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, Zale Schwazden, Thoria, Cassandra, Vini, Amanda, Phoebe, and Samantha.

Chapter 14: Strongest vs. Strongest

Shine adjusted the fingerless, white gloves he recently purchased from a town he and his partner just left. "There. Now, the thing won't get broken when I'm in battle." The white-furred Mamodo said. "By the way, Shine," Zale spoke, walking beside him and leafing through the pages of the blizzard blue spellbook, "I don't know how I didn't notice this before…but it seems we got a new spell."

Shine looked at the black-haired eighteen-year-old with a raised eyebrow, "Seriously? We'll have to see what it does later." Zale nodded as he placed the spellbook back inside his vest, "Yes, indeed. For now, let's just keep heading to Tokyo." Shine simply "hmph-ed" to this.

That said, the two soundlessly continued their excursions. They spoke not a word for the last couple of minutes as they walked across a partially open plain with large trees around them. "We're going to be there shortly." Zale announced, checking the electronic map on his cell phone and putting it away. No response from Shine whatsoever, and Zale took note of that. "You're quieter than usual…." He said guardedly, "What do you sense?"

"Get on your guard." Shine snarled defensively, "A strong enemy actually worth my time is around."

"Really now?" Zale replied in actually interested tone, "They're that strong?"

"You better believe it."

Zale and Shine slowly stopped walking when they heard that authoritative raspy voice. So, they were found that quickly. No matter. The two turned to face their opponents. "And who might you two be?" Zale questioned, taking out the blizzard blue spellbook from inside his vest. Standing from them equidistantly was a blonde girl wearing an expensive, stylish white dress and a teenage, dark Mamodo. "That depends," the girl spoke clutching the black spellbook in her right hand and her staff in the other, "Will you be around for the next couple of seconds?"

Out of nowhere, the black spellbook glowed radiantly as the blonde girl yelled, "Gigano Reis!" The dark Mamodo extended his deathly grey arm and hand and unleashed a large, purple sphere made entirely from gravitational pressure. Zale and Shine narrowed their eyes and sprung into action; however, the resulting explosion enshrouded such.

"Well, that was a disappointment." The dark Mamodo spoke in a raspy tone, dropping his arm. "So it seems, Brago," the blonde bookkeeper said as the glow died away, "Now there's just the matter of burning that book."

"Brago, huh?"

Brago and his blonde bookkeeper whipped to the direction of the voices. Zale was leaning against the trunk of a tree while Shine was sitting casually on the branch above. "Heh. So you're the Mamodo I've been sensing since we got here." The Millennium Mamodo stated as he jumped off the branch and landed on his feet. "Speedy, huh?" Brago pointed out, "That I guess you're that Mamodo we've been sensing as well."

"Now, let me repeat myself this one last time," Zale articulated austerely, "What are your names? Well, we know the Mamodo's now." The blonde bookkeeper introduced herself, the tense wind causing her ringlets to flow slightly, "Sherry. Sherry Belmont."

Suddenly, the closed blizzard blue spellbook in Zale's arm glowed brightly as he said, "Pleasure to meet you. The name's Zale Schwazden and my Mamodo is Shine. Diamzu." Shine held up his hand and discharged a large shard of diamond toward Brago. "Gravirei!" Brago held out his hand again and summoned a gravitational field around the approaching Diamzu. Though it took time, and almost made its way to him, the Gravirei successfully grounded the powerful shard of diamond. The gravitational field disappeared along with the diamond a second afterward.

"Not bad!" Shine roared as he used his speed to appear in front of Brago and attempt an axe kick. Brago raised his left arm and blocked the kick with loud sound echoing from the impact. "Not bad yourself," Brago complimented, but the emotionless tone he used said otherwise, "But you've left yourself wide open." To prove his point, his free hand was currently aimed at the white Mamodo.

"Reis!"

"Diamonruk."

