Hey there Zatch Bell faithful. It's been a long time. A lot of things have happened recently (again), but I'm back to finish my story. Also, I do plan to edit, possibly rewrite, some of my earlier chapters. It should make for a better, less awkward/rushed exposition to the new dragons.

Disclaimer: The following is another chapter of a fan-based story. Zatch Bell, Konjiki no Gash Bell, and the TCG and video game they are based on, are not owned by me.

Last time, our heroes went back to Megumi's mansion, recovering from their ordeal with Maruss, Jinshu and Ni-xia. Ari appeared to Zatch in a dream, warning him of someone known as the "Master of Strings." Dr. Riddles filled in Kiyo, Eido and Uri on the current situation, and Kafka Sunbeam and Ponygon took Zatch and the others to a forest to save their friends. The forest mysteriously began attacking them, halting their progress, then another mamodo appeared before them. With their seemingly possessed friends in tow, the mamodo introduced himself as the person Ari warned Zatch about: the Master of Strings.

Forest

Shock. Anger. Confusion. Those were just a few of the emotions running through everyone's mind. As the black and silver-haired mamodo began to rise from his bowed position, his possessed captives in tow, the group attempted to piece together the scene in front of them.

Zatch was the first to speak. "What... happened to them?"

"Look at them," Penny began, still in her somewhat precarious position, being dangled by her ankles. "They look like the bookowners controlled by Zofis back then. They look... lifeless."

"Nonsense, they aren't lifeless!" Zu-Shien snapped, with an odd pout. "My puppets have souls, thank you very much. It took forever to make them perfect, though. So many strings..."

"What did you do?" Brago interrogated, glaring as he brought his arm up, quickly charging a Gigano Reis shot. "Answer me, dammit!" In response, two of Zu-Shien's fingers twitched up and down twice, causing Sherry to walk in front of him, slowly holding her arms out to defend him. The goth mamodo could do nothing but power down his spell.

"See, aren't they awesome?" the puppeteer mamodo asked joyfully, walking away from his human shield. "My spell only worked once their willpower started to fade. After that happened, I was able to control their minds instead of just their bodies."

Brago growled in anger, baring his teeth. "You son of a bitch, I'll-" He stopped when he saw someone step forward beside him.

"Lori...?"

"What the hell?" he asked no one in particular, the pink-haired girl slowly walking forward.

"Lori?"

"Kolulu, you can't go, it's too dangerous!" Zatch exclaimed, trying to hold her back with Hyde's assistance.

"Lori!" she cried, struggling to get free. "Answer me, I know you can still hear me!"

"Ko... lu..." Lori slowly began.

"Whoops, I forgot about that downside," Zu-Shien said, putting a little more power into a glowing hand. He twitched two fingers again, causing Lori to walk towards him, bending down on one knee, then wrapping an arm around his neck. In return, he slowly began to stroke her hair. "It's a damn good spell, but I'm not that used to it. I can't control too many puppets at once for an extended period. Well, not yet at least. Right, Lori?"

"Mas... ter..." She slowly spoke with a smile, although she did shed a single tear.

"This guy's out of his mind," Hyde stated, both he and Zatch absentmindedly letting go of Kolulu.

"Let them go, Zu-Shien! They're our friends, not your puppets!" Zatch shouted angrily.

"I disagree with you, Zatch," he replied, then saw something that caught his eye. "Oh?"

Everyone followed his line of sight to see Kolulu glowing pink, her bangs covering her eyes. "Kolulu?" the lightning mamodo asked.

"Take your hands off Lori," she ordered, in a very dangerous tone that was unlike her. Though it was understandable, everyone was shocked because of the one thing they sensed from her.

Immense, unyielding fury.

If they didn't stop the pink-haired mamodo now, there's no telling what the end result could be. She could lose control and end up attacking them. Worst case scenario: their bookowners would end up as collateral damage. She raised her head, her eyes all pink, fangs bared and hair slowly starting to spike, and she sprang forward, close to transforming.

"Quick, stop her!" Zatch yelled, quickly jumping forward to grab her, with Hyde, Tia and Wonrei in tow.

"Gravirei!" Brago called out, slamming them all to the ground. With four mamodo and his spell weighing the enraged mamodo down, she wasn't going anywhere.

