Zatch Bell: Kolulu Story
By:CleruSonofShintetsu
[Chapter 3: Kolulu vs Eshros, the Rocky Manipulator (Part 2)]
Shin, Eshros, and Kiyo all looked at the source of the voice, as two enlarged rocket fists flew out and slammed into both Shin and Eshros at once, leading to a small explosion on the field.
Lori and Kolulu jumped down and ran over to Kiyo, Kolulu staring at Eshros the whole time, like a wolf staring down it's prey.
"Lori, hurry up with the nerd over there, I wanna tear into this paint faced weasel!" she said, sharpening her claws in anticipation for combat.
Lori kneeled down and helped Kiyo to his feet. "Kiyo...are you alright?" she asked, looking back to Eshros and Shin every now and again.
"I'm fine, just a bloody nose is all. I am SO sorry I forgot to tell you the school and location! How'd you find us anyway?" he said, apologetically.
"Well considering the loud utterance of Grandsen, and the loud smashing sounds of rocks hitting the school, I think that narrowed it down nicely." she explained.
Eshros would point at Kolulu and say, "Shin, we have trouble! That nerd wasn't joking around after all!"
Shin got to his feet, rubbing his sore back and nodding. "Darn it...I can't...just get out of my way you two! Don't make me hurt anyone else!"
"That's enough, you don't wanna do this!" Lori said, trying to reason with him.
Shin shook his head and opened the book. "I'm sorry, but no one is gonna get in my way! GROUNDAM!" he yelled, two slabs of rock forming out of the ground and enclosing upon Kolulu and Lori.
Lori yelled out, "ZERURUDO!", and Kolulu glowed with a spherical pink aura and swiftly got them out of the entrapment of stone slabs and landed nearby.
She then followed up with another spell. "ZERUK!" she yelled, Kolulu dashing for Eshros and swinging her claws wildly.
Eshros was torn into for a brief moment, bleeding from the chest. "Agh! Shin use a spell you big ape!" he commanded, Shin complying immediately.
"CLAYDO!" he yelled, clay trapping the rampaging child up to her neck.
"H-hey! Let me out of here, I'll bite your shins off! Gyah!" she said, flailing and thrashing around in the clay.
Shin would follow up with another spell soon after. "GROUNDGARUDO!" he called out, sending rock spikes upwards and skewering Kolulu, sending her flying back with a screech.
"Kolulu!" Lori called out, concerned for the well being of her dear friend. ("W-what happened!? Why didn't it work!?") she thought, running over to Kolulu's side.
Kolulu landed and soon hopped to her feet, grinning widely. "Hey...this one might actually be fun! Let's see how well you do against us now, kid!" she said, waiting expectantly for a spell.
Lori then cast another spell. "ZERUSEN!" she yelled, two rocket fists approaching the duo once again.
"CLAYSHIELD!" Shin said, a thin shield rising up and protecting against the attack, though shattering on impact as a result.
Eshros whistled to Shin. "Hey, send another attack at the school while you still can!" he said, Shin nodding and doing exactly as told.
"GRANDSEN!" he called, the four cannon-like protrusions rising up and sending four more rocks at the school, this time landing on the lower floors of the school and causing further damage.
"Ah, no!" Kiyo said in a panic. "If they keep damaging the school, it will be torn down in a blink!"
Lori panted, stressing out over what to do next. Kolulu was also expectantly waiting for another spell to be cast.
"Come on Lori, don't let this weasel have his way! Cast a spell, FAST!" Kolulu said, irritated at her book keeper's inaction.
Lori then thought of an idea, a crazy one, but an idea regardless. She stood there letting them try again with the Grandsen spell.
Shin takes the chance to cry out, "GRANDSEN!" once more.
Lori then yells, "ZERURUDO! Disrupt the rocks!" she instructed, to which Kolulu hopped onto Lori's shoulders and jumped high into the air, stomping on each stone and kicking the last one down, right next to Eshros and startling him.
"What the!? How did you-" Eshros exclaimed, shocked at the display of craftiness.
Kiyo raised a fist and smiled, "Aw yeah, that's strategy Lori! Now hit em where it hurts!"
"Of course, Kiyo! Kolulu, get ready! ZERUSEN!" she ordered, the rocket fists once more flying out while the two were staggered, dealing great damage once again.
Shin and Eshros would get up shortly afterward, Shin starting to tear up in both pain and anguish. Seeing this, Lori approached him cautiously.
"Shin, was it? Why do you listen to him? I'm no heart reader...but I can tell that it pains you to cast these spells." Lori said, kneeling down beside him.
Shin looked up at her in surprise. "W-what?"
"I know how it feels..." she said, placing a hand on his shoulder and squeezing gently. "Though my situation is nothing like yours, I too am hurt whenever I cast a spell. It puts Kolulu over there through great trauma just to use that form of hers. Just as it hurts me to make Kolulu fight like that, it surely hurts when you need to use your power to hurt others...right?"
Shin was calm, nodding along as she spoke to him. "Y-you're right...I hate this. But I have no choice, I...I can't let myself be pushed around any longer. This is retribution, and Eshros has not let me down yet..."
Lori frowned, slowly getting up, before feeling a kick to the back of her knee from Eshros, gasping and falling back down again. "O-ow! What the-" she said, before Eshros grabs her spell book and holds it up in the air.
Kolulu snarled at him, but before she could move, she saw her claws shrink slightly. "L-LORI, GET THE BOOK BACK NOW! I'M REVERTING TO NORMAL!" she said, slowly weakening by the second.
