Disclaimer: Zatch Bell is copyrighted to Makoto Raiku (characters, series, and concepts). The only things I own that are currently revealed in the story are E, Nylon, Shine, Angelica Tsukoro, Curtis Herrakoro, Harumi Kisamaru. Izo Uramori, Myriam, and Mystrael.

Chapter 2: So It Begins

He certainly was lasting longer than one thousand years ago, that's for sure. And, luckily, he didn't have to travel halfway around the world like last time just to find the human.

E was currently watching the morning flux of people, traffic, and everything related to the sort. The small breeze in the air made loose portions of his trench coat flow like a curtain. Watching the scenery from his position above in a terrace was something he rarely got to do back then. In his honest opinion, the Human World had much more to offer than the humdrum Mamodo World.

Fate had brought him to the artificial island of Odaiba in an island country called Japan. It amazed him how technologically advanced these humans were. Perhaps he might consider negotiating with Nylon to revolutionize his chain of businesses just to add a little something to the Mamodo World. After all, since he thought nature didn't care of his or anyone else's plight, it shouldn't care if he used the natural lands to further the Mamodo species.

"Alright, E, I'm heading out for school!"

Here comes E's bookkeeper right now, out of one of the large room apartment rooms she lived in with her parents. Out of the door to the living quarters that might as well be considered a house in itself came a sixteen-year-old teenager of typical feminine stature for her age. Her black hair—which had a brownish tint to it—was braided, making it roughly shoulder-length. Her attire consisted of a dark pink, sleeveless shirt and denim jeans with simple pink and white tennis shoes.

"Have fun, Angelica." E said as he and his bookkeeper, identified by him as Angelica, began making their way to the floor level of the terrace. "I don't know if I can, but I'll try," Angelica chuckled but then frowned, "And how many times do I have to say this, E? Call me Ang."

"I prefer actual names as opposed to nicknames." E responded, floating in tune with Angelica's walking. Angelica huffed, "Fine; have it your way."

The partners made it to the sidewalk at the base of the terrace within a minute. Angelica then spoke afterwards, "Alright, E. You know the drill. School ends for me at 2:55. Be home behind then."

E nodded uninterestedly, "You and your parents have already drilled your routines into my mind. I know what to do." Angelica huffed again, this time at E's pococurante remark, "If you say so, smarty pants. But just remember this." At this point, the dark-haired teenager reached into the back of her backpack, unzipped a compartment of it, and displayed the top half of a puce spellbook to the psychic Mamodo, "Give me a call if you're in danger, and I'll help you with this."

E shook his head indignantly, "I can't interrupt your school hours for my own plight. You need to focus on a successful scholastic career." Angelica sighed as she put the spellbook back in her backpack, "Fine. But seriously, don't hesitate to call. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"I'll keep that in mind." E replied. This caused Angelica to smile, "Great! I'll show you this afternoon!" With that, the two partners went their separate ways, going opposite directions down the sidewalk. Angelica was on her way to the high school she attended while E was on his way to the bus terminals to catch a free ride off Odaiba.

It always took about an hour or so to get to Mochinoki Park, but it was better to kill time as Angelica and her parents did their daytime occupations rather than sit home bored out of his mind.

Mochinoki Park, especially during the weekdays, was rather empty and quiet. Unlike the bustling artificial island, it provided him a place to think and try to develop his psychic powers. He got this far in the battle, so he knew he needed more strength in order to continue surviving and become king.

"AHH! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

E groaned aloud; looks like he would have to find another place in Mochinoki. Before he actually got the chance to float away, the psychic mamodo caught a blur of golden yellow flash past the corner of his eyes. It looked familiar, so he decided to investigate a little.

When he entered the playground portion of the park, he saw a blonde boy in a blue cloak being chased around by a girl, who had a serious case of overbite in both rows of her teeth, in a toy vehicle.