Brago's hand fired a small sphere of purple gravity, but thanks to Zale's quick reaction, Shine's blind-spot was encased with a layer of diamond to protect it. "What?" Brago exclaimed as Shine used Brago's other arm to propel himself away and create distance. With a guttural roar, Shine dashes straight for Brago again and threw a powerful punch. "Don't make me laugh!" Brago caught that fist of Shine's with one hand , almost effortlessly, as he skidded back only mere inches. "This is a punch!" But to his surprise, Shine was just as strong, given by the fact he caught Brago's punch with just as much ease.

"Gee. I almost cracked up." Shine said cockily, grinning a little. "Hmph. This might actually be fun." Brago rasped, smirking as he showed off his sharp teeth. "That's my line!" Shine roared, showing off his serrated, feral teeth.

"Rior Reis!" Sherry recited the spell, the black book glowing fiercely. "Shine, the spell is coming out of both of his hands." Zale informed his Mamodo partner. Instantly, Shine jumped away and performed numerous back-flips as two green energy beams came out from both of Brago's hands. Eventually, Shine propelled himself into the air so that the Rior Reis could miss him. Sherry eyed Zale from the corner of her blue eyes as she thought, "Huh…Before Brago even discharged his spell, Zale knew exactly what was about to happen. There was so little time between me reading the spell and Brago actually using it…"

"Ganzu Diamzu." Shine, who was still in the air, extended out both hands and summoned released multiple shards of diamond that headed toward Brago at high speeds. "Ion Gravirei!" Brago's small red eyes disappeared into the whites of his eyes, signaling his level of fury, as held up his hand again, launching a destructive beam of gravity that instantly grounded the diamond shards from Ganzu Diamzu.

"Tch!" Shine sneered as he landed on the ground. "Now you're mine!" Brago dashed forth and delivered a series of rapid punches; however, Shine was currently dodging the strikes with marginally better speed, laughing cruelly as he taunted, "What's the matter, Fluffy? You're kinda slow!" Brago growled loudly, "Hold still and let me break you in half!"

The Millennium Mamodo sneered as jumped back to create distance as Brago hammered a fist on the ground, causing cracks in it. "It seems our size difference is coming into play," Shine spoke, "I'm roughly the size of a child, like most humanoid Mamodo in this battle, and you're obviously well into your teens. Our speeds are evenly matched, but my compact size gives me an advantage."

"Keep talking, Shine!" Brago dashed for Shine and proceeded to attack again. Shine's face furrowed in concentration, trying to time to his dodge correctly in order to justify his statement. Brago thrust his hand forward, trying to grab Shine's face, but the anthropomorphic porcupine dodged it. Quickly however, the gravity-wielding Mamodo tried to retaliate by performing by spin kick, but Shine used his speed to appear in the air above him. "Too bad, Fluffy!" Shine taunted and did an axe kick. To his surprise, Brago caught his leg.

"My name isn't Fluffy." Brago retorted in a surprisingly calm voice. Shine's eyes dilated but then widened immensely when Brago slammed him into the ground with bone-crushing force.

"And he's not finished yet!" Sherry declared as the black book continued to glow, "Bidom Gravirei!" Suddenly, a more powerful Gravirei pressed Shine onto the ground hard, creating small fissures. The anthropomorphic porcupine gritted his teeth in pain as the intense gravitational field induced pain. "Heh. Now you can't get away." Brago declared, smirking.

"Your gravitational powers are indeed crippling, Sherry and Brago," Zale said tonelessly as the two in question looked at him while frowning, "Indeed, Shine and I have yet to encounter a foe like you two…but that does not mean we didn't prepare for the worst case scenario." After saying that, the blizzard blue spellbook glowed once again, "Go Diamonruk."

In the blink of an eye, Shine assumed a feral transformation that involved diamond armor gracing his entire body and adding feral, ferocious features to him. Thanks to that transformation spell, Shine was able to work against the Bidom Gravirei and drive his left-hand claws into Brago's body.

Brago gritted his teeth, his red eyes disappearing into the white sclera, and forcibly pulled out Shine's claws and jumped back. "Sherry!" The fourteen-year-old Mamodo exclaimed. "Oruga Reis!" Sherry shouted. Brago then fired a spiraling beam of purple gravitational energy toward the Go Diamonruk-enhanced Shine. He was encompassed by the powerful attack but emerged afterward with only cracks in his armor.

