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, Haruko, Izo Uramori, Myriam Schwazden, Mystrael, Metallix, Professor Linda, Orion, Jade, Shine, Zale Schwazden, Thoria, Cassandra, Vini, Amanda, Phoebe, Samantha, Phantom, Isaac, Marjorie Barragán, and Talón.

Chapter 17: Change in Pace

"Harumi!" Haruko whined as she entered Harumi's bedroom, "Are you ready yet?"

"Almost, almost. I just gotta do my hair." Harumi answered, sitting cross-legged in front of her makeup table and the large mirror on it. She was wearing a sleeveless, ocean boat blue vest with a wide neckline; a Navajo white scarf; a knee-length, frilled, Navajo white skirt with an ocean boat blue, patterned belt; ocean boat blue ankle boots; and gold hoop earrings. Her blonde hair was not in its usual ponytail, cascading down to its normal mid-spine length.

"…Um…" Haruko squeaked, looking at her bookkeeper questioningly, "It looks done already…"

"That's because I'm deciding whether it should be in curls, braided, or keep it straight," Harumi answered. She then let a smirk etch on her face, "After all, I might as well turn some heads if I'm going to an athletic event."A sweat-drop appeared on Haruko's head as she said dubiously, "If you say so…"

"I'm just ecstatic that Curtis finally decided to join the track team." Harumi announced happily, staring at her reflection's hair thoughtfully, "It's about time he got out of that apartment of his and away from those video games."

"Um, right…" Haruko rubbed the back of her head through her curly pale blonde hair, "And if you want my opinion…you should keep it straight."

"I was thinking the same thing."

"Bao? You mean Bao Zakeruga?"

Kiyo and Zatch stared at their attackers watchfully. It was obvious they wanted something and was going to use force if necessary.

"I believe so." The grayish green-haired girl replied and then introduced herself, "Se nombre es Marjorie Barragán." She lifted up slightly the arm that possessed the falconry glove and the bird roosting on it, "This is my partner, Talón."

"Don't you mean 'Talon?'?" Zatch asked innocently, noticing how synonymous the two words sounded. "Same difference." Marjorie retorted, rolling her eyes at the blonde boy's childishness.

"These guys aren't the first guys to ask about Bao Zakeruga…" Kiyo thought, still keeping a watchful on Marjorie and Talon, "Just a couple of nights ago…there was that Mamodo and his partner, Arth and Elly, who wanted to know the same thing. Could they be working together? Or are they doing something else?" He narrowed his eyes, "What the hell is going on…?"

Kiyo would not have more time to ruminate on the matter because Talon removed himself from his bookkeeper' arm and flew straight toward Zatch. "Get ready, Zatch!" He yelled as he immediately opened up the red spellbook and read a spell, "Zakeruga!"

"Airzuruk!"

Zatch's eyes rolled to the back of his head as a concentrated beam of lightning was discharged. However, the speed boost provided by Airzuruk allowed Talon to dodged the attack and ram straight into Zatch at a different angle. "Whoa! That bird is fast!" Kiyo commented in shock. He then asked aloud, "Zatch! You okay?"

The blonde Mamodo forced himself to his feet, "I'm alright, Kiyo." Marjorie smirked as the antique white book in her arm glowed once more, "For how long is what I wonder. Airzuruk!" Talon performed an aerial loop and dashed for Zatch again. "Rauzaruk!" A lightning bolt suddenly came down from the sky and struck Zatch, giving him a rainbow-colored aura. However, even the boost provided by Rauzaruk was not enough for Zatch to evade another ram from the white and brown falcon.

"Mmhmhm." Marjorie chuckled as Talon gradually slowed down and returned to a hovering position above her, "Is that the extent of your skills? Tan decepcionando." Kiyo gritted his teeth as he glared at the older human, "Why don't you say that in English or Japanese so I can understand you?"

