Hey everyone, here's the Rise of Zeo Halloween special. Whether or not this special will be canon to the main story itself though is up for debate. This idea was suggested to me by IrishKatana and worked on with his, as well as Clock King 10. So, shoutouts to them. Anyway, here's the Halloween special, enjoy.
The sun set peacefully over the Boiling Isles, the large full moon already in the sky. Within the Owl House, Luz stood in the living room, holding a rock.
"Zeo! Can you come here? I need your help with something," Luz says from the living room.
"What's up, beautiful?" Zeo greeted.
"I need you to hold this and keep it steady because I'm going to try and change the rock into something else…" Luz said as Zeo takes her place and was holding the heavy, wide rock.
"A metamorphic spell?" Zeo asked in surprise as Luz nodded her head with a weak smile.
"It's my first attempt, so let me concentrate," she said as Zeo gave her silence.
Luz closed her eyes, drew a glyph and thrusted her dominant arm forward as she aimed at the rock. Within a second, a thin stream hit the rock as Zeo let go of it and let the spell work its magic until it turned into something Luz knows, but Zeo wouldn't know.
"Um, Luz? What is this?" Zeo asked with a raised eyebrow at the newly created object.
"It worked. I turned it into a pumpkin," Luz said with a smile as she takes the pumpkin from the still confused Zeo and starts carving a cryptic face on it to make it a Jack-o-Lantern.
"A pumpkin? What's a pumpkin?" Zeo asked, not hearing that word before.
"A pumpkin is a fruit from where I come from," she answered as she showed Zeo pictures of different sized pumpkins. "They are the signature emblem of Halloween. A holiday in which, we humans, dress up as our favorite creatures or people of fantasy," Luz said as Zeo got interested. "And since I'm in the Boiling Isles. Every day is Halloween from dawn to dusk," Luz adds with enthusiasm.
"So, you're technically living out your biggest fantasy by dressing up and living like a witch while you are on the Boiling Isles," Zeo said as he understood her situation more thoroughly now than before.
"Yep. It's the ultimate Halloween gift of all for me," Luz said. "And I get to spend it with you." Luz said as she walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his neck before pressing her lips against his in a deep kiss with Zeo returning the gesture.
The couple's little make-out session was cut off by several knocks at the door. The knocks sounded frantic. The door then opened to reveal Willow, Gus, and Amity, all with concerned looks upon their faces.
"Hey, guys. What's wrong?" Zeo greeted the three of them, sensing that something bad had happened.
"Zeo, I can't find my parents," Willow said.
"My dad is missing, too," Gus added with a frown.
"And my house is empty. And it's almost never empty when I come home," Amity said, making everyone go wide-eyed at that statement.
"Now that you mention it, it's just been me and Luz today because mom and King have been gone all day and she would tell me where she would be going and when she would come back," Zeo said as things were starting to get fishy here.
"And found this outside, on the porch of my home," Amity said, pulling something out that surprised both Zeo and Luz.
"A Jack-O-Lantern," Luz said as Zeo now knew things are starting to get really fishy.
"Night Howler, arise," Zeo said as his signature tracker wolf came out.
"Okay, girl. I need you to sniff that pumpkin and see if you can lead us to the kidnapper of Amity's family," Zeo said as Night Howler gave a howl and sniffed the pumpkin before sniffing the air, her nose and eyes stopped in a certain direction, causing her to growl and bare her fangs.
"She's got something. Let's go, guys," Zeo said as his wolf took off and everyone else followed.
The group of four walked through the forest as they followed Night Howler who was tracking the scent of the people they were looking for. Eventually, they had arrived at a clearing, with Night Howler stopping in front barking her observation to her master.
"Night Howler says the scent is close, but it's also on multiple targets," Zeo relayed back to his friends.
"So, it's more than one person that involved. Where do we start?" Amity asked.
"Help me!" a voice shouts from afar as the group looks at a lone witch running through the clearing with three other "witches" chasing after him with their arms out in front of their bodies.
"Guess we don't need your nose for that cry for help, eh girl? Otherwise, good job," Zeo said to Night Howler, giving her a playful scratch on the ear as she barked back.
"Umm… Is that guy getting chased by ...pumpkin-heads?" Luz asked in shock.
"Is that what you call those?" Gus asked as seeing the orange fruit on the people heads for the first time.
"Yeah, they're called pumpkins. Let's help this guy out," Zeo said pulling out the card for his Sledgerammer.
"Way ahead of you, Zeo," Willow said as she casted a spell and a bunch of roots uprooted themselves and captured the chasers right when the witch just tripped over his feet. And for good measure, Willow made the vines smack the pumpkin-heads against each other, knocking them out until they fell onto the ground together.
Right as the group approached, the pumpkins broke open and the heads of the witches inside were free.