Surprised but steadfast, Brago swiftly jumped back to dodge a swing of his sharp claws. He released a hiss of pain as he skidded back towards to Sherry, a slash mark on his chest bleeding slightly. "I don't say this to many Mamodo," Shine said as Brago's blood dripped off his claws, "You've got some pretty interesting spells there."

"Too bad I won't reciprocate that praise." Brago retorted as Sherry eyed Zale, who was repositioning himself to be behind Shine, carefully.

"I'm not the one bleeding now, am I?" Shine responded sharply. Brago growled as he darted to the Millennium Mamodo, "You will in a minute!" Both bookkeepers decided to let the Mamodo duke it out in old-fashioned hand to hand combat; although, they were keeping a close eye on each other (Sherry more so than Zale).

Brago threw a powerful fist at Shine who blocked it with his right arm. Shine proceeded to try and swipe at Brago again with those claws again, but the gravity-wielding Mamodo jumped over the slash and brutally kicked the Go Diamonruk-induced Shine in the face. "Come on! Is that all you got?" Shine vociferated after skidding back, then rushing for Brago again. "You're the one using a spell. Coward." Brago taunted as he prepared to be on the defensive.

"And you're dumb enough to just let me." Shine rejoined as he kicked with great force. Brago counterattacked with a mighty punch. The force from both attacks caused small splotches of blood to leak out of Brago's arm and Shine's diamond-encased leg. "That just shows how inferior you are," Brago replied, ignoring the pain expertly and believably, "You have to rely on the use of a spell to take me on. I must be that strong."

"Shine, don't let Fluffy there psyche you out." Zale spoke nonchalantly.

"What did you just call me?" Brago growled suddenly, not at all taking Zale's insult lightly. "Your guard's open!" Shine exclaimed, pulling back his leg and ramming his skull into Brago's gut. "GUAH!" The dark Mamodo grunted as he was knocked into a tree. Shine snickered, "Fluffy. What a nice nickname you came up with, Zale." The black-haired male shrugged his shoulders, "If you say so. By the way, I'm going to stop casting Go Diamonruk so I can either conserve Heart Energy or use different spells."

Shine nodded understandingly as his diamond armor disappeared in a flash of white. "Now, Brago!" Sherry suddenly yelled as a shadow was casted over the diamond-wielding Mamodo. Shine looked up to see Brago above him with glowing red eyes of fury and his hand outstretched yet again. "I think I know what's coming next," Zale thought, "But, unfortunately, Shine is going to have to accept this attack, and I'll hope he can counter immediately after it."

"BABER GRAVIDON!"

Trees were flung into air and a huge crater was the result of a sudden implosion. Zale and Sherry stood on opposite ends of the crater as Brago landed adjacently to the smoking center of the crater. Slowly, a figure rose inside the smoke, slowly subsiding to reveal an injured Shine. "Sh-Shit…" He cursed through gritted teeth, blood straining parts of his pale white fur.

"You should be crushed to death from that spell." Brago rasped pointedly. Shine's response was this: him quickly outstretching his arms with the palms connected. "Raja Diamzuga." Zale recited, the still closed blizzard blue spellbook glowing once more. Both of Shine's arms crystallized into a large diamond cannon and fired a powerful aurora beam. Brago put his hands up to defend himself as the burst of explosive white caused an explosion.

Sherry fell to the ground from the shockwave of the impact; however, she did not care about herself, given by her exclamation: "Brago!" From the smoke and dust cleared, Brago was revealed to be standing in front of the fallen Sherry, his black fur cloak smoldering and fresh wounds covering his body.

"You let your guard down. Both of you." Zale chastised from his side of the battlefield, "As powerful as you are, underestimation can be a team's downfall." Brago snarled darkly, his ire rising, "That mouth on that human…It pisses me off!"