Marjorie sneered as she retorted, "Understand this, little boy!" The antique white spellbook glowed brighter this time, "Garu Airzuruk!" Talon shot himself toward Zatch again as a rotating, sharp spiral of air surrounded him. "This one is marginally slower than her last spell." Kiyo noted in his mind, "Zatch, dodge to the left!"

Zatch did as he was told, and Talon flew past them after missing his mark. Marjorie gritted her teeth in frustration, "Bastard." Kiyo pointed at the bird in his trademark style, dismissing Rauzaruk, and said another spell, "Zaker!" Again, Zatch's eyes rolled to the back of his head and unleashed a burst of lightning. Talon, unable to react, was struck and squawked in pain. "Bull's-eye!" Kiyo said happily.

"Hmph! This isn't over, boy!" Marjorie said defiantly. From the smoke, Talon flew out and cawed belittlingly, "Koko kaw. (That attack was barely lukewarm.)" Zatch gritted his teeth and called out to his partner, "Kiyo!"

"Zakeruga!"

"Ar Shield!"

Zatch unleashed another beam of lightning from his mouth, but Talon retaliated by summoning a concentrated, light silver, disc-shaped shield of air to block the electrical attack. Kiyo gritted his teeth as he thought, "What are these two? I can't seem to get any sort of leeway for a direct hit unlike that last time."

His dark eyes then caught something out of the corner of his eyes: the remnants of the metal jungle gym. "Oh wait…That's it! I can use Jikerdor to shut down their speed! But, odds are they can easily move out of the way with their speed." He then recalled how he managed to hit Talon with Zaker, but that was only because of Garu Airzuruk. What were the odds of that happening again? "But it's worth a shot." Kiyo thought.

"Let's rip them in half, Talón," Marjorie said, "Garu Airzuruk!" Once again, the avian Mamodo launched himself to Zatch as a rotating spiral of air surrounded him. "Perfect!" Kiyo exclaimed and put his plan into action, "Jikerdor!" Zatch's golden-orange eyes rolled to the back of his head as an electromagnetic sphere was released from it. Once it collided with the Garu Airzuruk-induced Talon, the bird was immediately attracted toward the metal remains of the jungle gym.

"Kaaaaaaaw!" Talon screamed as he was forcibly and magnetically attached to them. "Talón!" Marjorie exclaimed, whipping her body toward the direction of her immobilized partner. "Now are you gonna tell us why you're here?" Kiyo demanded. Marjorie shot the younger human with a glare from her blue eyes, "I don't have to tell you anything. All you need to know is that the creature you call Bao Zakerga is very important."

"…Kinda sounds like what Arth said about Bao Zakeruga…" Kiyo thought. Arth and his young bookkeeper Elly were another team participating in the Mamodo Fight, and they were among the remaining forty. Arth, an armored swordsman, stated his reason for attacking him and Zatch that day was because they were the user of Bao. They never figured out why he possessed such enmity to Bao Zakeruga. Along with that, Arth and Elly mentioned something about two great threats, and Bao was one of them.

"But I will say this, I am not alone." Marjorie added. This caused Kiyo to asked, "And who are you working with?" The Spanish female responded as her antique white spellbook started glowing, "That's classified." Zatch lunged for Marjorie, with intent of snatching the book, while yelling, "Whatever it is, we won't let it happen!"

Marjorie, unmoved, simply grinned and said another spell, "Airzurusen!" Talon's eyes reopened determinedly as he released a shot of concentrated air from his beak. The attack hit Zatch point-blank and sent him into a tree. "Zatch!" Kiyo shouted as he ran over to his fallen partner.

Around this time, Jikerdor finally wore off as Talon was freed, and Marjorie walked over to him as he roosted on the falconry glove. "You must have been born prematurely to think that you could defeat us this way." Marjorie chastised, turning to them. "Ko. (Indeed.)" Talon agreed.

Kiyo and Zatch looked at them as she continued talking, "It's time we settle this." Talon flew off Marjorie's glove as the antique white spellbook glowed more brightly. "Get ready, Zatch…" Kiyo whispered warily, eyeing them as Zatch nodded.

