeno shouldn't we be training?" Tia asked
"Training?" Zatch and Zeno repeated then looked at one another
"Me and Zatch, train almost every day you fool. Now that I get a game that I like you want to train" Zeno said in a rude tone.
"Well I don't, Megumi and Kiyo have always been working hard, If we got stronger then Kiyo, Dufort and Megumi could win battles more easily" Tia explained
"Unu of course we'll help you train Tia" Zatch said putting his hand up to his chest
"Well we really never had a hard time beating anyone before…" Zeno said in a low tone
"Well how about when I had to fight Brago?" Zatch asked
"I was coming to your house that day… He's just lucky I didn't catch him or I would have burned his book" Zeno proclaimed
"Meru meru mey" Ponygon said coming out of his dog house
"You want to join us too Ponygon?" Zatch asked
"That's right, we'll get stronger and with that gain stronger spells" Tia announced
Kiyo noticed outside the window what the four mamodo were talking about
"From now on we survive through planning and skill" Tia proclaimed
"Ok fine, I and Zatch will train you. But don't think that I'll go easy on you just because you're inexperienced" Zeno stated
Tia gulped "fine, I'll do whatever it takes" Tia responded
"Good the four of us can finish that race. Whoever gets to the top of that mountain first, wins" Zeno said pointing to the top of the mountain
"Unu and whoever wins picks the training regimen" Zatch stated
(Aww crap, either I got to win or Zatch does, I'll die if I have to train the way Zeno does) Tia thought to herself not wanting Zeno to win
"Fine by me, first will be large swinging logs, then we play catch the boulder, then sparring underwater, and then regular sparring. That's what we're doing if I win" Zeno explained
(How is any of the first stuff even possible?)Tia thought in horror
"Yeah let's play catch the boulder" Zatch said excitedly
"Meru?" Ponygon said now confused into how he was going to survive the day
Everyone one in a line and got ready to run
"Zeno you better not teleport" Tia warned
"I don't need to teleport to beat you…maybe my brother but not you" Zeno stated then looked at his only opposition
"Ready…set ….GO" Zatch yelled running as fast as he could to the top of the mountain
Kiyo noticed this and was happy to see it. Kiyo went on the internet and didn't really bother with the stone tablet (Note: Kiyo didn't do anything stupid with the stone since he knew it wouldn't do anything)
Meanwhile the mamodo children ran to the hill at top speed in hopes of winning
"That was a good race Zatch" Zeno said leaning against a tree
"Unu" Zatch responded
"…I'm saying it was a tie… between the… both of you" Tia said between breathes
"M…meru mey" Ponygon agreed while panting on the ground
"We beat you here by 5 minutes. How would you know who won or not?" Zeno retorted
"Unu I loss by a few feet" Zatch replied
"Can…we catch… our breathe" Tia begged
Zeno thought about it for a moment "Fine, but only because I have to set things up" Zeno explained then walked into the woods to cut down trees with his cloak and set up traps to avoid
"Wait for me, I'll help to" Zatch said going into the forest and went chopping down trees to help his brother create a practical War Zone
"Ponygon…" Tia said while lying on the ground hearing the twins making the traps which could be heard from miles.
"Mer…Meru?" Ponygon responded
"We're going to die" Tia stated looking into the sky
20 minutes later Zatch and Zeno had the training grounds ready for Ponygon and Tia to try and avoid the collisions of multiple large swinging logs which were suspended in the air by pieces of magical cloth and rope attached to the trees.
"Aren't you two going to go first?" Tia asked looking at the 100 yards of battle ground she had to run through
"Then who would activate the traps?" The twins said in unison
"There are only 20 logs you have to dodge" Zatch said trying to look on the bright side
"This training is going to kill us" Tia retorted
"We went through this kind of training at the age of 3, trust me this is nothing" Zeno responded
(What kind of training did they have to go through?)Tia thought
"Well I already made my choice, Tia you go first" Zeno said pointing the way then headed off into the left side of the woods to activate the traps
"Good luck Tia" Zatch said waving off, he then went into the right side of the woods to activate the traps
"They did this at the age of 3… How hard can it be?" Tia stated trying to encourage herself.