Shine suddenly appeared in front of Brago, a ferocious and dark look in his eyes, as he stated, "That human has a name, Fluffy." Both Mamodo attacked at the same time, Shine with a roaring kick and Brago with a mighty punch. As the two powerful Mamodo exchanged blows, they were slowly but surely moving away from the crater they had formed to another suitable spot—they would later be scarred by them and their, of course.

Pretty soon, both teams relocated to a more open area—a grassy plain completely devoid of trees, shrubbery, or anything else that can and will be destroyed in the fight. Shine and Brago will still engaged in physical fighting. They were, needless to say, beating the crap out of each other.

"Don't let that animal push you around like that, Brago!" Sherry demanded encouragingly. "That animal has a name, Ringlets." Zale reminded her sharply. Tearing her attention from the fight, Sherry turned to glare at the walking Swedish male, "Well, aren't you the humorous one?"

"I can be." Zale responded simply. Sherry gritted her teeth as she clenched her staff in frustration, "Now I see why Brago got so aggravated with you and Shine." Zale took note of Sherry's reactions and replied dryly, "Apparently, now are you. "

"Sherry!" Brago shouted as he jumped away to avoid a groundbreaking elbow from Shine. The French blonde thought the dark Mamodo was demanding another spell to be casted, but he continued, "Get that book away from Zale! We need to burn it!"

"Getting desperate, aren't we?" Shine said as he rushed toward Brago, "Don't even think for a second that Zale is defenseless!" Brago suddenly grabbed Shine by his face and kneed him harshly in the gut, "Sherry isn't a weakling either for a human!" The Millennium Mamodo was knocked as splotches of blood flew out of his mouth.

Sherry held up her staff, capped out by a sharp emerald mace, as she told her opponent, "Don't underestimate me because I'm a woman, Zale." He only stared at her expressionlessly, "And if I do?" The blonde woman narrowed her blue eyes dangerously as she suddenly swung her staff, releasing the hidden whip the emerald mace was attached to at Zale, "Then you'll get hurt!"

Unfaltering, the tantō slipped out of his right sleeve and into his hand. He then parried that mace with his sword, causing Sherry to retract it back. "You're more than welcome to try, Ringlets," Zale challenged, "But you will see that I'm no pushover myself."

"Got you now!" Shine shouted as he attempted to drive Brago into the ground hard with a double-footed stomp. Unfortunately for him, Brago swiftly jumped over Shine to avoid the attack and positioned himself above him. "Shoot! My blind-spot is open again!" The Millennium Mamodo thought in distress.

Zale noticed this from the corner of his eyes, "Oh dear. Shine's gone and screwed up again." He thought as the blizzard blue spellbook glowed again. However, the spell went unsaid as Sherry flung her mace into Zale's head. "Don't think so!" She exclaimed and retracted her mace again. Because of that, Brago returned the favor by driving a harsh elbow into Shine's spine—but later gritted his teeth in pain as the spines pierced his flesh.

Zale glared at Sherry fiercely, a stream of blood running down the side of his face from the attack. "You are going to pay for that, Sherry." He said in an unnervingly calm voice, his glare beginning to manifest as a dark purple aura around him. The blonde eighteen-year-old countered with a forceful glare of her own, "Try me, Zale."

Brago stomped his foot on the fallen Shine, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Giving up already? You're not going unconscious on me, are you?" He mocked harshly before adding, "Then again, I want you to." Shine opened his eyes halfway and gave Brago one of his infamous death glares, "Kiss my ass, Fluffy." Brago, only momentarily surprised, growled irefully at that snarky response.

Zale was keeping his distance, meticulously planning when to close the distance and strike Sherry. He was also making sure she wouldn't knock the spellbook out of his arm. It was just that blasted mace was too versatile. It was almost like an extension if Sherry's arms and legs and she using swinging it in a variety of different ways—curvilinear, straightforward, diagonally, you name it. Thankfully, because of his keen eyes, Zale was able to accurately find the weak point in Sherry's swings and dodge or block them accordingly.