"Go Airzuruk!"

"I can't believe I let ya'll talk me into this..." Curtis groused as he parked his vehicle. The reason why he was fussing was because this was the first day he was to practice track. The destination was the track ring near the athletic complex at Odaiba High School where the current track team had already met.

"You won't regret this, Curtis, I'm sure!" Gretchen, on the other hand, was unusually more exuberant. She was excited to see if Curtis would become the fastest newcomer on the track team. "Now hurry up and get out!" She demanded.

"Yeah, yeah." Curtis huffed as he turned off the car and walked out. He was wearing the standard practice outfit: navy sports pants and the sleeveless practice jersey. Gretchen followed behind with more pep in her step, "Knock 'em dead, Curtis!" She encouraged as he walked off to the bleachers where she could bear witness to the practice.

Much to Gretchen's surprise, Harumi and Haruko were already situated at a spot in the stands. "Oh, hey, you two!" Gretchen greeted as she walked up to them and sat down. "Hey, Gretch." Harumi greeted. "Hi, Oneechan." Haruko said smilingly. It was pretty much understood why they spoke not much more given the circumstances.

Curtis sighed once again before going to where the practice was to be held in the part of ring. At the very beginning of the clay trail, sure enough, was the track team. "Because it's Saturday, the drill is simple: five laps around the trail." The track coach said to the runners. Over them, he saw Curtis making his way to the team. Clearing his throat, he added, "But before that, let me introduce our newest member of the team. Though, most of you should know him." He gestured his hand to the back of them, "Curtis Herrakoro."

The track team turned to see Curtis standing before them with arms crossed. "Yo." He greeted tersely. "Glad you showed up, Curtis." the track coach said, "Now, we just got to see what you're made of. Every new member-"

"Why him?"

Everyone turned to the source of the brusque and sharp voice, a black-haired male with black-rimmed glasses. "Isn't he the guy that plays video games even during class?" He was Juniki Oresama, the Senior leader of the track leader and their fastest runner. Curtis narrowed his pale pink eyes at the Chinese/Japanese student, "And if I am?" He replied challengingly.

"You'll be wasting our time. Besides, we have enough runners as is. Don't even know why you signed up so late in the season." Juniki continued. "Hey, Jun, don't pick fights with the rookie." One of the teammates said in the back. "Yeah, man, give Curtis a chance!" another said, this time closer.

Gretchen, watching from afar, frowned at the gall of the star runner, "What an asshole."She thought. "He thinks he's all that because he won several trophies and broke the school record last year." Harumi said, leering angrily at Juniki. "…Um. Then shouldn't he have reason to boast, Harumi?" Haruko pointed out innocently. Harumi silenced her with a glare from the corner of her eyes.

"Then, Oresama, why don't you race me?" Curtis challenged. All eyes fell on the African/Japanese male, some with disbelief in their eyes. "Excuse me?" Juniki said warningly, turning to him. "I'm sure I be speakin' our native language," Curtis teased with his famous grin, "'Course, you can always run away if ya want to."

Juniki did not appreciate being talked down by the rookie of the team, and it was evident with the ire displayed in his eyes. "Fine then! Let's race!" Curtis looked at the track coach and stated, "Ya mind this bein' my evaluation, coach?" The track coach nodded unquestioningly, "It'll be a tough one, but if you insist."

Curtis looked at Juniki and stated, "Like you said, baby, let's race!"

A few minutes later, Curtis and Juniki stood at the beginning of the straightest pathway on the trail, both busy stretching for their upcoming race.

"First one to make it to the end of the path is the winner. Plain and simple." The track coach said to them. Some of the team members were on that side of the trail while the others were stationed at the end, acting as the finish line.

"Easy enough." Juniki declared as he assumed the standard starting stance. "Sho is." Curtis agreed as he prepared himself. One of the track runners stepped beside the ecru-haired male, "No, Curtis, you position yourself like this." That person quickly got into the stance in order to show Curtis how to properly do it.

