Author Notes

This chapter is centered pretty much on dialogue (then again, most of the Zatch Bell series's best fights had dialogue in them), but it brings out some character development from pretty much everyone involved. Enjoy!

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, Gretchen, Harumi Kisamaru. Izo Uramori, Myriam Schwazden, Mystrael, Metallix, Professor Linda, Orion, Jade, Shine, and Zale Schwazden.

Chapter 9: Bitterness

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Angelica and E apologized sheepishly.

"Ang! You made it!" Kiyo exclaimed happily. Angelica rubbed the back of her head as she explained, "Yeah. We could've been here earlier but we got kinda lost in the jungle surrounding the ruins…and we attacked by a giant snake…only for E to eat it...and then getting up here was a chore too." Kiyo could only chuckle at the sheepish face Ang made when she explained. He also guessed that Angelica was close, if not did, to throwing up upon seeing E eat that snake.

"E! I'm so glad you're here!" Zatch said excitedly as he reached to hug the psychic Mamodo but tensed up with pain. "I see that, but don't hurt yourself." E said, placing a hand on the blonde boy's shoulder. "Okay. It's just…I had a hard time against our opponent." Zatch stated. "Well…hopefully I can lessen the difficulty." E replied, smiling under his wraps. Practically feeling the smile, Zatch's lips stretched into a wide smile himself before nodding.

Zale, in the meantime, was examining the two newcomers to the battlefield. Even though he was caught off-guard, a Go Diamonruk-enhanced Shine was knocked away a considerable distance with decent power. Something told him something interesting was about to happen. "And who art thou?" He asked the two newcomers. "Angelica Tsukoro." The dark-haired high school student introduced herself. "And her partner E. Pleased to meet you."

With a frustrated roar, Shine arose from his grave of rubble, alerting every single person present of his return. "Alright, now that was just a plain cheap shot—" Shine stopped his rant when he noticed the Mamodo hovering beside Zatch, "Y-You!" When E finally recognized the voice, he too was rendered incredulous. "…Long time no see…Shine." E said softly.

"Y-You know this guy, E?" Kiyo, Zatch, and Angelica questioned disbelievingly. When Shine looked at Zale, he knew the curious look in his eyes harbored the same type of question. He also knew E wasn't the kind of person to bring up old news—good, bad, or indifferent—so Shine took the liberty of answering everyone, "My former rival from a thousand years ago, that's all."

"Oh?" Zale looked intrigued now. He—for as long as he's known Shine—did not expect him to have a rival.

"R-Rival?" Kiyo repeated those words carefully and then thought, "If E is Shine's rival, that's great on our part! Perhaps we can match this guy blow-for-blow now!"

"A thousand years ago…?" Zatch looked confused, signaled by the childish tilt to his head. "We'll tell you about that later, Zatch." Angelica and E said in unison. "But, E, you never told me you had a rival." Angelica said to her psychic partner. E shook his head, trying to get rid of the memories of the painful beat-down he got from Shine in their last encounter, "I don't like to talk about it."

"Of course you wouldn't!" Shine growled spitefully, "I was ashamed to start a rivalry with such a loser like you! I defeated—no, annihilated you back then and burned your book! Now, seeing you were accepted to be in the current fight is an insult to me! In fact, it's an outrage that weaklings like you and Zatch are even in this damn fight! I'm sick of it! I've had it!"

Totally enraged, Shine charged for Zatch and E now. "Look out, Zatch!" Kiyo alerted as he opened the red spellbook, "Zaker!" Angelica opened the puce spellbook as she closed her eyes tight, knowing this was going to get messy, "Ieshun!"

"Shine, don't be reckless." Zale advised tonelessly. "I know that!" Shine responded. But based on the Millennium Mamodo charging straight into the orbicular psychic field and the spray of lightning, it didn't seem like he was listening to his bookkeeper.

"A direct hit from both attacks!" Kiyo exclaimed, smiling. Angelica took a deep breath, calming her nerves. She could feel the intensity of the fight; she instantly knew looking at the blows delivered and the carnage would evoke her trauma. Truth be told, seeing the wreckage as she and E made their way up here almost did.

