Chatper 27: A Game of Tag

Author's Note: Aaaaah, I'm sooooo sorry this took forever… _ I turned into one of THOSE people, the people I love, but get frustrated with for a lack of updates! (FALLS ON KNEES) FORGIIIIIIVE MEEEEEE! But anyhoo, here's the next chapter and I hope I made it SEMI worth the obnoxiously long weight… _

Disclaimer: I don't own Zatch Bell, Brago, yada yada yoda, but Sorella, Rita, and Lance are mine, and Kumara was a guest star from my dear friend Mukai-sama!

Clear Note's eyes were crisp, colorless slices of a green apple on his thin, feline face. His hair floated weightless into the sky, but slices fell into those empty eyes, hiding bits of them from view. Sorella waited, curling her toes inside of her shoes and rocking slightly on her heels. Her fingers twitched in excitement, but her instincts told her well enough not to charge in like a bull.

The seconds dragged on, nothing changing except the wind shuffling the grass.

"SCREW THIS!" Sorella said, fed up with waiting.

"Sorella!" Sherry cried out in exasperation as the girl charged forward, her spell book glowing white.

"It's times like this when I love being a paradox!" Sorella laughed, drawing back her fist. "Teo Ramespirare!"

Copper exploded from her knuckles and swirled around her fist like ribbons, coiling, twirling, and compacting into brass knuckles. She charged at Clear shamelessly, punching his fist towards him. He calmly held up a hand and caught it; Sorella winced at the ripple of pain that traveled up her arm, but the grimace quickly twitched into an arrogant smirk. The copper seeped between his long, thin, spidery fingers and coiled around his wrist.

Clear Note's fathomless eyes glanced at the copper and attempted to swat it off like one does a bug, but it was already snaking up to his shoulder.

"Gotcha!" Sorella laughed, pulling her free fist back and aiming it right at Clear's cheek.

Her knuckles made contact, and she prepared to celebrate for landing a hit on the mamodo that overpowered Brago, but… Sorella's eyes narrowed when Clear remained motionless; his head didn't even turn upon the force of impact, which wasn't right because a hit like the one she delivered could have sent a cement truck full of hardened cement through a wall!

"I loathe needing to babysit…" Clear sighed, lifting his hand to pinch Sorella's wrist.

Sorella screamed, retracting her copper and releasing him so she could leap back. Her hand dangled limply from her broken wrist, snapped by a mere pinch, as if Clear were pinching a potato chip instead of a person.

A growl escaped between Sorella's teeth, and her upper lip curled wolfishly away to expose the pearly whites. Her golden eyes grew inflamed, heat burning in her chest.

Oh, this guy… Sorella thought. IS DEAD MEAT.

Dear heart, a voice said in Sorella's mind.

Akela? Sorella asked, pulling her subconscious in a bit further to speak with Akela, the source of her power, of her heart energy, and her familiar.

Dear heart, perhaps we can… catch him off guard? Akela asked in a loving croon, but with a definite hint of venom. With, how shall I say this... politely?

Sorella waited, but felt Akela's laughter ripple through her mind.

I say we gut him with our fangs until his entrails hang from his abdomen and lay so sickeningly in the dirt that not even the birds of the sky will want to feast on the carrion!

Three second silence…

Gee, you should write birthday cards!

Sorella outwardly smirked, ripping a bit of her shirt to wrap around her broken wrist to keep it from wiggling as much as possible. She rotated her shoulder a bit before lowering into an offensive crouch, shifting her weight on either foot. Sorella tilted her head to the side, observing Clear Note and Vino with humor.

"You're a kid, right?" Sorella asked Vino. "How about your mamodo and I play tag? Dioga Roturra Corazzare!"

Copper exploded from Sorella's head and spread along her arms and hands in intricate, graceful patterns, forming into claws at the tips of her fingers. Along her neck, forehead, and back copper trickled against her skin to form armor. Sorella's long, dark hair fanned out and attached to the copper spine, becoming more course like an animal's mane. Sorella let out a snarl, exposing two copper fangs protruding from the top row of her teeth.