"Oh." Curtis responded as he imitated the person's stance, "...This feels uncomfortable." He remarked. "It's supposed to allow you to get a boost in speed when the race begins." That track runner stated as he stood up and backed off.

Juniki only sighed as he thought, "What an amateur."

"On your marks," the track coach said as the two racers prepared themselves, "Get set...GO!"

Both Juniki and Curtis sprinted from their starting positions. Typically, for he had more experience, Juniki was starting to gain the lead. But, to his disbelief, this lead was only marginal - Curtis was actually hot on his trail.

"Whoa, look at Curtis go!"

"He's RIGHT behind Juniki!"

"Juniki's still ahead though!"

Those were some of the comments, along with encouraging cheers, made by the rest of the track team as the race went on. Juniki himself couldn't believe how close Curtis was to him. "I should be leaving him in the dust! He CAN'T be that fast!" Juniki thought outrageously.

Curtis, meanwhile, focused only on the objective at hand, and that was passing Juniki and winning this race. Truth be told, he could not believe he was this fast on his feet. "Well, I DO have African blood in me..." He thought. But he soon concentrated on the matter at hand. He was not exactly out of the woods yet, for he was still behind Juniki. "I need to pass dis fool, but I think I'm already at top speeds..."

Pretty soon, the "finish line" was coming closer and closer. Juniki smirked when he noticed that Curtis was still behind him - even if slightly. "Heh. Well, not the pace I wanted, but a victory is a victory."He thought.

Curtis gritted his teeth when he noticed he wasn't passing Juniki as the end of the race dawned. "Better luck next time, Herrakoro." Juniki said, "Picking challenges on a video game is different than in real life."

"You know what, I'm tired of yo ass." Curtis said abrasively. Fueled by that ambition, Curtis leaned forward in his posture and pushed himself to the limits. "What the-!" Juniki exclaimed. Before the senior star runner knew it, Curtis had turned the tables and gained a small lead - by the same margin Juniki used to have to be exact. This was kept right past the finish line, and the track team exploded into cheers.

"I-Impossible!" Juniki said in disbelief as he jogged to a stop. Even he knew that Curtis had beaten him. "Suck it, Jun! I win!" Curtis yelled triumphantly after coming to a stop.

"Wow! Jun lost!"

"To the rookie!"

"Well, looks like we know who the fastest runner in Odaiba is now."

"Way to go, Curtis!"

Pretty soon, the track team surrounded Curtis and made similar commendations to him. "Ya'll get off me! I can't breathe and my legs hurt like hell!" Curtis yelled in distress, now suffering from the effects of pushing himself against an adversary like Juniki.

"Alright, everyone, break it up!" The track coach shouted, causing everyone to disperse and snap Juniki out of his stupor. "Well, well, Curtis, that was pretty ballsy. Everyone in the league is gonna be surprised when they see you in action."

" 'Preciate it, coach." Curtis said and then walked to Juniki, " 'Ey, man. I hope ya learned somethin'. But...good race is what I have to say." Juniki stared at Curtis's hand blankly, giving the impression to many that he wasn't going to display sportsmanship. A second later, the Senior shook the ecru-haired male's hand, "Yeah. Good race, Curtis." He said simply.

"Alright, time to start practice. Get to jogging!" The track coach barked and the team went off. Curtis's face was priceless upon hearing that. He had forgotten they had the actual practice session, and he pushed himself so much during his inauguration. "Well, Herrakoro? Come on!" Juniki urged, snickering as he start jogging.

"Lord, give me strength.." Curtis mumbled as he jogged after, trying to ignore the soreness coming up in his lower extremities. From the corners of his eyes, he saw Gretchen smiling at him proudly, and he couldn't help but smirk back. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all. Now, he just had to get accustomed to it.

"Twenty buck says he's going to pass out before the end." Harumi declared, causing Gretchen to laugh. "Harumi! That's a horrible thing to bet on!" Haruko objected.