"Not good enough!" Shine roared, having survived both attacks. Zatch and E gasped in shock and were then slashed by those sharps claws of Shine. Angelica did everything in her power not to open her eyes despite how concerned she was for E's safety—especially after his and Zatch's cries of pain and Kiyo's subsequent exclamation.

"You…have the nerves…" Shine rasped as he walked toward E dangerously, "to show your face around me! And you have even bigger nerve to attack me!" Zatch gritted his teeth as he charged at Shine, "I'm your opponent, too, Shine!" Kiyo then chanted, "Rauzaruk!"

"Don't make me laugh!" Shine sneered as he smacked Zatch away hard. Taking this opportunity, E placed his hand up to his head and mentally cried out, "Angelica, now!"

"Ieruga!" E then fired a thin beam of whitish energy from his eyes to the irate porcupine. At first, he managed to score a hit, but Shine only flinched on impact. Shine raised his arms to accept the attack after his body had and began walking toward E again. "You probably haven't the slightest clue of my hatred and anger!" Shine hissed.

"Probably not." E answered casually, trying to his best to keep up Ieruga and blast his former rival away. "One thousand years in petrified solitude…The knowledge of you knowing you were screwed out of your chance to become King of the Mamodo World…and the fact I had to pretend to serve a pansy like Zofis! There are so many things that happened in my life that boils my blood…."

Shine managed to cancel out Ieruga with his claws and arms, and he was now mere inches from E. "AND YOU'RE ONE OF THEM, E!"

A deafening stab echoed through the battlefield. Time seemed to come to a standstill as silence lingered on the battlefield. Zatch and Kiyo could see what happened clearly and were absolutely horrified. Angelica could no longer bear keeping her eyes closed; she had to know what in the world happened to her friends! Slowly, she opened her onyx eyes but they widened immediately at the gruesome sight before her.

Shine's claws driven straight through E's body, holding him up for the world to see like a trophy.

The cacophonous scream Angelica released afterward was more unexpected than that itself. Kiyo actually jumped from shock; Zatch had to cover his ears from the sound; Shine tore his attention from the suffering E to the screaming girl with a look that said 'what's this human's problem'; Mystrael and Myriam covered their agape mouths, shocked at absolutely everything that transpired; even Zale's expressionless face reacted accordingly to the situation.

Her trauma returning instantly, Angelica dropped her spellbook and dropped to her knees, holding her head as tears involuntarily inundated from her eyes. "A-Ang?" Kiyo instantly became worried as he went to the distraught girl's side, "What's the matter? Are you okay?"

"Hmph." Shine pulled out of his claws out of E—roughly might I add—and threw him aside with the other, "What a shame. Even your bookkeeper is weak." Zatch glared heatedly at the callous Millennium Mamodo, "Shine, you bastard!" The blonde boy then charged for Shine and tried to punch him, but Shine leaned back to avoid it and kicked Zatch to where E was now.

Zatch and E struggled to get back up. Their injuries had taken a toll on them. "Now…" Shine turned to look at Kiyo comforting the traumatized Angelica. He began walking to them as his claws glinted maliciously, "Hand over those books, humans." Kiyo glared at the Millennium Mamodo and so did Angelica, but the heavier inundation of her tears downplayed her glare.

"Hold it, Shine."

Shine stopped dead in his tracks and looked to see Zale joining his side. "Before you do that…" The black-haired male said, "Let me be as articulate as you have been." Now this was something Shine did not expect Zale to do. This must be some of kind revelation ceremony or something.

When Shine kept quiet, Zale took this as his time to speak, "Kiyo Takamine and Angelica Tsukoro, I do not understand either of you. In these hopeless circumstances, you continue to struggle." Zale looked at the glaring Kiyo and commented, "Kiyo…how can you say you and Zatch can defeat Zofis without the knowledge of strong opponents like me and Shine possibly lying in wake." The red-eyed teen then looked at the distraught and crying Angelica and remarked, "Angelica…you are obviously traumatized by something, and it can't be Shine; I saw you shutting your eyes in that brief encounter. Even with that in mind, you still came here."

