Zatch Bell: Kolulu Story
By:CleruSonofShintetsu
[Chapter 15: All Aboard the Party Boat!]
It has been some time since the battle in England, Lori has been recovering smoothly and keeping up with her studies, while also doubling down on the tender love and care she's given Kolulu. Likewise, Kolulu herself is healing well, and the voice in her head has been rather quiet recently.
On the living room TV, Kolulu was watching more Pixie Knight while eating pancakes, and keeping Tina close, her cherished doll leaning over ever slightly.
"So it seems my favorite pixies have returned! How very quaint...I hope you don't mind a second defeat at my hand, darlings!" said the show's villain, Bellflo with a cackle.
"You are powerful, and wicked, and cunning to boot!" started the leader, a pixie in a red one piece outfit resembling a swimsuit, with a helmet and shoulder plates, holding her axe out in front of her. "But last time, we were fooled, and we refuse to fall for your tricks a second time! For the kingdom of Rosewood, we'll banish you once again!"
Her companions, four other ladies and two gentlemen (the gentlemen wearing male equivalent attire), stood in formation, weapons drawn and ready for battle.
Kolulu watched intently, well and truly drawn into the show, much to the slight amusement of Lori. In her mind, Lori thought to herself; "I wonder if she finds inspiration for battle in that show...? Perhaps they are like idols to her...?"
Eventually, commercials came on, advertising the party boat cruise that Lori, Kolulu, and even Kiyo were invited to.
"Good morniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing party people, WOOOO!" said the enthusiastic and cheesily-dressed man on the screen. "ToNIGHT is THE, FREAKIN', NIGHT! The night of the biggest cruise in the last five years! Probably even ten or twenty considering the stars involved! That's right, an all-out special dual concert cruise with karaoke, fine dining, and more...spearheaded (or should I say harpoon-headed), by the lovely teen idol, Megumi, and the ever-dashing and invincible iron-man, Parco Folgore!"
Canned applauding could be heard, and Kolulu would look back with sparkles in her eyes. "It's coming Lori, it's coming in only a couple of hours~!" she said with barely contained excitement.
"Indeed!" Lori began, getting out of her seat, "I'm so glad we get to enjoy ourselves like this after all we've been through so far. Here, hand me your dishes and get washed up. Prepare your clothes and luggage for the weekend trip, and I'll get you your special formal wear!" she gently instructed.
Kolulu nodded, handing Lori her dishes and wondering just what kind of formal wear Lori got her as Lori went into the kitchen. Then the evil side came back to bother her...
"Can I get some nice clothes too? Preferably ones that dont rip and leave us with underclothes? Gets boring when I only get to wear one thing, its like a dress shirt without the suit that goes with it. It looks nice, but its clearly incomplete." she said, confusing and annoying Kolulu.
"How does that relate? Furthermore these underclothes are sewn with LOVE, and I mean real love, not crazy battle-hungry love..." she said folding her arms and pouting.
"Oh wow, you're colder than you realize~" the evil personality said with a single grind of her claws against each other, making a "shing" sound.
Kolulu rapidly pat her forehead and got up, going to her room while Lori was washing the dishes. Kolulu entered her bedroom and began to pack up, with items such as a spare set of clothes, Tina, and so on. She took the time to think to herself about everything that's happened so far...
("Zatch...I hope you're doing okay up there. Who would have guessed that you had such a meanie for a brother...he's so...cold and cruel, he drove me to say things and do things and act a way I never wanted to...but I promise not to let him burn my book. I need to be strong, but I don't want to lose my smile...I'll never let him turn me bitter.") She said, her eyes flashing briefly with newfound determination.
[Meanwhile...at the Warehouse District]
Robnos and Maruss were going over their plans for the boat ride, while the latter was punching a makeshift dummy with a crude drawing of Kolulu's face on it. Specifically, the face of her evil half. During this training session, Maruss was thinking back to his motivation for what he did. Sure, he had no place in his heart for Tia and other friends involved in the battle, but he perhaps had another reason...