"We'll take you up on that offer."

Gretchen, Harumi, and Haruko stopped to see two familiar faces joined the party: Izo and Nylon. Izo was donning a sleeveless, Air Force blue, Madarin-style shirt with vertical, golden buttoning and Air Force blue pants. He wears an Air Force blue, collared cloak. An interesting new feature to his attire was that a rapier inside a gold dark sheath connected to his belt. Nylon had his original outfit; the only addition being a large dark green scabbard, holding a sheathed sword inside it. The hilt guard as white and silver, and the actual hilt was a standard gold. Based on the diameter of the sheath, the sword's blade was fairly wide, and it was wrapped around the upper parts of his cloak by a brown strap.

"Izo! Nylon! You're back!" Harumi exclaimed, standing up from her seat and hugging her friend. She was excited to see them return from a regional championship in Nagasaki. "Did you win, Izo-san?" Haruko asked curiously. "With flying colors." Izo answered proudly, breaking the hug. Nylon held up his hand and chimed in, "I'm a witness."

"That explains the change of clothes." Gretchen stated, "Usually people buy something to commemorate a victory, especially if it's far away from home."

"Exactly." Izo said as he and Nylon took a seat, "I'm curious, you three. How did you finally manage to coerce Curtis into joining the track team?"

"Actually, it wasn't us," Harumi replied honestly, "It was Megumi." Izo blinked in surprise, "Megumi?" Nylon chuckled as he added in, "That doesn't surprise me. She's got a heart of gold. She knows how to handle situations like that in the nicest way possible."

"That reminds me," Izo suddenly proclaimed and look at the three girls hopefully, "Gretchen, Haruko, Harumi, do you three know anyone by the name of Cherish?" The three girls only look at him thoughtfully, a simultaneous 'uhhhh' droning from their slightly agape mouths. "She's a girl Mamodo. About Nylon's age. Long, wavy, golden-brown hair." The three girls shook their heads in unison. Izo leaned back into his seat and said in a soft tone, "I see…"

"Why? What's up?" Gretchen asked out of the blue. It was Nylon who began the story: "While we were in Nagasaki, I met an old friend of mine…"

"…Yield…"

"Winner: Izo Uramori."

The two fencers withdraw their fencing swords and bowed graciously before going their separate ways. Izo removed his mask from his head and breathed a sigh of relief. "One step closer to winning." He muttered to himself. The rest of his teammates were eliminated already in separate tournaments, so he was the sole representative of Odabia High School and had a chance of winning the title.

After redressing and a quick team meeting, Izo was dismissed, and he met up with Nylon outside the complex the fencing tournament was held. "Training pays off, doesn't it?" The Mamodo knight asked with a grin. "It sure does. That was my toughest match yet…" Izo said tiredly. Nylon chuckled and patted encouragingly on his partner's back, "Keep up the good work, Izo."

"Saazu Nagur!"

Izo and Nylon instantly became alert when they heard the sounds of a scuffle in the distance. "A fight's going on?" Izo asked aloud. Nylon's brow knitted together, "In a place like this? How disrespectful. Come on, Izo." The high school fencer nodded before pursuing his demon partner.

"Forusu Nagur!"

Another explosion rocked the area as Izo and Nylon arrived at the sight of the fight in an alleyway. As they thought, there were two teams fighting. One of them was an eighteen-year-old teen carrying a blizzard blue spellbook with his partner being an anthropomorphic porcupine. The other was an old man carrying a green book beside a bike with his partner being a ten-year-old boy with blonde hair fashioned in a pompadour. From the looks of it, the old man and the empowered young boy were losing.

"Those, what did you call them, "gears" don't seem to be helping that much." The white porcupine chastised, his emerald eyes glinting with ferocious intent. He looked over his shoulder at this bookkeeper, "Zale?" The black-haired young adult nodded, "All right, Shine." The blizzard blue spellbook glowed in his arm, "Diamzuga."