"COME ON, NAOMI! QUIT DOING THIS TO ME AND VULCAN!" The blonde boy cried pathetically as he continued to run away from the laughing girl. E stared at the scene until he suddenly remembered something about the terrified boy. "It's him…" the psychic Mamodo mumbled wistfully, "Zatch Bell…"

Deciding to help the young Mamodo in need, E psychically picked up a stone that was on the ground near him. He took careful aim—he was targeting one of the wheels to the rapidly moving vehicle that belonged to Naomi. A second later, the stone whizzed toward the front left wheel and nailed it perfectly, knocking it slightly off its axis and causing it to effectively to but badly crash.

Zatch heard the crash and turned around in wonder, "Wh-Whoa." He gaped, but then heard Naomi start to get out of her overturned vehicle, a sound that of a mixture between a growl and groan audible. Figuring the girl assumed Zatch to be the culprit of his action, E swiftly levitate to Zatch, snatched him while covering his mouth, and took refuge in nearby pushes.

Inside the shrubbery, Zatch squirmed fearfully because everything was happening so unexpectedly. "Stop that and be quiet. She'll go away." E whispered quietly to him. Zatch ceased squirming, mostly paralyzed with fear at seeing Naomi's enraged eyes looking frantically around the playground for him. Eventually, the bucktoothed female decided to check another part of the park and walked away.

E removed his hand from Zatch's mouth, came out of the bushes, and announced, "There. You're safe now, Zatch." The blonde boy energetically jumped out after him and said his thanks, "Oh, thank you so much! Naomi always does that to me, but boy, I'm glad you got here before Vulcan and I got hurt!"

It was then E noticed Zatch was carrying a rather slipshod but simple contraption in his hand. He was unsure of what to say or think about it, so he shook his head slightly and said nothing else. "But how did you know my name?" Zatch suddenly asked, titling his head to the side.

E stared at Zatch, his wraps and lenses masking his disbelief in totality, "You don't remember me, Zatch? It's me, E." Zatch looked at the sky and fingered his chin thoughtfully, "E…E…E…" He mumbled the psychic's name repeatedly, searching through his memory banks.

"Nope! Never heard of you!" Zatch announced innocently, looking back at him. E felt a nerve snap inside of him and his invisible brow twitched in agitation, but he remained externally calm. "I'm from the Mamodo World, Zatch. Does that ring a bell?" E continued.

Now that he mentioned the Mamodo World, Zatch was able to give him a response that satisfied him at least. "If it's the Mamodo World you're talking about, I lose my memories about there. Maybe that's why I can't remember you."

"Oh." E responded tersely and nodded curtly, "That explains everything."

"So you're a Mamodo too, E?" Zatch asked for confirmation, and E did so by nodding again; "Wow. Mamodo seem to be coming out of nowhere nowadays." E titled his side to the side and asked curiously, "What do you mean?"

"I've met and battled many Mamodo with my partner, Kiyo, for a long time," Zatch answered, "Right now…this evil guy named Milordo-Z has gathered these Mamodo from one thousand years ago, and Kiyo, me, and others are going to South America to put an end to him."

E felt a pang of jealousy that he swatted away. Zatch was so lucky to get that much action. "Serious business, I see." The blonde boy asked, "So, E, where are you from? Never seen you around here before."

"I'm from Odaiba, the hometown of my bookkeeper, Angelica Tsukoro." E answered. Since it seemed Zatch didn't mind disclosing information about things related to the battle and his bookkeeper, E decided to be nice and reciprocate that. Not like he and Zatch were going to fight each other any time soon.

"Odaiba?" Zatch blinked, "Never heard of that place before."

E shook his head, "It's a long ways from here. Angelica has school until about 2:55 PM, so I kill time here at Mochinoki until it's time for me to return."

"Hey! Kiyo has school now, too!" Zatch exclaimed childishly, "But he's such a meanie; he won't let me go to school with him."

E refrained from rolling his eyes, "I imagine why."

