Zatch Bell: Kolulu Story
By:CleruSonofShintetsu
[Chapter 11: Gathering Clouds]
The castle was in a frenzy, thugs and thieves and even ghost knights were deployed all over to keep the place tidy and proper for Zeno's arrival. British Gentleman continued his harsh gentleman's practice with Kikuropu, whacking him on the arm or leg when "needed" as he sees it whenever Kikuropu screws up. Steng continued to bark orders, and down the remaining wine he had in hand. He puts the glass in the hands of one of his servant women in a revealing dress and brushed her off.
"Come on you dumb louts get movin! Don't slack on me now, Lord Zeno is approaching fast! If you don't wanna be made an example of like that other poor sod, work to the bone on this!" he ordered, gesturing wildly every which way.
Servants cleaned tables, reorganized chairs, mopped floors, and the ghost knights were marching about in formation. Baltro sweated from within the mech, not due to heat, but due to stress. Desperate to get perfect control over the ghost knights, he then orders them to form an honor guard in the pathway that leads to the royal hall.
Down in the cells, Folgore was coming up with a new movie concept in his head that would be loosely based on this very situation he found himself in. He noticed that two of the servants were returning to the dungeon in chains.
They were escorted to his cell and thrown in by two of the ghost knights. Folgore looked over at the two servants as they both begged to be released.
"W-wait! Don't leave us to rot here, you monsters! LET US OUT OF HERE!" the man shouted, shaking the old bars of the cell door.
A big, beefy, club-wielding human guard approached and, turning his club, bashed the man in the face with the butt of it through the bars, sending him falling back into his wife's lap.
"Do that again and I'll break your limbs! Lord Steng wants NO trouble today, hence the extreme punishment you idiots got! Now shut your pipehole!" he ordered, sauntering off soon after.
Folgore crawls over to the two and asks, "Are-a you okay sir, madame?" while offering a spare napkin he had on hand. It was old and crinkled, but clearly unused.
The man took it and pat his own face with it. "I am...I am, don't worry...say, do we know you? Wait...you're the dancer, the celebrity...Parco Folgore?" he asked, the realization hitting him.
Folgore gives him a grin and a thumbs up. "The one and only! Why don't you tell me your names? Maybe your stories too? Anything to pass the time in this-a dark and dreary cell..." he offered.
The man spoke first, sitting beside his wife now. "I'm Conner, a mason, I work in brick houses and I have other handy man skills for home and work alike. This here is me wonderful wife, Angel, she's a cook in a soup kitchen."
Angel waved hello before speaking her piece. "Yes...we come from a very poor family, just barely comfortable, a luxury few of us can afford really. Our son, Kory...he already had it hard enough as is, but he...oh gosh I cannot bear to finish that thought..." she said, holding her mouth and looking down with worry.
"Now now Angel...he's strong, remember that...I'm sure the boy is fine, we'll be out of here in-" but he was cut off by Angel.
"Enough! There's optimism, and then there's denial! Our boy is one thing, but we may bloody well be here for the rest of our lives at this rate! Ghost knights, the criminal underworld, monsters!? It's madness I say, madness!" she yelled in despair, gripping her hair and sniffling on the verge of tears.
Folgore looked at them, feeling a pain in his heart at the sight of it. He wanted nothing more than to help them now, and he promised he would do so at all costs. Then he vocalized said promise aloud.
"I promise to help-a you get out of here the moment I get a chance to do so. I actually have a friend who can get us out...he knows about the ghost knights and I just so happen to have an emergency plan for my late return to my hotel room, eh?" he said, telling a white lie to ease their burdens. While Kanchome could typically be trusted to search high and low for Folgore, Folgore had no actual plan for this, and was as helpless as the rest of them.
Still, the lie worked, and the two sighed in relief.
[Meanwhile, on the road outside of the ruined town...]
Kolulu, Lori, Kiyo and Kanchome were reunited again, discussing current events. It wasn't looking good, but before the discussion could take a sadder turn, they watched as a bus stopped nearby, and three interesting people hopped out.
First, was the ever air-headed Suzy, waving hello to Kiyo and calling his name. "Kiyooooooooooooo! It's so good to see you all the way out here in Hong Kong!" she said, skipping over to him.
Following close behind her, Megumi peeks out and states, "Suzy, we're not in- huh?" her correction was cut short when she saw not only Kiyo, but Lori and Kolulu as well.