Before he could continue this thought, Robnoss began to speak while tapping the table with a pointer stick loud enough to get the others' attention.
"Alright people! Gather round, the plan is simple; get on the boat, blend in, and burn the books of our enemies." Robnoss began as the rest of the room gathered at his behest. "Now...under threat of failure, there IS a contingency plan to ensure that we have the best chance at burning their books, if you'd like to hear it."
Ruku gulped, "What now? Please don't suggest anything cra-"
"We'll set the boat on fire and send it to the bottom of the China sea!" Robnoss said, causing Ruku to groan in protest.
"Why must EVERY PLAN you concoct involve such inhumane madness? We can be cold-blooded strongmen without being butchers! Have class, boy!" Ruku complained.
Robnoss raised a finger and said, "You know what? You're right, but it's more funny to spook em anyway!"
Maruss cleared his throat, gathering everyone's attention. "If you idiots are quite finished, the boat arrives in 10 minutes, are we all dressed, packed up, and everything? Once it arrives, we can't afford to risk any trips back home."
Rembrant gave a thumbs up, holding the big luggage case he brought with him, containing both his and maruss' clothes and whatnot.
[Ten minutes later...]
Lori, Kolulu, Kiyo, Suzy (and Kiyo's other close classmates, Kane, Mary Lou, Mamoru, and Hiyoshi), and of course, a flighty pair...Eido and Hyde, were all waiting at various parts of the line to board the "party boat" as people were calling it. Rembrant, Ruku, and their respective Mamodo, had boarded near the front of the line, and went largely unnoticed by the others for now.
"Oh my gosh Kiyo! We're really here! We're gonna see a concert on a boat together, eeeeeeeeee!" Squealed Suzy.
"Alright alright, don't deafen me! How am I gonna hear it then?" Kiyo replied after reeling back slightly.
Lori giggled to herself, finding Suzy most endearing in her own right. "Suzy, right? You seem quite cheerful. I'm Lori, and this is Kolulu, my little sister." she said, kneeling down slightly and headpatting Kolulu, who then looked up and waved.
Meanwhile on the ship, Megumi was getting dressed for the big show, wearing a mermaid-like dress that sparkled a beautiful sea blue color from top to bottom. "Okay...alright, a bit of a tight costume this time, but I guess I can work with it..." she mused.
Tia was feeling unnerved again, but only slightly. Something was off, but to her, it was merely anxiety over how well the concert would go, and perhaps eagerness to see Kolulu and the others again. Before she said anything, however, someone knocked on their dressing room door.
It was Kanchome, who shook a basket of candy. "H-hey! Want some candy to help ease the nerves before the show?" he offered.
Tia called out, "No! We're good! Just keep an eye on Folgore!"
Kanchome nodded and walked off, himself feeling that same uneasy tension in the air that Tia did, but being shaken up by it far worse.
The last of the partygoers board the boat, and are each guided to the main "hall" of the ship, the large dining room where they'd be welcomed to the cruise and whatnot. They all took a seat, with Lori, Kiyo, Suzy and Kolulu would take their seats at a four-person table and look around.
Lori and co looked around the room, which was a glorious display of nicely clothed tables, a large stage, and two platforms on either side, with two elevation levels that overlook the rest of the room, with a few tables in each. The lights were nice and soothing, and the chandelier added to the atmosphere at the open center of the room, cleared just enough to have perfect dancing room.
Of course, these four were dressed in their own fancy attire to fit the fancy atmosphere.
Kiyo had a simple dress shirt and dress pants, simple but stylish. Lori had a slim blue dress, with a crown of flowers on her head, freshly made by Kolulu for the occasion. Suzy had a simple orange dress on, and a special flower hair band with a rose in it on her head. Kolulu had an adorable pink dress that was similar in style to Tia's, but it was sleeveless and had a more frilly top. She had a lily in her hair as decoration.