"I believe the answer is simple, Zale." Kiyo spoke firmly, "There are innocent friends, allies, and possibly family members involved in this, all because of Zofis and his manipulation!" When Kiyo mentioned "family members," Myriam forlornly looked to the ground, and Mystrael took notice of that. "We came here to free them!" Kiyo continued, "And get rid of Zofis and the Stone of Moonlight once and for all!"

Zale seemed somewhat convinced at Kiyo's answer. His eyes then lingered to Angelica as he asked dryly, "And you?" Angelica took calming, deep breaths. Since her emotional trauma activated, talking—with some sobs in-between—was the best she could do; telepathy, gathering heart energy, and reading spells were out of her power. "…I'm traumatized because my parents were alcoholics in the past and they hit me on some occasions. These battles remind me of it."

This really was a revelation ceremony; Shine's initial thoughts were confirmed. "What?" Kiyo looked at Angelica wide eyes. The dark-haired girl closed her eyes and bit her lip, the flashbacks becoming more and more devastating.

Zale closed his eyes and turned his back to them, "I pity you guys…You two and your Mamodo partners. Get out of here while you still can." Shine shot a look at his partner, "But, Zale!"

"In your current condition, you cannot defeat the likes of Shine and I," Zale continued expressing his pity, "Not only will we not let you advance further, we will attack if you continue this hopeless charade."

Kiyo gritted his teeth outrageously and stood up, "Where do you get off? Who are you to tell us how strong we are? We don't need your pity, Zale! Don't you understand the severity of Zofis's actions? You're lucky enough to keep your heart! My friends and I don't care what any of you guys say! We will keep going to Zofis! We will change the tide of this battle!"

Completely out of the blue, Zale snapped his head back to their direction, "Don't be ridiculous!" His sharp red eyes, for the first time since they met him, showed absolute aggravation and hatred. This seemed to project a malicious and deadly purple aura around Zale as he glared at Kiyo and Angelica. Angelica swore she died a little inside under Zale's glare, and Kiyo instantly lost his train of thoughts seeing Zale seethe with anger.

"What has been set in stone and destined by fate cannot be altered!" Zale stated as he turned back around, his intimidating glare very much alive, "That which the past has caused can never be changed. Everything that makes you what you are now never changes. Kiyo, Angelica, E, Zatch, your pasts will continue to haunt your future. Your shortcomings are an example of this. If you cannot accept this, not only will this infuriate me more but you will continue to be a prisoner of your own illusions!"

Myriam gripped her lavender-grey spellbook tighter and tighter as Zale gave his explanation of his dislike to "change." She knew the exact reason why her younger brother felt this way because she was involved in the very event that changed Zale. She was honestly suppressing the urge to go out there and assist the two teenagers. Mystrael noticed her partner's condition and placed her hand on her shoulder comfortingly.

"You sound…like you've had experience." Kiyo pointed out.

Zale nodded, "Oh, believe me, I have. Once upon a time, in my home country of Sweden, I had two parents and a sister, one that I loved dearly. I looked up to her and everything. Because of my pursuit in the career of architectural engineering, I was constantly relocated to every part of Sweden for observation and studying reasons. But my parents would also allow me to visit her…Then, about three years ago, in our hometown, there was a raid from a group of robbers. They went about demanding money and valuables and assaulted people without hesitation if there was no cooperation. My sister was taking me out when this happened when we were approached by two of them. But the next thing I knew, she was gone for some reason! I was left alone with two heartless creeps before me, threatening to take my life if I did not hand over anything. That moment of weakness, of fear, of feeling like the most insignificant creature on the planet damns me today! All because that stupid sister of mine left me without a trace! Thankfully, I managed to fend them off myself because my weak feelings were replaced with bitterness. When it was over, I couldn't look at my sister anymore, or my parents for that matter since they were with her when we reunited…Can you imagine how glad I felt when I received word I was going to sent to Luxembourg to a technical boarding school just for my career? Ha, a chance to get away from that accursed place and her."

"Now, you see why Zale disagrees with your beliefs." Shine spoke for the first time since his bookkeeper started talking, "Change is what made him today; it gave him a heavy dose of reality after experiencing a feeling none of us want to feel. Kiyo, Zatch, weaklings like you will never become king, no matter how allies you get! Angelica, E, you guys will be forever traumatized and hampered!"