"Thank you for saving me," the witch said, as he was bowing on his knees for the assist.
"Anytime. Can you explain what happened to have those three chase you through here?" Zeo asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. All I know is they want to turn everyone into pumpkin-headed zombies. I would've become one if it weren't for you guys" the witch said. "Bonesborough is like a ghost town. I think most people have turned into those things"
"Say what?" the teens said with shock and looked at each other. Could this be the reason Gus, Willow, and Amity's families were missing? And what about King and Eda? The only option they had was to investigate further into this mystery.
"If that's the case, we'll have to find the heart of this zombie horde" Zeo said while pulling out two cards.
"Knight Owl. Daze Raven, arise!" Zeo shouts as his two signature flyers screech upon awakening.
"Before we leave, do you have any ideas on how to beat back this plague of zombies," Zeo asked the victim, who could only shake his head in disapproval.
"No, but all I know is this; look for the pumpkin-headed guy on the horse. He may be the guy, thing, or whatever it is...who's calling the shots for all his orange-headed minions, but be careful," the witch warned as his face grew dire with fear. "Keep your group together, don't split up, otherwise, it will make it easier for the mob of zombies to surround you all, individually. And if they capture you, they'll turn you into one of them."
"How do you know when you'll get converted?" Gus asked as he started sweating profusely.
"When you hear their latest victim scream in agony as their free will is sucked away and lost along with their sanity," the man said as everyone gulped.
"Great. No pressure or anything," Amity added sarcastically as she, Willow, and Gus hopped on Daze Raven while Zeo and Luz hopped on Knight Owl as two birds flew off, leaving the rescued witch to run and find shelter without drawing in any attention.
Bonesborough…
The group saw lots of cleared streets of destruction. No witch was outside on the streets, nor did it look like anyone wanted to come outside at all.
"I've never seen the town so deserted like this before," Willow said in surprise.
"You're telling me. It's never this quiet or deserted when the Sun goes down," Amity added, slightly scared of where everyone went.
"It's almost like the ultimate surprise event of the year gone wrong," Gus said as he saw overturned carts with product discarded on the ground with no around to steal anything until he sees something in the far distance.
"Hey, guys! Up ahead," Gus called out over to Zeo and Luz while pointing straight ahead to a big mass gathering of pumpkin-headed witches at the center of town.
"This is getting crazy; pumpkin-headed zombies? This is the worst kind of nightmare ever to experience while you are alive," Luz commented with a fearful face.
"And right now, you along with the rest of us are going to experience this nightmare together unless we put a stop to whoever is doing this before this nightmare it literally becomes our reality," Zeo pointed out, making Luz frown with her eyes going wide. Yep, she's freaking out and not in a good way.
"Let's hang back, out of reach and see what's up," Zeo said as he gave the instructions to Knight Owl, who cawed the instructions over to Daze Raven while Zeo summoned his Tracker Tick to get a closer look.
Tracker Tick flew down to the horde of zombies. There were several witches that the teens had recognized, including Willow and Gus' parents, and Amity's family. That's when they heard the sound of a neigh. A few feet in front of the crowd there was a horse, and upon was a horseman with a Jack-O-Lantern for a head.
"My minions, soon we will rule over the Boiling Isles! I can sense more witches hiding out. Find them and convert them" The horseman said.
"The Headless Horseman is real? I thought that was just a spooky campfire story told back in my world" Luz said, tightly hugging Zeo from behind.
"Capture them. Starting with those five!" The Headless Horseman drew a spell circle, firing a flaming pumpkin at the teens on the birds. Both birds were quick to fly out of the way.
"He knew we were here the whole time?!" Willow said with a mixture of shock and slight fear.
"This is just a guess, but you don't think that pumpkin head of his isn't just for show, right? He could see us all of us the high up and this far away. Which means he must have sensory magic that allows him to sense the mana of witches that haven't been converted into his army yet," Zeo commented, making Luz get immediately scared.
"If that's possible, then that means we can't hide from him or his minions, no matter where we go in the Boiling Isles," Luz said as Knight Owl dodges another flaming pumpkin projectile.
"Zeo, we need a new plan! I suggest a tactical retreat is in order. At least, for now," Gus suggested, shouting the idea over to his other summon, in which, Zeo nodded in agreement.
"Good idea, Gus. It's time to get out of Bonesborough. Time to fly, guys," Zeo ordered as the two flyers turned away to fly outside of town.
"Oh, no you don't," the Headless Horsemen says with a sinister smile on his Jack-O-Lantern head as he casts another spell to launch two more flaming pumpkin projectiles at the two fleeing airborne targets. Only this time, the pumpkins were covered in blue flames.
"Get them," he ordered as he launches his next attack. The horde growled in unison as they started running in the direction of the retreating group.