"Let me go!" she exclaimed still trying to struggle. "I will make him pay for what he did to Lori! To all of them!"

"Get a hold of yourself! You think we don't want to save our bookowners, too?!" the black-clad mamodo barked.

"We'll figure out a way to save them, but if you lose control now, you might end up hurting them too!" Zatch pointed out.

She screamed out in anger, pounding her fist into the ground. Her aura dissipated and hair slowly turned back to normal. Brago released his spell on the dogpile of mamodo, the sound of sniffling being heard a couple seconds later. "Zatch, she's innocent," she said, turning her head towards him, tears welling up in her eyes. "I want to save her, more than anything. She doesn't deserve this."

"Don't worry Kolulu, we'll save Lori and everyone else, and we'll stop him! That's a promise!" he replied. She slowly nodded in response.

"Well, that was both touching and unexpected," Zu-Shien spoke, watching the group slowly pick themselves up. "Tell you what, kiddies: prove to me that you're all strong enough to be called the Dragon Children, then we'll talk. Besides, there are others who wish to find out as well, so it may take a while before you reach my tower."

"Others?" Li-en asked, the puppeteer mamodo whistling in response. One of the vines shot up from the ground next to him, then came back down to about a few feet in height, a mamodo perched on top of it.

"Hey Sugino, my spell won't hold out for much longer, so I'm heading back to rest. Why don't you play with them for a while longer?"

"Sure thing, boss," he replied, cracking his knuckles.

"You're still calling me that? Oh well... Time to disappear."

"Not on your life!" Brago exclaimed, raising an arm.

"Juron!" the plant mamodo cried, vines emerging from the ground again and trapping everyone.

Zu-Shien whistled again, with Jinshu dropping down from the trees, seemingly from nowhere. "Nirarusen!" he called, pulling out a smoke bomb and throwing it on the ground. In a cloud of smoke, he, his leader and captives, had disappeared.

"How does he always do that?" Sugino mused, then shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever. I guess playing with you weaklings will have to do for now. Especially you." He looked at Penny, who squeaked and blushed in surprise, trying to cover up her panties again. "Well, you're definitely a lot cuter in person. You're that spoiled, stubborn rich girl from the mamodo world. Penny, right?"

"Well I- Wait, what did you just call me?!" she asked, her mood changing quickly.

"It's such an honor to be in the presence of someone so high-class," he began, sarcastically, "and yet you spent day in, day out, stalking a wimp like Zatch. How saddening."

"You take that back! Zatch isn't-" she stopped as soon as the vine dropped her, four more emerging and turning her right-side up, but ensnaring her wrists and ankles, holding her in a spread-eagle position. "Let me go, you creep!" she exclaimed.

Sugino only chuckled in response, a sadistic grin on his face as he approached the water mamodo. "Since you and these other losers decided to come all this way, princess," he said, bringing his arm up as she grew more worried every moment, "be my honored guest, and allow me to entertain you!" A few seconds went by, a few leaves scattering in the wind, and Sugino's expression slowly became more concerned and serious. Something wasn't right. "Hold on... what happened to that orange-headed kid?"

It took everyone a moment to realize it, but the wind mamodo wasn't anywhere around them. "He's right. I don't see Hyde anywhere," Tia said, looking around as best as she could. Suddenly, a couple of leaves floating in the air had split.

"What the heck?" Several more split as the wind picked up speed, then Hyde dropped down from above, landing a few feet to the right of Sugino. Before the plant mamodo could react after seeing him, it was too late.

"Jikir!" Hyde thrust both hands forward, blowing Sugino several feet away. "Everyone, hold still!" he warned, pointing his hands at them. "Jikirga!" he aimed his focused blast of wind up and away from them, then brought his hands down and across his body. The column of wind hit everyone in one swipe, cutting the vines and freeing them.

"My plants! My vines!" Sugino yelled. "You'll pay for that, you punk! Ju-"

"Jikirdo!" Hyde had another spell ready to go, extending his arms and clapping his hands together, hitting the green poncho-clad mamodo with a wind tunnel, pushing him back.

"Can't... move..." he spoke slowly, immobilized.

"Now's your chance! Get going!"

"What? We can't just leave you here!" Tia replied, intending to help him.