"What you should do is embrace what you have become and what you have instead of that which you don't have or want to become, especially if it's irrational," Zale said sternly, his emotions making the blizzard blue spellbook glow brighter, "Shine and I never want that feeling of weakness we've had in our lives…and seeing and hearing people like you four disgusts us." Zale gripped the spellbook tightly as Shine gritted his sharp teeth hard. They were both getting mental images of themselves, defenseless, meaningless, and sobbing—something they hated with their very hearts.

"Weakness is EVIL!" Zale and Shine declared, their bitterness manifesting as auras of respective dark purple and dark red colors around their bodies. "O-Oh, man!" Kiyo was practically frozen in his spot. Such powerfully dark emotions those two had. Angelica was crying even harder. She was a wreck, indeed. Her trauma had worsened because of Zale and Shine's words.

Myriam was also moved to tears. Zale's bitterness had escalated to this point, only after three years. What saddened her the most was that Zale did not know the complete story. Mystrael also wanted to cry for her bookkeeper, hearing her side and Zale's side of the story was pretty heart-wrenching.

"You've got it all wrong, Zale!"

Everyone turned to see Zatch and E rising back to their feet determinedly. Zatch continued, "You're completely wrong! No one truly changes; the way people look at each other does! And Shine, everyone has a moment of weakness! It is not evil, it makes us better! Why do you think after all the physical pressure you've put me under, I'm still standing? I was weak, that much I'll admit, but I've told you: my friends and allies give me strength! Seeing the sad faces on the kind people I've met that have fallen in battle…I promised them that I will become a kind king!"

Seeing his blonde partner with the will to argue against Zale's and Shine's viewpoints, Kiyo added in, "Zatch is right, Zale and Shine! Take me for example. Before Zatch came into my life, I wouldn't nothing to do with anyone; friends, school, nothing! But Zatch changed all that; before I knew it, I had all my friends back and we grew strong together! Someone like you, who doesn't even want to make amends with his own sister, will never understand true love and companionship!"

E and Angelica could only stare at Zatch and Kiyo in awe and reverently. These two were certainly powerful with words. They could feel their rising will to fight, the raw fire in their eyes, and strength from within as they stood in opposition to Zale Schwazden and Shine.

It was at this point Angelica realized she stopped crying, but her trauma very much was still annoying her to no ends. Why were they still there? Why couldn't they leave her alone? She wanted to help E beat her former rival who continued to look down upon him and his friends. She didn't want to be a burden to E anymore simply because of her own shortcomings. Hell, she didn't want to look so weak in front of inspirational people like Kiyo and Zatch.

"Angelica, E, you two just sit tight." Kiyo suggested, opening up that brightly glowing red spellbook of theirs, "We'll finish this in an instant." Zatch nodded confidently, "That's right!"

Shine grabbed Zale and jumped back a fair distance before letting him go, putting him at a fairly safe distance from harm. "Then let's see, Zatch Bell and Kiyo Takamine…" Shine said as he charged forward, "Whose ideals are stronger! Zale and I's belief that weakness is evil and nothing can change, or your philosophies about friendship!"

"GIGANO IESHUN!"

Out of nowhere, giant dome of psychic energy appeared. It was large enough that it covered the distance Shine made between him and Zatch. "WHAT THE—" Because he was charging, Shine slammed straight into the powerful psychic field and was knocked back straight into the wall with great force.

"WHOA!" Zatch exclaimed as he jumped back, almost caught in the attack himself. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked to see it was E. "Sorry to leave you hanging, Zatch…You speak such powerful words. Truer words have never been spoken." He said sagaciously, and it almost moved Zatch to tears.

"Kiyo." Kiyo looked to see Angelica had stood back up. The puce spellbook in her hand was glowing as radiantly as the red spellbook. Angelica paused to wipe her eyes. They no longer had fear or horror in them. In fact, there was a new sort of powerful feeling that gave her ability to recite such a powerful spell, "Shall we fight together? At full strength?"

Let the real fun begin.