"GO" both of the twins yelled in the woods
Tia made a mad dash into the battlefield full of traps
Four logs came at her, three from the left and one from the right and she ducked and jumped and was able to dodge the first 4 of the traps
"This isn't so hard" Tia said then regretted as she fell into a deep hole
"Looks like she fell for it" Zeno said then released a log that blocked off the top of the hole sealing her inside
"Get me out of here" Tia yelled, the mamodo above could barely hear her
"Dig yourself out" Zeno replied
"AHH there bugs in here, Get ME OUT NOW" Tia demanded
"Zeno Ponygon has to go up next" Zatch explained
"Meru?" Ponygon said in a nervous way
"…Fine…" Zeno said lifting up the log and letting Tia out of the hole
"That's impossible" Tia responded as she crawled out
The twins got everything situated for Ponygon while Tia watched from a safe distance
"GO" The twins yelled
Ponygon tried dodging the first four logs that came his way and only succeeded in dodging one… Ponygon went flying into the woods by the impact of the huge log
"Ponygon" Zatch yelled and went chasing down his friend
Zeno then walked towards Tia "you ready for another go?" Zeno asked
"NO way, if it's so easy you do it" Tia exclaimed
Zeno looked back at his trap battlefield "eh looks like fun why not?" Zeno responded
"Can I control the left side of the traps?" Tia asked
"Knock yourself out" Zeno stated and got into position
"Zatch get ready" Tia shouted in the left side of the woods
"Unu" Zatch said while holding Ponygon
"GO" Zatch and Tia shouted
Zeno easily dodged the four logs.
"Too easy" Zeno said as slid across the field with ease of movement no matter how many logs came his way
Zeno ended up dodging all of the traps with ease
"That's only because you made all the traps" Tia retorted
"Zatch made half too" Zeno explained
"Zeno can we do it, can we do it?" Zatch said excitedly jumping up and down
"Fine" Zeno said then started looking around
"What we doing now?" Tia asked worried
"Catch the boulder" Zatch said happily
"Yeah go find us one Tia" Zeno ordered
"…sure" Tia went to find a rock she knew she could lift
4 minutes later Tia came back with a rock the size of her head
"How about this?" Tia asked then threw it over to Zeno
While the rock was in midair Zeno crushed it with one punch
"What was that? We need something bigger" Zeno said looking at the crushed rock
"How about this?" Zatch said holding up a boulder 10 times his size
"I guess it will do" Zeno replied looking at the large boulder
Ponygon and Tia were looking at it with horror
"Ponygon and Tia you two try to lift it together" Zeno responded
(We might… be able to do it…together)Tia thought then looked at Ponygon. (What I'm I thinking he doesn't even have hands) Tia thought in horror that she might end up breaking her back
"Everyone spread out by 20 feet and start tossing it" Zeno ordered
"Here you go Zeno" Zatch yelled throwing the large boulder at his brother
Zeno ended up catching it only sliding back a few inches "Catch Tia, Ponygon" Zen said throwing the large boulder at them
The boulder casted a shadow over them as it approached them
"AHHH" both Tia and Ponygon grunted as they both struggled to keep the boulder from crushing them
"Now toss it back to me" Zatch said happily
Both Tia and Ponygon started going bugged eyed
The group heard a large cracking sound which originated from Ponygon
"Meru, Meru MERU,MEY" Ponygon cried as his back started to crack and break
"Here" Tia grunted as Tia and Pony barely managed to throw the boulder 5 feet
"Fine I'll pick it up" Zatch said picking up the large boulder and returning to his spot, he then threw it back to Zeno which in turn threw it back to Tia and Ponygon
And the cycle went on like that for about 5 minutes until Ponygon's back finally gave out
Without time for Tia to catch her breathe
"Now we have to spar under water" Zeno explained
"Why on earth …would we do… that" Tia asked
"Well for one the water gives you resistance making it harder to make movements. Two it helps endurance" Zeno explained
"Yep here you go Tia" Zatch gave Tia two sets of 5 pound weights that strapped on the legs
"What are these for?" Tia asked
"To keep you under water" Zatch said putting on his own weights
"How long are we going to be sparring under water?" Tia asked
"5 minutes every time, then we go back up for air" Zeno responded
"5 minutes, I'll drowned before then, Have Ponygon go" Tia exclaimed
"Ponygon has a broken back, he can't train anymore" Zatch explained
Ponygon was passed out lying on the ground
"You don't have to worry about drowning, Zatch is like a fish, he'll pull you out of the water when you pass out, then he'll give you CPR" Zeno explained being dead serous
"CPR, NO he can't do that" Tia stated
"Why not? In the mamodo world he actually got a verified license to do CPR" Zeno explained
"Unu, but I left my license at the castle" Zatch explained
"That's NOT the Point" Tia shouted while blushing
"If you don't want Zatch doing CPR then don't drown" Zeno said coldly while walking up to the river
"What if you drown?" Tia asked
"I can hold my breath for 10 minutes, Zatch is like a fish and can hold his breath for like 15 to 20 minutes" Zeno explained
"Unu water is second nature to me" Zatch said then dove into the water with just his boxers
"You're up" Zeno said then dove into the water with just his boxers
Tia dove into the water with her swimming suit
The rapid churning water was freezing but there was no turning back for Tia for she wanted to become stronger no matter what.