Once the pumpkins launched, they were heading straight at Knight Owl and Daze Raven.
"Uh, guys! Incoming," Gus shouts as he pointed behind the group, warning them of the incoming projectiles.
"Do a barrel roll," Luz orders Knight Owl, who follows her command to dodge as both birds perfectly spin out of the way just as the two pumpkin heads pass by with everyone holding on tight to not fall off.
"Whew, that was a close one," Willow said in relief.
"Uh. Not quite," Amity added as she pointed at the two blue flaming pumpkins, who did an immediate 180-degree turn, coming straight back around again, aimed straight at the group's flyers, shocking everyone.
"Heat-seeking projectile pumpkins?" Zeo guessed with a stunned face of surprise, knowing he and his friends can't shake or dodge these shots.
"That Horseman is good," Zeo admits in defeat as he grabs Luz's hand and closes his eyes just as the pumpkin projectiles struck true with two separate fire explosions that were strong enough to knock both bird summons out of the sky with Zeo and Luz holding onto the falling Knight Owl in one direction while Amity, Gus and Willow held onto Daze Raven that fell in another direction, thus separating the group just as the mob as well diverted into two groups, both going in separate directions, towards either of the crash-landing sites of Zeo's summons.
"Is everyone ok?" Gus asked as he dusted himself off.
"Yeah, we're fine. Good job cushioning our fall, Willow" Amity commented, Willow having created an enormous flower for Daze Raven to fall on just before they crashed.
"No problem. I just hope Luz and Zeo are ok" Willow spoke, concerned for her friends' well-being.
That's when they heard rustling coming from several directions. They also heard moans. Aw, crap.
"They found us already?!" Amity asked with disbelief.
"They're pretty fast for zombies" Gus pointed out with narrowed eyes.
Willow then formed a serious expression with her fists clenched, "Go..." she told them.
"What?" Gus and Willow looked at her.
"Go! I'll hold them off so you can escape" Willow told them.
"Willow, no. They'll surround you," Amity fully disagreed in her friend's choice to stay back and fight.
"Amity, we don't have a choice. Besides, someone has to survive this apocalypse and fix everything. It's just not going to be me, so please, for me. Survive this mess...or you'll never see me again," Willow ordered as she pushed Amity away as she faced the horde solo with Amity running into a nearby alley corner to get a better view of the action.
"Knowing Zeo, this is exactly something he would do because this is a very bad idea," Willow says to herself as she looked at the hundreds of bodies that were literally coming straight towards her like an army.
"But someone's gotta do it," she added as dug deep inside herself as her eyes went green. Instantly, buying beer updated from the ground like a giant earthquake cutting off multiple members of the mob, dead in their tracks, effectively blocking their way or creating hazards for them to cross, making the witnessing Amity smile at her friends show of power.
Within minutes, little was able to push back and disabled over a third of the mob, but her mana was already weakening and The Horde kept coming.
A pumpkin-head, high on rooftop sees Willow surviving the onslaught of the mob and it didn't like that. As Willow backed up while also casting spell after spell, the lone Pumpkin-head jumped off the roof and land right onto Willow like a kamikaze disable her and restrain her arm just long enough for the horde to get past all of her plant vines.
"Oh, no," Amity muttered as her smile instantly frowns into a look of shock.
Willow manages to fight the attacker off, but more members of The Horde managed to get her legs. And just as she was about to cast a spell to free herself, one of the Pumpkin-head grabbed her dominant arm and pins It to the ground along with her other arm, leaving Willow utterly helpless. Willow was able to see Amity's shocked face underneath the legs of the growing crowd just as her face was slowly covered by the countless hands within the horde.
Just Amity looked away from the scene in shock as tears were already running down her face. And to rub salt in the wound, she heard Willow scream so loud, she blocked out it as best as she could, leaving her emotionally broken, but Amity knew Willow wouldn't want her to get caught by that mob of pumpkin-heads, and so she ventured onward, completely ignoring the fact that Gus went on ahead, accidentally splitting their group up even further.
"I can't believe Willow did that. Zeo must be rubbing off on her" Gus said, stopping as he rested his hand on a tree. "But at least she bought us time to escape, right Amity?" He asked abomination witch, only to receive silence. "Amity?" He looked around to see no one around, "Oh, dang..."
And sure enough, he heard groaning nearby, meaning the horde was closing in on him and coming his way.
"The Pumpkin-heads are coming," Gus muttered as he continued running until he ended up catching the attention of another group and they began chasing him.
"Oh, titan," Gus said as he began to feel the reality of being alone against a mob of this size and for all the wrong reasons as he continued running that is until Gus, after failing to check his surroundings, ended up running into an alley with the entrance being the only exist, inevitably trapping himself in the worst fate imaginable in a zombie apocalypse.