"You have to! Go on ahead and save the others; I'll catch up after handling this guy."

"Hyde..."

"This spell isn't gonna last much longer!" he barked, looking back towards Tia, her expression somewhat worried. "Go!" She slowly nodded, heading towards the exit. "And Brago!" the mamodo in question stopped and turned around. "It's a deal!"

Brago smirked in response. "Hmph. Don't come complaining to me when you catch up too late."

"Whatever, just hurry up and find someone to fight." Brago ran towards the exit, right when Hyde fell to one knee, his arms dropping and his spell dissipating.

"You just had to ruin the fun," Sugino said, watching the panting mamodo carefully. "I wanted to try all of my spells out on those wimps, but I guess you'll serve as a decent guinea pig. At least, until I get my hands on that little rich girl."

"Okay, there are two major things wrong with what you just said."

"Oh?"

"One: even though it's extremely one-sided, she's spoken for, so give that up and stop being creepy about it. Two: dude, do you really think I'm gonna let you leave this forest? If it's any consolation to you, I've been holding back on all my spells, too."

"You're surrounded by plant life and trees, and you think you're gonna stop me?"

"And you're surrounded by air, but think I won't kick your ass. What's the difference?" Sugino eyed Hyde dangerously, the tension between them immeasurable. They kept staring each other down, with a thick vine snaking its way under Sugino's feet, and wind swirling underneath Hyde's.

"Juron!/Jikir!" Both mamodo were launched into the air at each other. Each of them had a fist drawn back, ready to begin their battle.

Elsewhere...

At the start of the forest's exit, there was a small patch of grass, and a much larger stretch of barren ground. If you looked a bit further, you could see the beginnings of a wide, black brick road leading to some kind of tower. Blocking the path to that brick road, standing about fifty or so feet away from the forest, stood a kimono-clad warrior, with a solemn look on their face. They were deep in thought. Thoughts about...

-Flashback-

"What... what happened?" a female voice asked, stirring from what felt like an eternal slumber. "Where am I?"

"On Earth," a male voice replied to her question, faint footsteps slowly approaching her.

"Who's there?!" she yelled, reaching for the weapon at her waist. Slowly, the figure began to take form as they stepped into a brighter part of... wherever they were.

"An ally," he replied, his full figure now in view. She had no idea who this boy was, but after looking into his piercing, silver eyes, she couldn't bring herself to draw her sword.

"I have no allies," she said, coldly.

"What a shame. It'd be in your best interest to find one, especially since you're about a thousand years out of your time."

"I'm... what?! But, the battle-"

"Is taking place once again."

The kimono-clad, now seemingly ancient, mamodo was still wary of this strange boy standing before her, though she was beginning to drop her guard. "Why are you telling me this? Why not just destroy me and my book? It'd be one less opponent for you to try and face."

"Because I'm almost positive you could use an ally in this time," he replied with a smile, holding his hand out, "just as I could use the strength of the past on my side."

She glared at his hand before reluctantly agreeing with him, reaching out to shake the silver-eyed boy's hand.

-End Flashback-

'That power...' she thought, squeezing the hilt of her sword.

-Another, more recent, flashback-

Ni-xia walked down a corridor, intent on talking with her 'fearless leader', as she had most recently dubbed him, regarding that pink-haired, clawed bimbo she fought. She overheard a second, unfamiliar voice as she got closer to the room they were in. "Everything is slowly coming to fruition," she heard him speak, halting her movement. She quickly, silently hid behind a corner, still within earshot of them.

"Good. I assume you plan on holding up your end of the deal?" The second voice inquired.

'Deal?' she thought, listening much more intently now.

"Naturally. I only require six of the dragons to release the seal. The electric dragon is all yours."

'Six? But if this guy gets one, then what about Jinshu and I?' Zu-Shien had promised the power of a dragon to each of them. Not only was there only one dragon to spare, but it appears someone else was coming in to steal their thunder. That bastard!

"Excellent. Let's go, Dufort. We have a few other matters to attend to." She heard two sets of footsteps exit in the opposite direction. She was about to confront him about what just happened when she heard him speak again.

"What a foolish, naïve child. Only I can be the one to invoke the Seal of Seven. Then I, and I alone, will be able to save both the human and mamodo worlds."