"Lori, Kolulu!" She said, motioning Tia to follow suit. Tia, off the bus and noticing the group, sprinted over and tackle hugged Kolulu.
The two girls giggled with glee as they reunited once again. "Kolulu, Kolulu! What brings you here to jolly old England?" she asks, letting go and jumping to her feet.
Kolulu dusts off her outfit and rises with her, "Oh, nothing much, just...sight seeing, helping Kiyo with something important." she explained.
Tia tilts her head in curiosity. "Helping? With what?" she asked, looking up at Kiyo, giving him a tiny wave before turning her attention back to Kolulu.
Kolulu sighed, "We...gotta tell his dad that Zatch had his book burned...but there's so much chaos now that-" she was cut off with a confused utterance from Tia.
"Wha...? Wait, Kolulu, surely you're remembering wrong, I just SAW Zatch a while back! He was oddly mean to me but...you don't have to worry about a thing, ya know?" she asked.
Kolulu gasped, confused and shocked. "T-T-TIA! Don't prank me like that! I saw his book burn at that park, I did it, no, my evil half did it! His book was ripped to pieces, set aflame, the nine yards! Why would you-"
Tia waved her hands in front of her in defense. "Wait wait wait, let me explain please!"
Kolulu reluctantly calms down and lets her continue, but her evil half was starting to loom over her with fascination.
"Okay...okay..." Tia began, tapping her cheek and trying to remember the details of the event as the entire group around them listened in. "So I was just playing by the picnic blanket, finishing up my meal and all, when I saw him. His hair, his eyes, his cloak..." she explained.
As much as Kolulu dreaded to ask, one of those details stood out to her, a detail she knew best in Zatch...his kind eyes. With a gulp, she asked slowly, "...What color were his eyes again?"
Tia blinked twice, "W-what? Well, they were...a gorgeous lavender or purple or something, why do you ask?" she wondered.
Kolulu put her hands on her head in worry. "Tia...Zatch as orange eyes! So unless you were wrong...there's a Zatch lookalike running around!"
Kiyo chimed in next, "Wait WHAT!? There's a boy who looks JUST like Zatch out there somewhere? Really?" he asked, his face contorting with determination to know more.
Lori knelt down and put a hand on Kolulu's shoulder, noticing her stress. "Tia...you must tell us everything you know, scary as it is. Maybe this Zatch lookalike is linked to the strange occurrences we keep hearing about. Take a deep breath and speak whenever you are ready."
Tia nodded and continued after two deep breaths. "All I know besides that is how rude he was...he scoffed and sneered at me before running away when I mentioned his name. I think he spat at me, literally, but that one miiiiight be my imagination."
Megumi put a hand on her hip and looked down with a confused expression, puzzled by this whole thing. "Wow...the one time we get the slightest downtime and we gotta deal with not only a missing Folgore, but a second Zatch? What a day..."
Kanchome paced in place at the mention of him. "Nevermind all that right now, where are the KNIGHTS coming from? We can't find ANYONE if we don't find where the knights actually come from, right?" he asked, starting to stress-eat a lollipop he carried with him.
Kiyo raised his hands, "Alright alright everyone, relax! Let's formulate a plan and set it into motion, okay?" he suggested, to the group's agreement.
"Alright," he started, sitting down by Tia and Kolulu and taking out a notebook. "I've written some notes about what we know so far, and from what I can gather, there's a castle nearby that could be an easy source of the supposed ghost knights, both because it's defensible and generally fits with the intimidating theme they go for."
Kolulu, squeezing Tina close, says "It would make sense...and who knows when they'll attack again...?"
Kolulu's evil side, on the other hand, says from within Kolulu, "I hope it's soon so I can rip their metal armor to shreds with my superior metal claws!", much to the real Kolulu's annoyance.
"But Kiyo..." Tia said, looking at him while Megumi sits down with them, "...do we even have enough people to lay siege to that castle? What if there are more Mamodo or a boat load of ghost knights?"
Kiyo looked up and sighed, "I think we can do it with one Mamodo, true, but I want to be absolutely safe, hence having back-ups." he said. He then looked back at Megumi and asked, "Megumi...can you make ANY time to help us when the time comes?"