The room went quiet as the lights dimmed. A man walked on stage and cleared his throat. "Good evening everyone! Tonight is a night to behold, as this three-day cruise will see not only the best performances from our beloved superstars, but much, much more! Fine dining, dancing both fast and slow, and a special karaoke contest for 1-3 person teams to compete in for a special cash prize! For those wondering, YES! It absolutely IS more than you spent on your tickets to get here! Our treat! Now, without further ado, I leave the rest of the introductions to our good friend and ship owner...Professor Dartagnaaaaan!"
The crowd clapped politely as the professor entered the stage. Though Kiyo was concerned about his...tomfoolery...the professor did not, in fact, have a silly costume on. Rather, the professor had an open-collar ship captain's garb, definitely just a costume but nothing compared to his fish or fairy outfits to be sure.
Lori looked over at Kiyo, noticing his earlier irritated expression. "What's wrong, Kiyo?" she asked in a whisper.
Kiyo shook his head, "Just a weirdo that's friends with my dad..." he explained curtly.
"Greetings!" Dartagnan began, "I would like to thank the good folks behind this cruise for allowing me to volunteer my private boat for the festivities! Though you'll find this vessel to be a rustic yet fine old bird, the credit goes to our dear celebrities and their associates for sprucing the place up. You treat this ship with the same respect you give our superstars, ya hear?"
The crowd nodded in agreement. "Good!" Dartagnan said, "Enjoy yourselves, I'll be in my quarters with the rest of the upstairs crew."
As the professor left, waitstaff filed into the room and began to approach the many tables to take orders.
[Later...in the lower levels of the ship]
Maruss and Rembrant were talking to Robnoss on hand radios as they crept around, dodging security and other crewmates with relative ease. Robnoss was presently reminding them of the plan.
"Alright dweebs, here's the plan. Carve us a route to the engine room, familiarize yourself with the lower levels of the ship, and make sure you don't get caught. Guest or no, I don't want anything to compromise our goal of holding this ship hostage." Robnoss instructed.
"I really wonder how much that helmet of yours compensates for your gray matter." snarked Maruss in a fierce whisper.
"But fine," he continued, "I'll chart you a route. You got your job near the captain's quarters, right?"
Robnoss gave a thumbs up on his end, "Yep, get back to me when you find a quick route to the engine room. From there, I'll give you further instructions before having you mingle with the other losers again. Robnoss out!" he said, clicking the radio and cutting the line.
Maruss shook his head as he continued onward. Unfortunately for him, things were about to get complicated as two security guards, big and muscular men to boot, noticed them and approached for questioning.
"Hey! I think you're a little lost, the party is right around the corner there. Just go where we're pointing, and we'll forget we saw you down here. An honest mistake is just that, is it not?" One of the guards said a bit too smugly.
Rembrant sighed, "You really don't want to challenge us, I'd also hate to bloody the floor of this fine ship...do you really want to do this?" he said, pinching his nose as he opened the spell book.
The second guard snarled, "Is that a threat!? Last chance, get the heck out of here or we clobber you and detain you, in THAT order!"
Rembrant huffed, then glared at the guards while casting, in a calm tone of voice and at lower power, "Garon."
Maruss grinned wickedly as he held a hand out and unleashed a blunted iron pillar of spikes at the guards, crashing them into the wall nearby and knocking them out cold.
The two entered the engine room and radioed back to Robnoss, informing him of the route they took to get there.
"Yeah, just go down that staircase, take a right, left, another left and then a right, and you'll see one last hallway that leads to the engine room. Just don't hit your big bulbous helmet on any corners, the halls are surprisingly narrow in places. This ship's a pile of junk..." said Maruss.
"Alright! Now, as for my part of the deal, I'll be setting up our little...concert crash. Tomorrow is when the REAL fun begins, and once the first few karaoke songs play out during tomorrow's contest, I'll blow the engine to pieces, chunk by chunk, and you'll use the chaos to burn Tia's book, and whoever else you can snag along the way. Sound fun?" Robnoss explained.
An evil grin crossed Maruss' face. "All I want out of this plan is to tie up loose ends, and at last...I get to do that. Thank you, Robnoss, I snark a lot, but you are quite a decent partner." he said, a rare genuine compliment albeit in a very hand-waved fashion.