Seal of Seven? Did he not plan on giving this other mamodo access to one of the dragons? Wait a minute... he wasn't going to let her or Jinshu keep the dragons' powers, even if they did get their hands on them!

"You're wrong!" a female voice cried. One of the prisoners? Her name was Cherry, or Sherry... or something like that. She tiptoed closer to the edge of the room's entrance, barely peeking her head around to see what was going on. All of the prisoners had their wrists chained to the wall, with vacant looks in their eyes, except for the blonde one.

"Destroying mamodo and humans won't do anything but bring chaos and misery!"

"Destroying both worlds' 'great powers' will put an end to the chaos that already exists," he snapped back. "The seven dragons will help me establish a new age of peace, once I eliminate your world's governments. Then, I will eradicate King Bell and his so-called kingdom."

"You're insane!"

"You know, by now I thought I would've had control over your mind. Guess I'll have to keep whittling away at your willpower." He held out his hand at her. "Kinozaruk," he chanted, electrified strings emerging from his palms and wrapping around one of her wrists. She immediately cried out in pain, feeling the electricity course through her entire body. Ni-xia's eyes widened at the sight before her, until Zu-Shien stopped after a few seconds.

Sherry fell limp as the chains supported her weight, gasping for air. "Why...? Why are you... doing this?"

"That's strange, I assumed that I made my intentions relatively clear. Must be a human thing, he mused, looking at the blonde captive before him glaring daggers into his skull. He finally realized what she meant a couple seconds later. "Oh, oh you mean you all?" he clarified, chuckling. "Because you're the bookowners of the Dragon Children, how else was I going to get them here? Besides, what's wrong with a boy having his toys? Now then, if you don't mind, I think our guests should be arriving in the nearby forest very shortly, and we don't want a disappointing performance, now do we?"

"What are you-" She stopped when he raised both hands toward her, with a smile.

"Dioga Kinorudo."

-End 2nd Flashback-

'He lied to us. The power of the dragons was never meant to be shared after all,' she pondered, pulling her sheathed katana from her sash, unsheathing a quarter of her blade. She looked at the reflection of her eyes, currently unsure if she liked what she saw. 'Did I really desire power so much that I became blind to... such a selfish ambition? Maybe I'm not as noble of a warrior as I thought,' she mused. She heard rustling coming from the forest, causing her to resheath her blade. 'At the very least, I was able to find a worthy opponent in this time.'

Kolulu and everyone else emerged from the bushes and trees, greeted by the sight of a kimono-clad mamodo, her sheathed katana in hand. "Finally, you've arrived," she stated, directing her comment to one certain pink-haired mamodo.

"Ni-xia. Where's Lori and the rest of our friends?" Kolulu inquired.

"I'll answer your question if you can defeat me in battle."

Wonrei was growing impatient. "That's enough stalling-"

"Wait, Wonrei. It's me she wants," Kolulu interrupted, holding her arm out to stop him. She stepped forward to face the swordswoman. "Fine... I'll do it."

"It's been a long time since I've encountered someone worthy of my sword," Ni-xia declared, sliding her sword back into her sash, adopting a battle stance. "Prepare yourself, Kolulu. We've yet to finish our duel."

In response, Kolulu took off her dress and tossed it aside, not wanting to tear it to shreds again. Both girls locked eyes with each other, slowly walking in a circle. Everyone stepped back, not wanting to get in the way. Ni-xia kept her left hand on her sheath, and as soon as her right hand grabbed her hilt, both combatants charged forward.

"Iai..." Ni-xia prepared to draw her sword.

"Zeruk!" Kolulu cried, transforming.

"Swordo!" Ni-xia finished, swiftly drawing her katana, blade clashing with claws, the force blowing away the air around them.

From the top of the tower, Zu-Shien could barely see anyone in the distance, but he could feel their power. He held his hands up, as if he were a conductor about to begin a concert.

"Let the show... begin."

Will Zatch and the gang make it all the way to challenge Zu-Shien? Will Hyde and Kolulu come out on top in their battles? Who will Brago's opponent be? Why is Zu-Shien so interested in the ensuing battles? Find out in the next chapter of Zatch Bell: The Strongest Mamodo!

Remember to read and review! Until next time everyone!