"What's the matter? Can't get closer than that?" Sherry taunted, retracting the mace once more. Instantly, Zale began rushing for the French blonde. "Bad move." She commented and cracked her mace like a whip. To her surprise, Zale sidestepped the maneuver—as if he had experience with that particular movement—and closed the gap between him and Sherry. "Not so bad now, is it?" He said and abruptly slashed her abdominal area with his tantō.

Sherry gritted her teeth in pain and staggered backwards, blood beginning to stain her white dress. "I hope you can replace that expensive dress of yours." Zale said tonelessly, "Then again, you wouldn't be fighting in it if you couldn't." Sherry glared as she responded, "Don't worry about that." Brago looked over his shoulder to see how his bookkeeper was holding up. He gritted his teeth when he saw Sherry get slashed by Zale's tantō. "That stupid girl. Can't even handle that human."

In a heartbeat, Zale and Shine locked eyes at each other from the corner of their eyes. Now, they were using their infamous ocular communication. Their glares transmitted their thoughts and plans. Now, they sprung into action.

"Didn't I say he had a name, asshole?" Shine reprimanded as he suddenly gripped Brago's leg tautly. Brago tied to rip away his leg from the diamond-wielding Mamodo's iron grip, but it was difficult.

Zale was charging at Sherry once again. "If I'm correct, based on what I've seen and what Shine has taught me…she will do…" With a yell, Sherry released her emerald mace from her staff and aimed it downward. "Exactly that." He suddenly sidestepped the weapon again and quickly grabbed hold of it. With a forceful thug, Sherry staggered in Zale's direction, eyes widening in disbelief. Wordlessly, Zale stepped behind her and slashed at her back.

"AHH!" Sherry screamed, falling her to her knees from the pain. "Sherry!" Brago exclaimed, taking his attention away from Shine. Zale and Shine smirked—this was all going according to plan. All that heartache and turmoil they put each other through in training when they first met paid off; Shine using many metallic weapons and beating Zale up to toughen up his body and sharpen his eyes (mainly his most powerful one of sight), and Zale strategically adjusting Shine to reacting simply through a look or a one-word command.

"Diamzuga." Zale recited the spell in a low, but dark tone. The hand that gripped Brago's leg turned into a small diamond cannon before releasing an aurora blast that knocked Brago away. "Brago!" Sherry exclaimed, ignoring the agonizing pain as she stood back onto her feet.

"Still…have some…fight left in you, huh?" Brago questioned in between pants as he rose defiantly back to his feet. Shine painstakingly rose as well, responding, "Of course…I'm going to be King in the end…I need to defeat strong enemies like you."

"I second that notion." Brago replied, "But I'm afraid I am the who is going to be King in the end. Got that?"

"Then, we might as well settle it all here." Shine suggested as he looked at Zale, "Zale, stop fooling around with Ringlets! Cast a spell!" Brago followed Shine's example as he barked his orders, "Sherry! You too!" The two humans, unfortunately, had to end their short altercation and resume their duties as bookkeepers.

"Ganjasu Orudiamzu!"

"Ion Gravirei!"

A crown of diamonds surrounded Shine as three rows of rising diamond stalagmites. Brago summoned a massive gravitational field around that, causing the stalactites to slowly recede back into the ground. "Looks like your diamonds won't be reaching us anytime soon!" Sherry objected. "Don't worry your pretty little head about that." Zale replied tonelessly. She narrowed his eyes, "He's got something planned. I just know it."

Ganjasu Orudiamzu was canceled out as Shine jumped away, barely getting out of Ion Gravirei's reach. He landed conveniently beside his Swedish bookkeeper. Kneeling down, Zale whispered his ear, "Have you noticed that, even though our spells are grounded by their gravity, they are not crushed altogether?" Shine smirked ferociously as he responded, "Yeah, I did. You thinking about using a coverage spell that wants to go down?" Zale smirked, "Precisely."

"I don't like the looks on their faces." Brago stated guardedly as proceeded to dash for the two, "Sherry, now!" The French woman recited the next spell, the black spellbook glowing powerfully, "Baber Gravidon!"