"AH-HA! I knew you were still around here, Zatch!" A voice with a strange lisp shouted, causing Zatch to cower because he recognized it. Much to both of the Mamodo's dismay, Naomi had returned and, based on the piercing glints in her eyes, was ready to initiate payback for the destruction to her toy vehicle.

"AHH! SHE CAME BACK!" Zatch hollered fearfully, tears spraying out of his eyes like hoses.

"Got a place we can hide out for the time being?"

Zatch stopped his worrying, despite the fact that Naomi was approaching him dangerously, because he could have sworn that was E's voice he just heard. "It is my voice; it's telepathy," E answered the boy's thoughts, "Now unless you don't want to look like Dame of Dentures over there, answer me quickly."

"Say your prayers, Zatch! You and your weird friend!" Naomi stated icily.

Then, E reacted quickly by grabbing Zatch's blonde locks—since his head was more level to his arms then the cloak—and levitated off in a hurry. "OW OW OW OW! YOU'RE PULLING MY HAIR, E!" Zatch cried out. "Don't we all get our hair pulled once in a while?" E casually responded as he zoomed through the crevices of the shrubbery and trees in the park. At the speeds he was going, E knew assuredly that a simple human being like Naomi could not pursue them on foot.

Eventually, Zatch and E arrived at the small hideout the former created in case Naomi was prowling about the playground. It was a simple hut made out of a large cardboard box up against a cliff wall. "Isn't this the sort of thing homeless people live in?" E remarked prudently, his eyes examining the blonde's primitive setting.

"Well, at least it works!" Zatch said as he sat down on the green blanket. E said nothing else as he looked at the row of contraptions much similar to that of Vulcan. The psychic could only sweatdrop, thinking that Zatch was definitely a true-blue child of the Mamodo World.

As E continued his soundless perusing, Zatch finally noticed that E was floating off the ground. He could not see any sort of legs or extensions from underneath his trench coat. The blonde Mamodo got curious as to what was actually there. Zatch inched his head steadily toward the hem of the trench coat, his anticipation rising for each inch he got closer.

Just when he was about to catch a peek, piercing green lenses suddenly met his golden orange eyes. "What are you doing?" E asked him plainly but firmly. Zatch tensed up and returned to his original spot, "N-N-Nothing, E!" E shook his head, knowing the boy was lying, but made no big deal about it.

A notable laconism occurred between the psychic and the boy. All Zatch did was mess with Vulcan while E was just floated in his spot contemplating matters. After about a good, long eight minutes, E finally made a subject to a conversation. "Zatch…You mentioned something about…a person named Milordo-Z. Who is he or she exactly?"

Zatch, somewhat surprised that the reticence was broken, answered E, "Milordo-Z…Well, he's just plain evil, forcing mamodo from one thousand years ago to fight for his own purposes. He doesn't even care what happens to them, or the hypnotized bookkeepers of some mamodo."

"Unforgivable, indeed." E replied dryly but earnestly. He was also weighing if it was a good idea to offer his help in the battle…but in his and Angelica's current condition, it would probably be best not to. "Yes," Zatch continued; his voice had gotten a slight edge of seriousness to it, "That's why my friends and I are going to stop this once and for all!"

"Well, I wish you good luck. You have my support." E said sincerely. Zatch looked at the psychic Mamodo with hopeful eyes and a smile, "Hey! You're a Mamodo, too, right? Why don't you come help us?"

E tensed up; Zatch had asked the question he just asked himself. "Um…I don't think in my partner and I's current state we would get very far. We're not all that strong at this point in the battle." E explained. Zatch turned somber and let out a slightly audible "Oh" in response.

"However," E spoke again, "When I do get strong enough, I'll let you now. Perhaps we can have a friendly spar to gauge each other's strengths?"

Zatch brightened up at the notion and stood up, "Sure thing! I'll do anything to become a kind king!" E raised an invisible eyebrow and said, "A kind king?"