Megumi nodded with a serious expression on her face. "Yes, I'll cut every corner in my day as possible so I can eke out the time needed! I don't know why, but I feel a dark and foreboding cloud over our heads...and besides, I still need Folgore to finish my performance in three days from now. I might as well come with you to see if he's there, right?" she suggested, with Kiyo nodding in agreement.
"Exactly!" he said, "That makes perfect sense, and by that margin, I can find my father and...yeah, hopefully he's okay."
Kiyo looked down, hiding his pain again. At this point, he's accepted that he has to confront him about Zatch, so it doesn't hurt as much. Suzy was confused by all of this talk, and had already begun bird watching while the rest of the group chatted away. Getting bored, she sneakily closed in and blew raspberries in Kiyo's ear, startling him with the sudden gross sound.
"Gah! What was THAT!?" he yelled, stumbling back as the group looked at Suzy with various different reactions.
Suzy giggled, "I got you Kiyo-wiyo~! Anyway, I really really wish I could stay and talk more, but my tour of Hong Kong is taking so much of my time! Alas...I'll be happy to give you all the souvenirs I have when the time comes to fly home..." she said with dramatic flair. Getting up and brushing her short hair back, she waved goodbye. "See you Kiyo-wiyo dear~!" she said, before skipping along to her next location.
"Is she always that quirky?" Megumi asked with a confused smile. She wasn't annoyed, she was actually rather amused. Kiyo on the other hand grunted in irritation.
"Yes, there's never going to be an off switch with her...but again, she's harmless when she's not interfering with my work." he said, crossing his arms and recovering from the sudden mood whiplash.
"Anyway," he started, getting up and putting away his notebook, "I gotta get going, I'm gonna chart out that castle soon. Kolulu, Lori, you guys ready?"
The aforementioned girls got up and fixed their backpacks with a nod. Tia held Kolulu's wrist and looked her dead in the eye, wanting one more moment before the two groups parted ways.
"Kolulu...please be careful, especially if you see that Zatch lookalike...I have no idea what his deal is, but his eyes radiated with evil..." she warned, giving her a tight hug.
Kolulu hugged her back, "I will...I will..." she said, and with this newfound determination to stay safe and prepared for this bizarre new potential enemy, her spell book glowed with a bright light.
Lori gasped, "Kolulu, your spellbook...!" she said, Kolulu spinning around to face her and watching the lights beam out of Lori's bag.
Megumi was also surprised, as were Kiyo and Tia, and as Lori took out the spell book, she turned to the page to find the glowing light pink words. Another spell for Kolulu it seems...
This spell...was called Ginishield. Recalling that Fo Ginisu didn't cause Kolulu to transform, and had a similar color to this, she looked at Kolulu and asked, "...May I test it? It won't transform you, I think it's just like the other spell you had back at the concert hall."
Kolulu took a deep breath and gave her a thumbs up, nervous but ready to test it out. Everybody stepped back as Lori said the spell.
"The second spell of the true Kolulu; GINISHIELD!" she called, activating it with full force.
Kolulu pushed her palms out in front of her, summoning a rather pretty, transparent and almost glassy shield made of light. It was rectangular and it was generated horizontally, shining and sparkling in the daylight. It was almost blinding at the angle Kiyo stood at, and he covered his eyes in response.
"Jeeze, it's like a sideways version of Rashield, but way more blinding." he said, Lori nodding in agreement.
Kolulu and Lori cut their power to the shield and it vanished in a gentle burst of sparkles.
Tia smiled, "Hey, that wasn't so bad! You got a shield, Kolulu! Good luck, and you better make use of that spell, trust me! I'm practically a specialist with such spells!" she said with her hands on her hips and standing confidently with her eyes closed.
The two groups part ways, for real this time, with Kanchome giving Kolulu giddy compliments and wishing he had a spell like that. Perhaps he could transform into something equivalent to one?
[Back at Hyde and Eido's camp...]
As they were finishing their process of recovering from that badly scorching spell, Hyde was pacing around anxiously, wondering what that attack even was.
"Damn it...I KNOW we were hit by that exact spell before...but it CAN'T have come from Zatch, can it?" he asked himself.
"I mean, he's not weak or anything, but that burned! I STILL have numbness in some of my joints from it..." he continued, before Eido spoke up.
"Chill, Hyde, just relax...we'll get our payback in no time!" he said with a cocky grin, leaning against a tree.