"Zale, do it!" Shine shouted as he outstretched an arm to the sky. For the first time since the battle begun, Zale opened up the blizzard blue spellbook, "Ariza Diamzen."

Shine released a stream of energy into the sky and created a white, blue, and red aurora that covered a good portion of the ceiling. Then, heavy diamond stalactites began falling from the aurora and to the ground. Unfortunately for Sherry and Brago, their powerful Baber Gravidon actually increased the falling speed of Ariza Diamzen. "What?" Brago exclaimed in surprise but then yelled in pain when the stalactites exploded on the ground around them.

Sherry gritted her teeth and forced herself stop casting the spell. "So they decided to use a spell that works with gravity." Zale spoke, "Glad you figured it out, but I haven't stopped casting the spell."

"Brago, get up and raise your hand toward that aurora!" Sherry ordered. Brago, shedding his war-torn fur cloak, extended an arm toward the aurora and the stalactites threatening to drop on him. "Oruga Reis!" From Brago's hand, a spiraling beam of purple gravitational energy was shot out. The Oruga Reis was powerful enough to blast through some of the stalactites and reach the aurora. It immediately dissipated into nothingness. "She's pretty smart herself." Shine commented. "Yeah, but then again, we seem to have rotten luck nowadays with strong opponents." Zale said as he stood back on his feet.

"Zale." Shine said sternly, "Remember when you told me we had new spell?"

"What about it?"

"Read it." Shine ordered, not taking his eyes off Brago who seemed to be waiting for them to make the next move. "Careful, Shine," Zale said warningly, "I'm not exactly a proponent of using new spells in a battle. If its effects are undesirable, we could be finished off." Shine closed his emerald green eyes, "Even so…we need an edge in this," he reopened them as they glinted with dogged determination, "Besides, I'm not ready to use my strongest spell; they don't deserve it yet."

Zale flipped pages in the blizzard blue spellbook until the new spell came up, "As you wish. Just be ready." The book glowed a bright white color as Shine held out his hands. "Here they come." Brago alerted his bookkeeper. "That's fine," Sherry said as she too went to a different page, "We have a new spell we need to try out an actual team anyway!"

"Arizan Diamonugu!"

"Diborudo Jii Gravidon!"

Shine's hands glowed white as another aurora was summoned into the sky. Only this time, specks of snowy white began cascading down. "That's it?" Shine remarked in an unimpressed tone. "Can't be." Zale stated matter-of-factly and waited for their opponent's spell.

A double-layered gravitational sphere was spontaneously produced. The outer sphere was grayish in color, like Brago's skin, and the multiple inner spheres were pitch-black. Its effects were recognized immediately—the harsh gravitational pull was drawing Shine closer and closer and sucking up the specks of white falling from the aurora.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Shine yelled, trying to stand his ground but was being forced closer to the gargantuan sphere. "Hmph," Brago smirked as his outstretched hands glowed purple, "So it seems your last regret will be not trying out your new spells outside of battle."

"BRAGO!"

Brago was instantly alarmed by Sherry's distressed yell and turned around to see Sherry's legs and the upper half of her arm were crystallizing. "What the?" He shouted and then looked to see he was experiencing the same crystallization process as well, "What is the meaning of this?"

"You're turning into a diamond…" Shine notified in a mystified tone. Of course, he did not know this was going to happen himself. "I see," Zale spoke, his sharp red eyes drinking in all the information from the sights he was seeing, "Arizan Diamonugu casts a shower of diamond snowflakes from that aurora. Anything it touches crystallizes, slowly turning into a diamond figurine." He then pointed at a particular object, "And I mean anything."

Sherry and Brago looked to see that Diborudo Jii Gravidon too was beginning to crystallize, inside and out. Apparently, its gravitational field had sucked up a large amount of the diamond snowflakes and the aurora itself. Shine laughed boisterously, "It seems your last regret will be meeting me and being our test dummies for our newest spell!"

"You damned animal!" Brago roared, eyes glowing red and a maliciously grayish-purple aura about him. "Suck it, Fluffy!" Shine roared back, emeralds eyes glinting ferociously as a dark red aura encompassed his bloodied body.