The blonde Mamodo turned his partner and shouted, "Jed! Raise the gear! Hurry!" Jed gritted his teeth and said lamentably, "I can't, Ted…I haven't stored enough heart energy yet." Ted turned back to his opponent who had turned his arm into a diamond cannon and was aiming. "Shoot." He said under his breath and reassumed his boxing stance.

"Gigano Ave Shield!"

From the ground in front of Ted, a stone battlement with a steel, intricate medieval shield was erected and intercepted the powerful blast from Shine's Diamzuga. "What's this?" Jed exclaimed as Zale narrowed his eyes contemptuously.

"What the…?" Ted said in soft tone, utterly surprised to see the defense spell as it receded back into the ground. "Working hard or hardly working, Ted?" Nylon walked up to the ten-year-old demon and placed a hand on his shoulder. Ted looked to see Nylon, and his blue eyes widened in surprise, "Nylon? Oh man! Am I glad to see you!"

"Hey, Ted. You know this cat?" Jed asked curiously, shoving his free hand into his pocket. Ted turned to his bookkeeper and stated happily, "Do I? Nylon here is my best friend from the Mamodo World!" Ted then noticed that Izo was standing by Jed and pointed out, "You his book owner?"

"Ah!" Jed jumped in surprise when he noticed Izo was standing patiently beside him.

"Yes, that would be me," Izo said, unfazed by Jed's outburst, and introduced himself, "The name's Izo Uramori."

"Hey! Weaklings!" Shine called out to them impatiently, "Did you forget that I'm here?" Izo, Nylon, Ted, and Jed all turned to their opponents. "Newcomers," Zale spoke, "Identify yourselves please."

"Nylon Ishuzumai." The silver-haired knight replied as he unsheathed his sword and pointed it at Shine. Izo withdraw the dark brown spellbook as he too replied, "And Izo Uramori. Pleasure to meet you, sirs."

The blizzard blue spellbook in Zale's arm started to glow more brightly. He brought the book up and opened it, one of his indications that his subsequent spells were powerful. "Zale Schwazden is my name, and my partner is Shine. Now let's resume." Shine wore a feral grin as Nylon and Ted prepared themselves.

"Careful, Nylon…" Ted cautioned, "That guy is tough. Like really tough. I'm already at my fourth gear, and he's withstood all my attacks and countered with really strong blows. My back's against the wall."

"Go Diamonruk."

Shine's whole body was covered in diamonds as his quills straightened, claws grew, and his actual disappeared in order to leave the white sclera. It was feral transformation indeed. "Now, here I come!" Shine shouted as he charged with increased speed.

"Garudo Shigeru!" Izo shouted the spell. Nylon's "guillotine" was summoned in his hand: a large, black, double-headed battle axe with rounded blades—which had silver cutting edges and one was slightly higher than the other. Nylon charged himself and swung vertically, only for Shine to block the attack with the mass of diamonds where his hand would be.

Nylon balked because he had yet met someone who could stopped a swing of his guillotine was easily. This Mamodo had extraordinary strength, that was for sure. Shine smirked as he said as he threw away the weapon, "Too soft!"

"Yeah? Well, I won't be!" Ted suddenly appeared in-between Nylon and Shine. He then rapidly threw punch after punch, yelling in effort as he tried to his enhanced strength to break that layer of diamond.

"Oh man. That's unreal!" Izo commented in amazement. Jed smiled as he explained, "That's the power of Forusu Nagur, the fourth gear. You see, Ted' spells are linked together. I have to start the engine with Doraguna Nagur, then go up from there. I can't start off with the most powerful gear. It just doesn't work like that."

"Piss off!" Ted hollered as he pulled his fist back and launched a good one to Shine's face. "Agh!" Shine exclaimed as he skidded back. A good number of fragments fell from his diamond armor, showing the wounds that were made from the onslaught. "Ohh. Now, I'm starting to see the efficiency of those gears." Zale spoke his thoughts. He couldn't tell previously since Shine had the edge in the battle despite how many gears Ted and Jed went through.