Zatch, Zeno and Tia started to spar under water
Tia was able to surprise Zatch with material arts that Megumi taught her, Tia used her skills to slowly throw Zatch over her shoulder but Zatch ended up landing on his feet.
Zeno threw a barrage of punches at Tia who was barely able to block half of them, thanks to the water the damage done was more than halved
Zatch ended up coming behind and throwing Zeno into the wall of the mountain river
Around 5 minutes later of sparring under water Tia got out of the water as soon as she could and took in an enormous breath of fresh air
"I CAN Breath" Tia said with relieve but then started shaking for being in the cold water for so long
Zatch and Zeno came out of the water as well
"You got a 5 minute break" Zeno warned her
"I don't know Zeno… It's getting pretty late we should go back home" Zatch suggested
Zeno looked at the sun which started to set "I guess you're right, but I'm not teleporting us back" Zeno explained
"…Then…what …good are…you" Tia retorted through deep breathes
"I'm not the one short on breathe" Zeno snapped back then started walking back to Kiyo's house while putting his cloak back on, Zatch did the same but grabbed Ponygon
Tia soon trailed behind them while trying to catch her breath
Meanwhile in Kiyo's room
"Shit, I can't find any more of these stone tablets on the internet or in any books" Kiyo said to himself while searching through the internet. "What kind of genius am I? I can't even find more of these tablets" Kiyo said in frustration. "I want to do whatever I can to help Zatch become King" Kiyo was talking to himself some more. (I wonder what is needed to be a king… is winning battles the only conditions?...No there are things that I have to do… in order to make Zatch King… there are things I have to teach him aren't there?) Kiyo thought to himself
All of a sudden the red book began to glow behind Kiyo
Zatch ended up helping both Tia and Ponygon walking home to Kiyo's house
"I think we over did it…" Tia admitted
"Meru…" Ponygon agreed
"I think Tia did great for her first day" Zatch complimented
"Really?" Tia said sort of happy
"Unu of course" Zatch responded
"Don't worry tomorrow will be harder" Zeno reminded the three of them
"But… doing this training thing… can you really become king?" Tia asked
Zeno thought about it for a moment "I guess not…" Zeno replied
"Unuu we shouldn't worry about that, we have Kiyo and Dufort on our side" Zatch said cheering everyone up
"Heh I guess you're right, Dufort knows the answer to everything" Zeno said confidently
"Kiyo is really smart, and he's also becoming reliable, Kiyo will definitely help me become a kind king" Zatch explained
Tia was surprised by the two's enthusiasm
"Hold on, Megumi is also great, she won't lose to Dufort or Kiyo" Tia declared
"…Who's that again?" Zeno taunted Tia
"Don't mock Megumi, she's kind, beautiful, strong and cool" Tia retorted. "Megumi will definitely help me become queen" Tia yelled determined
"None of those qualities will help you in battle" Zeno retorted with a grin
"Shut UP" Tia responded
The four children then walked back to Kiyo's house
"Hey you three should look at this" Kiyo told Zatch, Tia and Zeno
Kiyo showed them the red book
Congratulations to those who have survived this long, the number of mamodo has dropped to 40 mamodo
The red book read
"This is going faster than I thought it would…" Zeno said sort of disappointed
"Yeah now there are only 40 demons left" Tia yelled in excitement
"It's come this far…" Zatch said surprised
"Yeah now there's less than half left" Kiyo responded
"Yes I'll become King" the three said in unison
"Right, with the three of us there's no way we can lose" Tia proclaimed
"Is Dufort home?" Zeno asked Kiyo
"Yeah he's in your shared room" Kiyo responded
"Dinner's ready" Hanna shouted up the stairs
"I'll get Dufort" Zeno said running to his room
Everyone else ran downstairs to eat supper
"Hey Dufort…" Zeno stopped as he felt a strange presence
"A mamodo?" Dufort said as he picked up his silver book and the Duo ran into Kiyo's room to find that the two stone tablets were gone
"Zatch is going to be upset when he finds out" Zeno said in a calm manner
"Wait after dinner time, the Yellow tail made him off guard so he didn't notice" Dufort explained
"Good point let him find out later" Zeno said walking downstairs to eat dinner
Meanwhile the stone tablet in England was also stolen
Meanwhile Brago found another stone tablet on the beach and tossed it into the ocean
"This battle is going to get interesting" Brago said with a grin then walked back to the hotel where him and Sherry were staying at.