Out of nowhere, the crystallization process ceased. Shine immediately stopped his victorious laughter and saw that the aurora was gone. Zale himself was unable to register this phenomenon. "…What the hell?" They muttered in wonder. "Now who's underestimating us?" Sherry spoke heatedly, "Our spell….was strong enough to suck up all of your little parlor trick."

"Heh. Now who's laughing, punk?" Brago taunted, breaking out of the weakened diamonds on his body. Sherry did the same thing, now glad to have her movement back. The completely crystallized Diborudo Jii Gravidon broke apart and fell to the ground in heavy slabs.

"…One last spell." Shine said with an expressionless face.

"The strongest one." Brago stated, outstretching his arm.

Sherry and Zale complied to their Mamodo's demands. Their respective black and blizzard blue spellbook produced intense radiation as the humans poured their remaining heart energy into it.

"Brago, why do you want to become King?" Shine inquired as his hands began to glow. "Being a strong and powerful king suits no one else but me!" Brago replied as intense gravity convened in his hand. "And I swore to Brago that I would make Brago king even if my life depended on it!" Sherry articulated doggedly, her emotions amplifying the light of the black book. "And you, Shine?" Brago reciprocated the question.

"Believe it or not, I'm actually one of the Mamodo from one thousand years," Shine explained, "But…I was screwed out of my chance to become King in an impossibly horrible way. My bookkeeper gave up on me in the most important battle one thousand years ago and Goren turned me into stone for it. My reason to be King back then may no longer be valid, but…I want to make sure! Even if that is the case, then I'll just be a King that respects everyone's wishes!" Zale added in firmly, "Don't give us any of that talk about not being involved in a present-day matter either. I'm sure destiny wanted this to happen to Shine and I if we managed this far."

"Fine then. We won't." Brago said, "However, your book is about to be burned anyway! Sherry!"

"Zale!"

"DO IT!"

"DIOGA GRAVIDON!"

"DIOGA DIAMZU!"

From Brago's hand, a gigantic purple sphere of gravity with multicolored beams swirling around it was unleashed. From Shine's hands, a blue diamond Griffon sore into the skies. The two Dioga-class spells from the supposedly strongest Mamodo in the current fight and the strongest from one thousand years ago had met.

"You won't be able to use this shoulder for awhile."

Inside lodging in a town right outside of the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan, Zale had finished placing Shine's right arm and shoulder in a sling. It had been 2 hours since their battle with Sherry and Brago, and it had ended in a tie after their most powerful spells clashed.

"Of course, your Mamodo blood might make it heal faster than I think," Zale conjectured, starting to remove the wraps around his head, "Plus, I already know you're going to fight even with one arm." Shine grinned ferociously as he remarked, "You know me too well, Zale. Even better that Ringlets didn't cause that much damage to you."

"Can't say the same to you." Zale stated as he threw away the bandages and put on a replacement to his old vest, "You have more injuries than Brago did."

"Hey," Shine objected, "I left him a "remember my name," so you gotta give me some credit!"

Zale chuckled as he placed the blizzard blue spellbook inside his vest, "Even so, for at least three days, let's avoid getting into battles." He began for the door, "Now, let's head into downtown Tokyo. That's out next stop—"

"Zale."

The eighteen-year-old male looked at Shine quizzically, blinking. The injured anthropomorphic porcupine was looking out the window in their lodging at the starry evening sky, leaning against the opposite wall. He had a wistful look on his face, as if he was deciding how to finish this statement. "Let's…just take it easy altogether." He finally said.

Zale blinked some more. That was certainly something uncharacteristic of Shine. He was always on the go, looking for opponents to fight next to try and get closer to become King. He really was changing (for the better, that was).

With a small sigh, Zale dropped his travel bag and plopped onto the bed, smiling thankfully. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to hear that."

Author Notes

The fifteen chapter of the story, and I must say, I like this one the most. Probably because Zale and Shine meet someone their match. This also is the last chapter that is centered around the two. Hope you guys liked it.