"Oh, that's right. I never told you what kind of king I wanted to be. Yes, I want to be a kind king." Zatch expounded, "One that wants to stop all the fighting so that no Mamodo can get hurt. No more sorrow, just happiness!"

Now that was certainly a peculiar move to become king. E usually thought that the Mamodo in the current fight wanted to be kings for the perks, for the authority above others. Of course, E himself was an exception but he was relieved to find someone else different. "Ah. A very noble motive, indeed, Zatch." E stated.

Zatch looked at E hopefully again as a means of rebounding the question back to him. Apparently, he was curious to hear of E's motives as well. "I'm in this fight to become a king that promotes harmony and equality among all species of Mamodo." the psychic answered.

"That's great, E." Zatch said with a nod, "That means you and I are fighting for similar reasons. From now on, you're apart of my group of friends that will try and change the Mamodo World!"

E refrained from chuckling. From what he gathered from their first meeting back in the Mamodo World, E thought it was typical Zatch Bell to make these sorts of statements. Not that he minded. "That's nice," E then changed the subject, "But can we please get out of this hideout of yours? I'm getting claustrophobic."

"Fiiine!" Zatch then unexpectedly grabbed E's right hand, "Come on! Let's go into the city! I'm sure there's things you haven't seen that are there!" E could nothing but chuckle helplessly as Zatch dashed out faster than when they escaped the wrath of Naomi.

"Curse this stupid lecture…" Angelica thought disdainfully as she looked out the window, lightly tapping the eraser of her pencil on her notebook. Sometimes it didn't pay to be all in honor classes, especially when her most important ones were near dismissal. As a result, today being one of those cases, it was past 2:55, and she confirmed it by looking at the clock right outside the windows. "E's probably wondering where I am."

Tearing her attention away from the window, Angelica looked around the silver and room classroom that housed students of the AP Science & Physics class. All honor students like herself had the option of wearing regular clothes or the school uniform non-honor students had to wear. So, naturally the attire—and attention span—of the students were all fairly general. For the moment, though, she focused on her friends.

Across from her in the same row was a brunette male wearing a green and white skull cap, his pale pink eyes transfixed on a PSP that he was playing in his lap—the professor could not see it because an open notebook around the PSP prevented so. He was wearing a collared white shirt, blue jeans, and black Adidas. Angelica shook her head while smiling slightly; Curtis Herrakoro would also find time to play another sort of video game, even in class—it amazed her that he hasn't been caught once the entire school year.

Right sitting in the seat in front of Angelica was a blonde, blue-eyed girl whose hair was tied into a high ponytail and had two bangs framing her fair-skinned face. Like Curtis, she was preoccupied with something else, and that was writing in her journal. She was one of the few honor students in the class to wear the uniform for females: a silver and black sailor fuku with matching silver skirt. Despite how airheaded Harumi Kisamaru could be, Angelica was glad to be her friend, especially when she needed extra notes for class she missed.

Angelica looked over her shoulder to look at the last of her closest friends. Sitting in the very back of the row right beside her own was another male with smooth, flat ash grey hair and aqua green eyes. He was wearing a Mandarin-style, cadet grey shirt with aqua green linings along the buttons and collar, and dark denim jeans. Angelica couldn't believe that Izo Uramori could still pay attention in class to very last second, but that was one of the many endearing traits about him she liked very much.

Because of his attentiveness, Izo was able to notice Angelica staring back at him. He smiled and waved at her. A small rosy tint washed across Angelica's cheeks before she returned the gesture.

Finally, a rhythmic, electronic sounded throughout the school grounds. "Alright, class, have a nice weekend." The professor said as the class got up from their seats and bowed.

Angelica exhaled in relief as she slung her bag over her shoulder. "Oh my goodness! Why do they, like, keep us so late sometimes, especially on Fridays?" Harumi whined childishly. Angelica chuckled, "We're honor students, Harumi. They expect more out of us."