"Oh yeah?" Hyde asked, turning to face him and holding his arms out. "How? How do we beat a guy who's basic spell damn near kills us!? That wasn't Zatch, it was some super charged Mamodo with lightning magic, and I can't figure it out! I'm not some cocky moron like you Eido, I'm also not supposed to support your skirt flipping antics, but I was forced to flip two Welsh girls' skirts for you with my magic!" he ranted.
Eido got up and grit his teeth, "Oh shut up! I'm just having harmless fun! It's not like I'm asking you to take pictures of em! I, for one, think it's hilarious! It's like if we pants-ed a bunch of dudes and they got their embarrassing underwear shown off! I'll admit, it happened to me once and it was NOT pretty..."
Hyde threw his arms up, "Maybe you SHOULD get pants-ed again, moron! How'd I ever think you were changing anyway? You're sitting here vibing as if we DIDN'T nearly break our necks, while I'm trying to keep watch in case we get ambushed! When are you gonna take this seriously you big fat doofus!?" he growled.
"You know what!?" Eido started, getting down in Hyde's face.
"What!?" Hyde asked angrily.
Eido was about to speak, but he picked up Hyde and ran with him towards the lake.
"W-what are you doing!? Let me go!" he said, hitting him in protest.
Eido grinned, "Maybe you should cool off with a swim! Go catch a fish and beat the heck out of it!" he said, before throwing him into the large river.
Hyde landed in the water with a splash, rising shortly after with a gasp. He splashed around as the river a bit, his anger rising. "You, are, so, useless! Get me outta this river, dude!"
Eido folded his arms as he speed walked down the river as Hyde was slowly being washed away. "Hmmmm...I dunno dude, you DID say I was useless, seems strange to rely on me for that." he teased, fiddling with the spell book in his hands.
"Blah! I think a fish brushed past my mouth, come on dude let me out!" he yelled.
Eventually, somebody ended up hearing him, and began to approach the scene, peeking out from behind a tree and examining the situation.
As the Mamodo and his book owner bickered, the spectator ran up and reached out with his arm. "Come on, mate! Grab on!" he said, which caused Hyde to look up at him.
It was Kory, the long-haired boy from before, who didn't seem to remember Hyde right away, though Hyde remembered him.
Hyde grabbed on and, with both Kory's aid and his own strength, climbed ashore and panted, relieved that he wasn't trapped in the river.
Eido recognized Kory and groaned, having just stopped him and Djem from bickering only to get caught throwing a child in a river. "Gah...what are YOU doing here?" he asked, pointing at Kory.
"You, you're the bloke who broke up that fight! Don't worry, your friend is fine, but why was he in the river anyway? He clearly cant swim well..." Kory asked, concerned for both of them.
Hyde was tempted to tell the truth, but looking at Eido's face and not wanting to cause any more complications, he lied for Kory's sake. "...I was fishing, but a fish pulled me in and I got stuck."
Eido caught on and thanked Hyde internally for the save. "Yeah, thanks for helping him out, man." he said with a thumbs up and a confident smile.
The three would soon find their moment cut short by the ruffling of foliage, and the occasional blade swinging through and cutting leaves and branches, all heard slowly approaching them. However, they didn't appear, they instead turned face and marched in another direction, the direction of the camp that Hyde and Eido set up. Realizing this, Eido's eyes widened and he whistled for Hyde to follow him. Hyde nodded, jumping across a few rocks in the river to reach Eido, and running after him.
Kory clumsily followed suit out of sheer curiosity, and as the three made their way to the camp, it was already too late. An entire squad of 12 ghost knights were ransacking and plundering the small camp, much to the anger of it's owners.
"Hey, get out of our camp you lousy husks!" Eido protested, opening his book and readying a spell.
Hyde glanced back at Kory, "You might wanna step back." he stated bluntly, Kory stepping back with fear.
"N-no! You can't expect to actually FIGHT these things! What is WRONG with-" Kory said, only to be cut off when Eido cast a spell.
"JIKIR!" Eido yelled, a gust of wind billowing between three ghost knights and toppling them all with a hard thud. The rest of the knights closed in with their swords, Hyde aiming in their direction for another blow.
"JIKIR!" Eido called again, another gust of wind blowing through three more. On and on, but every time another three to six were knocked down, a group would get up again. It was annoying, and concerning, but Eido wasn't about to give up so easily.