Shin rose to his feet and looked between Lori and Eshros, seeing the situation laid bare before him.
"Alright Shin, hold this book out in front of you, cast a spell, and I'll burn it good! Then we can be done with these pests once and for all, DO IT!" he said, handing him the book.
Lori got to her feet and panicked. "W-wait...no...NO!" she cried out, Kiyo running to try and grab the book back.
Shin looked at the book, then back at Eshros, and then at the running Kiyo. "Eshros...thank you for helping me realize something. Perhaps...I have been weak, even now. But remember how I said I'd be strong, to let no one push me around anymore?" he asked, Eshros nodding eagerly.
Shin then did the unthinkable and tossed the book to Lori, causing everyone but Kolulu to gasp, as Kolulu was struggling to maintain her power. "SHIN!? WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Eshros asked, demanding an answer.
"That includes you Eshros! You are NOT my mom, and are NOT my boss!" he declared, approaching Eshros and kneeling down.
"No, don't do this to me Shin, I'm the one who got you this far! I'm the ONLY FRIEND you have left in this rotten world, DON'T THROW THIS AWA-" but he was cut off by his shoulders being grabbed tightly by Shin.
"No! Shut up! I don't take orders from you anymore! You are an evil boy, and this book is much of the same! If we're going to settle the score, we do it MY way now, got it!?" Shin ordered, Eshros stepping back and nodding in slight fear.
"You there, cast a spell and get ready for combat, this ends now!" Shin said, opening his spell book as a new spell manifested itself from within.
"Shin...I don't want to fight you anymore. But I suppose there's no other way, is there?" she said, opening her book and casting a spell. "ZERUK!" she yelled, restoring Kolulu's power to full strength once again, causing the Mamodo to cackle and bulk up.
Shin would roar and shout out. "THIS IS IT, THE ULTIMATE SPELL, GROUNDBAI! HRAAAAAHH!" he roared, Eshros summoning a giant snake made of stone that rose up and lunged for the trio before them.
"Go Kolulu! Run up the length of the snake and tear up their book!" Lori commanded, Kolulu once again hopping off of Lori's shoulders and doing just as she was told, managing to acrobatically climb onto the top of the snake's head and run down the length of the body.
Step by step, the monstrous girl dashed, panting and hungering and thirsting for a shot at the book, laughing maniacally as she got closer and closer. The closer she got, the more fearful Eshros became, as he was powerless to stop her. Then, a jump, the raising of claws, and it was over. She tore the book in half and set it ablaze.
Eshros yelled out in horror. "NO, NOOOOOOO!" he cried, watching his book burn as he faded away. Before he returned to the Mamodo world, he shakily looked over at Shin, who had no sorrow or regrets, only relief that his book was burning. "Shin...you...you dunderhead..." he said, before vanishing once and for all.
Shin would sigh deeply, smiling for the first time since the battle began and approaching the three after the rubble cleared. "Lori, Kiyo, and Kolulu...thank you for being here." he said, looking down at the rapidly devolving Kolulu.
Kolulu would eventually return to her normal, adorable self, and blink three times in confusion. "Lori...what happened? Did...did we win?" she asked, slowly realizing what a mess they all made.
Shin would kneel down and smile sweetly at her. "Yes, you did. You basically saved me, from becoming a monster like that boy." he clarified, reaching out and patting Kolulu's head. Kolulu flinched at first, but enjoyed it soon after, appreciating the gesture.
Lori and Kiyo would briefly recap the battle to Kolulu, and soon enough, Shin led them somewhere away from the torn up school grounds.
[Some Time Later]
"This is where my mom was buried. I...haven't really visited her in a good long while." he explained, smiling warmly at the gravestone of his mother.
Kolulu would place down a flower she picked on the way to the graveyard and kneel down. "Hey there, Shin's mom. I'm Kolulu, Shin really is a nice guy. I wish more people were just like Shin and Lori and my other friend Kiyo! Shin did something really good today." she said, Lori giggling as she listened to Kolulu speak to Shin's mom.
Kiyo looked to Lori and asked, "You religious at all?"
"Oh, well, I have religious beliefs, yes. However, I barely keep to traditional schedules for it. Especially since I'm still so busy with all this school and Mamodo business. Maybe one day I'll visit the local shrine and pray there." Lori said.
Kiyo nodded and looked back at the two praying at the grave stone. "Well, I think you two definitely got stronger today. Heck, she seems to be mostly alright aside from some sores she suffered earlier."
Lori nodded in agreement. "Yes...this time, the power barely hurt her at all. Although, we didn't exhaust ourselves as much as the last battle."
Soon enough the group got up to leave, with Shin exchanging contact info with Lori and Kiyo.
"Lori, Kiyo, stay strong. Kolulu, you treat Lori right, as you have been. I have faith that wherever this awful battle takes you next, you'll surely manage yourselves and make it far. Good luck, and may luck be on your side." Shin said, before the group split off from each other entirely.
And so the day would draw to a close. That was three books burned now, and the first baby steps to becoming stronger had been taken. Now that they have dipped their toes into the realm of Mamodo combat, they can better prepare for the battles ahead. However, there were still questions unanswered...
Kolulu's battle form may have been merciful this time, but what if she starts tearing herself apart in the more intense battles?
Who else would they face in this strange tournament to decide the new monarch of the Mamodo world?
All of these questions would be answered in due time, but for now...they earned a good night's sleep.