Curtis came over, most of his attention still on his video game, and distractedly added, "Too much out of us." Completing the circles of friends, Izo walked over and propositioned to them, "Hey, since it's Friday, how about we all go hang out tonight?"

"Can't." Angelica announced, "I need to get home as soon as possible. This late dismissal for today of all days was unprecedented on my schedule's part." Harumi narrowed her eyes pryingly at Angelica, "Does this schedule of yours include studying?" She asked.

Angelica avoided eye contact with the female blonde as she nervously drawled out, "Um…More than likely."

"Ang, your entrance exams aren't until three weeks from now," Curtis said. saving his video game and turning it off. "Now, now," Izo defended, "Ang is trying to make sure she'll be unquestioningly accepted. You can't blame her." Harumi could do nothing but pout as she mumbled, "Of course."

With that, they—along with other lingering classmates—finally exited the building. Some, most likely because of extracurricular activities, stayed behind on campus grounds while others—like Harumi, Curtis, and Izo—left to begin their weekend.

Angelica looked at the clock on the courtyard once more to see that it was now 3:18. "I'd better check and see if E's at home, waiting for me." With that, she closed her eyes and concentrated, only to open them back up in confusion; "He's not? That hasn't happened since we first started with routine."

"Ahh~ That was some good yellowtail!" Zatch said contently as he lied lazily on the grassy slope before a sidewalk. "A voracious appetite, indeed…" E mumbled, still in disbelief at how Zatch could stomach so much fish in one serving.

Zatch and E had been in the city for the day now, the former mainly giving the latter the grand tour of Mochinoki. Zatch even took the liberty of introducing E to Ponygon at Kiyo's house, and even went as far as talking about the other Mamodo and bookkeepers that were his friends. And after going to the river and fishing out food, the two returned to the park to relax.

"Hey, E, do you know what time is it?" Zatch inquired as he sat up. E looked at the sunset to conjecture the approximate time of day, and realization then struck him. "Oh, hell. It's past 2:55 now. Angelica told me to be at home!" He groused, mentally slapping himself for being unable to keep up with the time. "Ah! That means Kiyo is probably out of school now too!" Zatch fretted as well.

"Calm down, you two."

"Everything's okay."

E and Zatch turned around and, to their disbelief, saw both of their respective bookkeepers before them. "Kiyo?" Zatch blinked. "Angelica?" E scratched the side of his head.

"We met each other on the way here. And that was about ten minutes ago," Kiyo answered. "It didn't take long for either of us to realize we had Mamodo," Angelica added, "Though, I didn't expect the circumstances of us meeting would be like this."

"As sudden as that is, it saves the trouble of Zatch and I having to introduce you two to each other." E said and then looked at his bookkeeper, "And I apologize for making you come all this way to Mochinoki, Angelica…"

"It's fine, E." Angelica said smilingly, "I had a late dismissal anyway, and I see you and Zatch were having fun together. So I don't mind."

"Now this means I can get back home and have some of Kiyo's mom yummy cooking!" Zatch celebrated as he approached his bookkeeper. "Just try to cause that much of a fuss," Kiyo told him, "I have homework." Zatch argued, "You have all weekend to homework!" Kiyo argued back, "I want to get it out of the way before I forget!"

Angelica giggled at the two; they acted like brothers. E shook his head and said, "Kiyo, Zatch, it's probably best that Angelica and I get back to Odaiba before it gets too dark. It was nice meeting you both."

Kiyo looked at both of them contemplatively as Zatch responded, "Nice meeting you two, too! Please come back soon!" Finally, Angelica and E started their journey back to Odaiba. As they left, Kiyo continued to look at them, "…Should I ask them to come with us to South America…? No, it's too soon; we're leaving for South America pretty soon. They probably have plans of their own."

Just then, Kiyo felt an unexpected tug that nearly made him fall over. "Come on, Kiyo! It's time to go home!" Zatch whined as he started forcing Kiyo the way to his house. "H-HEY, ZATCH! CUT IT OUT!" Kiyo said frantically.