"Let's get closer," he suggested, to which Hyde nodded and ran up to two of them.
Hyde places his hands on the chests of two knights, and Eido casts Jikir once more, the close range and higher power being enough to blast the knights apart, leaving their flowers exposed. This...was confusing to Hyde, but the knights were crippled and the remaining ten started to close in.
Groaning, Eido shook his head. "This is NOT a good spot to be in, we need to bail." he said, giving up faster than it seemed he would.
Hyde turned back and sneered, "You really can't hold any standard for yourself can you!? Just cast another spell, Jikir isn't THAT costly on me!" he explained.
Kory whimpered, "G-guuuuyyys...I dunno what crazy magic you pulled but those knights are getting awful clooooose!" he said fearfully, pointing at the ghost knights.
They were getting very, very close now, and just as they were about to attack, it seems another miracle came to support them in the form of...a small boy in green clothes charging in and throwing rocks at the ghost knights, distracting them long enough for Eido to drag both Hyde and Kory away from them. Eido knew when to take the initiative, and so he took it.
A young blonde girl was following after the rock throwing child, seething at this point.
"Yopopo! Why would you go and attack the local boogeymen!? Are you TRYING to get us killed!? Goodness you are dimwitted!" she yelled, startling Yopopo.
"UGH, now we're their targets, lets just run!" she said, grabbing his arm and dragging him away and pulling a little too hard in the process, causing Yopopo to wince in pain.
Though these groups feared pursuit, the knights at last received their instructions to return to the castle, having received the order later than expected, and their flowers guided the surviving 10 knights back to their master accordingly.
[Meanwhile, at the castle...]
The devilish duo arrived some time later, having deliberately taken their time with the journey to the castle. Zeno and Dufort enter the castle, making mental notes of the outer perimeter and the inner halls as they walked through to the main hall.
Dufort had no comment, while Zeno shook his head at some of the lacking polish. They finally enter the main hall where everyone was standing in attendance, ready and primed to serve himm.
Zeno smiled wickedly, his whole scheme coming together swimmingly. It felt good to exert some sort of royal authority again, and he began by addressing Baltro. "Baltro, I hereby order you to lift me and my book owner up to the platform where Steng and the British Gentleman are standing. Do so posthaste, if you would." he instructed.
"Yes, Lord Zeno!" said Baltro, lowering his mech's giant hand to the ground, the duo stepping on with ease. He lifted them up to their desired location, and the criminals were shaking in their boots at the sight of the fear-inducing child and his fear-inducing book owner.
Steng stood from his throne to greet Zeno. "Oi boss, I've got everything under control, and your castle is more than ready for-" he was cut off.
"Yeah yeah, shut up." Zeno ordered, Steng awkwardly doing so, much to his internal annoyance.
"Anyway, I'm gonna need you all to get ready, I have a feeling this place is going to get attacked soon. Call it a royal hunch, but with the convenient arrival of numerous teams on this Gods forsaken island, we need to kick everything into overdrive." Zeno explained, turning and raising a hand to the roughspun army he indirectly built.
"If you want to thrive as the overlords of this country, heed my orders! Scatter across the many corners of the castle, fortify every room you can! I want not one spot left unchecked, and if any of those teams make it through?" he said, glancing back at the two teams behind him (though Baltro was technically in front of him).
"...Let's just say you people are my last line of defense, and failure is best processed by losing your spell books to the enemy instead of me, weaklings!" he taunted maliciously. "Now then," he said, hopping onto the throne, "one of you servant ladies fetch me some of that tea you Brits like so much. I wanna know how it compares to tea in my own world, do it quickly!"
The servants rush to deliver his tea, the chef especially. Kikuropu was quivering, and British Gentleman subtly swatted his legs to keep him from doing so too much. Steng felt powerless, wishing he was actually the top dog of this country...only to be made weak once again.
"It feels so good to practice my leadership talents early...to feel strong, to feel like my hard work pays off...I'm sure the feeling of satisfaction after hard work would appeal to you humans too, yes?" Zeno asked the two book owners behind him.
When they said nothing, he simply chuckled, stifling full on laughter for the time being. "Oh Zatch...if you ever find a way to look at the battle from up there...know that the one who sent you packing will suffer in your place, and in every way I wanted to torture you too..."