"Your point?" Shine responded. To his surprise, Go Diamonruk was dispelled, and he turned to normal. "I know which spells should be used." Zale answered and then casted, "Ariza Diamzen."

Shine raised his hand and shot a small beam into the sky. A red, white, and blue aurora was summoned above the battlefield and heavy diamond stalactites began falling toward the four.

"Oh man! He didn't use this before!" Ted exclaimed. His physical strengthening spells had little effect against crowd-control spells. Nylon gritted his teeth—his spells were designed for straightforward, close quarters combat as well. "Ted, Nylon, let's cut our losses and get the hell out of here!" Izo admonished as Jed mounted his bike.

"Running away? There's no escape!" Shine said derisively. Zale sighed as he closed the book, "Let's leave it at that, Shine. I'm almost out of heart energy anyway." The emerald-eyed Mamodo exhaled sharply, "Fine then. But I want to see if these last stalactites will hit."

Ted got in front of Izo and Jed and threw two punches at some stalactites, which broke into pieces. Nylon did similarly, slashing them with Garudo Shigeru. "Ted! Quit playing around and get on! Izo, Nylon, you two!" Jed shouted, and Izo unquestioningly hopped on.

Nylon and Ted, after fending off more stalactites that threatened them, followed up, and Jed hauled tail out of there at around eighty miles per hour.

"Ted happens to be one a regular at my orphanages back in the Mamodo World," Nylon continued to tell, "It was the first time we met since the battle began. He's the one who wants to know where Cherish is."

"Oh that's right," Harumi stated, "I forgot you owned a chain of rescues homes back at your world." Harumi looked at the swordsman hopefully and inquired, "Mr. Nylon, could you tell us more?"

Right as when he was about to, all of them suddenly heard someone collapse and then someone shouting, "Hey! Someone give the rookie some water!" As predicted, Curtis collapsed from exhaustion during the practice.

Harumi, Nylon, and Izo held their open hands toward Gretchen and Haruko, "Pay up."

"Go Airzuruk!"

An aura the same color as his book surrounded Talon. His overall size increased slightly as his entire head, upper torso, and the parts of his wings nearest to his torso were adorned with gold-white armor. His tail feathers also lengthened slightly, and his wing feathers sharpened based on visual interpretation.

"Ko kaw!" Talon screeched mightily as his transformation completed. Kiyo's eyes widened slightly as he thought, "An armor spell…just like Ponygon's…"

"AHH!"

In literally the blink of an eye, Zatch was rammed by the Go Airzuruk-induced Talon. Kiyo's shock increased tremendously. This bird was much faster than Ponygon! "ZATCH!" The dark-haired student yelled as Talon brought the blonde Mamodo into the air with him, and then slammed him harshly on the ground.

Marjorie laughed vindictively, "I told you that you would need to change up your game against us." Talon hovered beside his bookkeeper, chuckling just as spitefully. Kiyo ran over to the grounded Zatch and knelt beside him to check his welfare, "Zatch! Speak to me!" Zatch weakly rose to his rose, "I'm..alright…Kiyo…"

"Talon," Marjorie called out sternly to her avian Mamodo who looked at her, "Les terminas, por favor." Talon nodded, turned back to Zatch and Kiyo, and flapped his winds. Air currents brewed in their direction, blinding and discombobulating them. "He can manipulate air, too?" Kiyo spoke his thoughts aloud.

"Sorry, Bao, I'm afraid you have disappointed us." Marjorie declared, "Ar—"

"Raja Ieruga!"

Suddenly, a huge beam of black energy engulfed Talon as the bird screeched in agony. The attack also put a stop to the violent air currents. "Que diablos?" Marjorie exclaimed in shock. Zatch and Kiyo were equally shock, but when they looked to see their saviors, they were instantly relieved.

"Ang! E!"