"Tag?" Clear Note asked, unimpressed.

"Yeah," Sorella snickered, vanishing.

Clear Note spun around, throwing up an arm to catch a bite on his flesh. He quickly tossed Sorella aside easily, but not before she managed to give him a bite mark on his arm. Brago perked up slightly on Sherry's lap, his large eyes narrowing slightly.

Sorella curled her clawed fingers, the copper turning gold in the bright sun. Clear Note made no move to attack, instead opting to watch her closely.

"What's the matter?" Sorella taunted, churning up the earth a bit with her claws, waiting for an opening. "Surprised?"

Clear Note stared. "Yes," he said finally.

He slowly lifted his hand, face remaining blank and uninterested. Sorella's mouth opened slightly, eyes tensing as the hair on her neck rose up in fear.

"That a weakling like you would even approach me to begin with…" Clear sighed in boredom.

"Radisu!"the high pitched voice of baby Vino screamed.

Sorella, even with her increased speed from her spell, couldn't dodge. She was tossed through the air as her spell shattered into pieces, flecks of copper raining down and embedding themselves in the dirt and her skin before dissolving. Dust churned into the air as Sorella's body crashed into the ground repeatedly, tumbling back towards Brago and Sherry.

"Sorella!" Sherry gasped, surprised at the lacerations etched into Sorella's skin, the ease with which Clear Note not only defeated Brago and Sherry, but Sorella too.

"D… damn it…" Sorella cursed, scraping her fingers into the earth in an effort to get up.

"Wasn't it you that said we would be playing tag?" Clear Note asked, inspecting his fingernails. "Don't the other players have to at least be fast enough to catch one another? Instead of tag, we could play an easier game for you… What's a game that's easy enough for these three, Vino? You're a baby, so you should know. But mind to choose a game that's easy for you because anything higher than that will be too difficult."

Sorella roared, attempting to get up, but Sherry lunged and wrapped her fingers around Sorella's ankle. The tug sent Sorella easily to the ground, coughing, flecks of blood spotting her lips from the broken ribs putting pressure on her lungs.

"You're in no condition to fight!" Sherry said, holding onto two mamodo now.

"That's right," Clear said, holding his hand out. "You're in a condition to die."

"Raajia Radisu!" Vino cried from inside his protective sphere.

The earth rippled, cracked, and splintered under the weight of Clear Note's spell. Sorella, Brago, and Sherry watched the incoming attack with a mix of fear and defiance, still even then trying to pull out a solution, a way to win.

Clear Note watched his spell proceed with a smirk until a wall of dust climbed into the sky with a resonating KA-BOOM to follow. His lips turned downward again, observing the dust swirl in the wind to reveal a large, dark figure.

"Was that a Shin-class spell at its full potential? That speed… to have been fast enough…" Clear muttered, eyes burning with a hidden emotion.

A massive dragon-like beast loomed from behind the wall of dust, his arm thrown out around Brago, Sherry, and Sorella. Clear Note's spell was deflected by the beast's gleaming scales, and Sorella couldn't help but admire them even when her life was in danger. Her neck ached as she craned to get a good look at the savior towering over them, his hot breath puffing down at her face. Ivory shards of teeth jutted out from his dark gums, the tips shining with spit and a lust for fighting.

WOW… Sorella thought, unable to keep herself from fantasizing how to spar with this opponent.

"Ashuron…" Clear Note said, and the dragon beast's head jerked up in acknowledgement.

Clear Note's face was wrinkled with desire and bloodlust, eyeing the towering dragon mamodo before him with ill-disguised longing. Insanity lined Clear Note's smile and rimmed his eyes, and layered the breath of his next sentence.

"It's been a while."

Author's Note (TIMES TWO!): There you have it, folks! I'm sort of out of practice with writing this story, so I hope I made it at least decent, and I hope Clear Note's in-character… I'm usually good at that, but sometimes he's hard to figure out. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed it! Sorry again for the wait! Reviews, comments, and suggestions are welcome! I love constructive feedback! ^_^

Sorella: Well, in that case, I think you-

Smileyone1: (SHOVES INTO A CLOSET)