Little did anyone that was there knew, they were being watched the whole time.

"So, it seems we finally have a lead, Myriam." An eighteen-year-old female Mamodo said. She was wearing pure black clothing: a black cloak, black hakama, and a long-sleeved black shirt. A black beret rested upon her head where hip-length black hair flowed from.

"Yes, Mystrael. Sometimes it pays to just sit back and watch such interesting people interact." Myriam said as Mystrael looked at her with plain white eyes. Myriam was a twenty-two-year-old woman with dark violet hair tied up inside a straw sun hat. She wore a black and white segmented dress and black hakama.

"Mm. Let's move on." Mystrael suggested. "Okay." Myriam said as she closed her crimson eyes in order to accumulate a small amount of heart energy. The lavender grey spellbook in her hands that were behind her back started to glow, "Maboruk."

In a swift, dark streak, the two mysterious women disappear without a trace.

"Mom, I'm home!" Kiyo announced as he and Zatch entered the Takamine abode. "Welcome home, Kiyo!" Kiyo's mom said happily, from the kitchen, as Ponygon greeted Zatch by licking his face affectionately.

"Yes, Kiyo; welcome home, indeed!" An entirely different, male voice greeted afterward. It was unexpected, but Kiyo knew who the voice belonged to, and it was in the living room. "Oh, Dr. Riddles." Kiyo said, entering the leaving room and seeing the professor that knew everything along with his Mamodo, Kido—who was eating some of Mrs. Takamine's cooking.

"I apologize for stopping by on such short notice." Dr. Riddles said seriously, "But I wanted to make sure if preparations for our trip to South American were in order." Kiyo, turning serious himself, nodded in response, "Yeah. Now all there is for everyone else to get ready themselves so that Apollo can fly us to Deboro Ruins."

"It sure took you two a long time to get here today." Kido finally spoke after finishing his meal, "Why was that?" Zatch answered as he walked up beside Kiyo after playing with Ponygon, "Oh, that's because I was with this other Mamodo named E, and we met his bookkeeper Angelica."

At the mention of the psychic Mamodo, Kido's face blanched notably, "D-D-D-Did you j-just say E?" Dr. Riddles, Kiyo, and Zatch looked at the scholarly boy in confusion. "What's wrong, Kido?" Dr. Riddles asked him. "Z-Zatch, you just met E the Alien Mamodo!" Kido said frantically, "Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Not a clue." Zatch said innocently, blinking. Kiyo was just as skeptical as his partner; although E was floating two or three feet off the ground and definitely stood out as a Mamodo due to his appearance, he couldn't be an extraterrestrial whatsoever. Scientifically speaking, the actual appearance of an alien was never confirmed.

"Well, what's wrong with him?" Kiyo asked curiously. "He's scary and creepy and he's these weird powers!" Kido fretted childishly. Kiyo resisted the urge to slap his forehead, "Like that isn't a commonplace excuse nowadays."

"Alright, dinner's ready!" Mrs. Takamine announced as she placed the food on the table. Without warning, Zatch and Kido started devouring the delicious meal. Dr. Riddles looked at a Kiyo as he sat down, "Kiyo. Did E and Angelica happen to say where they lived?" Kiyo looked at the doctor wonderingly, "Um, they said Odaiba. The artificial island that is about an hour away from here. Why?"

Dr. Riddles grinned enigmatically, "I might just pay them a little visit."

Author Notes

It doesn't take a rocket scientist after reading Dr. Riddles's last line that the first battle of the story is coming up in the next chapter. Let's hope E and Ang are ready for them!

This chapter could be considered filler. All it did was reveal who E's bookkeeper was, have E/Ang and Zatch/Kiyo meet up, and I got a chance to show Ang's major friends/classmates in Odaiba.

Anyway, tell me how I did please. Adios and Adieu for now!