Running out of options, Gus recalls a spell that could be useful to buy him some time before he gets converted.
"Hope this works," Gus said as he casted a spell and turned himself invisible just as the zombies came into the alley to inspect it for Gus' presence. Thankfully, he hugs the alley walls as they walk past him causing him to sigh in relief. Sadly, however, the invisibility spell takes a lot of mana and he didn't know he became visible until he bumped into a pumpkin head and it turned around, moaning in delight.
"Oh, boy. You shouldn't be able to see me unless...," he began as he saw his hands that were visible. "...I'm out of mana."
The zombie growled, making its friends come over and help capture their newest victim.
"Be gentle," he mutters in fear as the group surrounds him, triggering a scream that Amity heard a few blocks over.
"No, not Gus," Amity said as she felt like her heart was breaking all over again as she just lost two friends in mere minutes of each other to this nightmare.
"This victory better be worth it," she mutters as she ran through the streets, finally getting visual on Luz and Zeo.
"Luz! Zeo!" Amity cried out the duo's names as she ran towards them.
The couple turned their heads to the youngest Blight, who was coming towards them. Sadly, Amity was stopped by something grabbing her arm. It turned out to be a zombie. Gus was right, these things were kind of fast for undead creatures. To counter this, Amity drew a spell circle with her finger.
"Abomination, rise!" Amity shouted, summoning an average-sized abomination, which appeared behind the zombie. The goo creature then grabbed the attacker, removed them from its master, and flung it away. However, this proved to be pointless as more zombies started appearing. "Abomination. defend!" Amity commanded her creature.
The abomination tried its best to fend off the oncoming horde, but it was of no use as the zombies destroyed it with powerful spells. With her guard gone, the zombies surrounded Amity herself. One of them used a spell to shoot a root out of the ground and bind her wrists together behind her back.
"Damn you!" Amity shouted, glaring at the pumpkin-headed creatures.
As the zombies closed in on the helpless Blight, they were quickly sent flying off, yards away by Zeo wielding his Sledgerhammer to rescue his friend in need. When he was sure they were knocked down, at least, long enough for Zeo to slash the vine cuffs on Amity's hands.
"Thanks, Zeo," Amity said, feeling relieved for his last-minute rescue.
"Don't thank me yet because there are more zombies are coming this way," Zeo said as he pointed down the street as more members of another horde came running in their direction, shocking Amity even further.
"There is no end to these things, is there," Amity asked rhetorically with a defeated and exhausted face.
"According to Luz, no. Not unless we take out that Horseman and find out what he's up to. But for now, run for your life," Zeo ordered as he and Amity ran past Luz, who followed their lead immediately as a scared look appeared on her face, right after she saw the approaching horde.
The trio then found an abandoned shop. They entered, Zeo suggesting that they escape through the back. However, that plan would be cut short for Amity as a hand burst through the front door, grabbing her by the arm. This was followed by several more arms bursting through the door and grabbing her other limbs.
"Amity!" Luz and Zeo shouted their friend's name with worry.
"Go on without me. It's up to you guys now. Save the Boiling Isles, our friends, and our families from this undead nightmare!" Amity told them before being pulled through, the sounds of her screams being heard.
"Amity!" Luz yelled out to the abomination witch with tears in the corner of her eyes.
"Come on, Luz!" Zeo said, grabbing and pulling the human girl by the arm. The young couple then ran through the back, widening the distance between them and the horde of zombies. Zeo looked back at Luz to see a frightened look on his girlfriend's face. "Luz?"
"First we lost Willow, then Gus, and now Amity... It's only a matter of time before we're next" Luz said, hugging her boyfriend.
"Hey, hey, hey! It's going to be ok, Luz, don't worry" Zeo said reassuringly while running his fingers through her hair to calm her nerves. He then formed a serious expression, just as he always did when backed into a corner and facing a huge threat. "Alright, if that horseman is too much of a coward to face us head-on then we'll just have to cut down his army and take the fight to him ourselves!" he said, holding the card for the Drago-cycle.
Soon, at the city's center, the Headless Horseman was awaiting any news about the intruders...and he just got it from his subordinates.
"Excellent, three more have joined my army. And only two are left hiding in the city. This is a glorious day for me and a new day for the Boiling Isles," he said to himself until he heard some tires revving in the distance.
"What the..." he said as the sound got closer and he sees the last two survivors of this town's takeover heading straight for him, Zeo and Luz on the Drago-Cycle heading his way.
"Well, that's new," he admits seeing a new form of transportation that he hasn't seen before in his life. However, he feels like he needs to give these last two witches a sense of fairness. To see what they can do against just him while his horde is on standby.
"Come get some, witches," he boasted out loud, eager to see what Zeo and Luz can do to him before he calls his subordinates to come and surround them.
"You asked for it, you headless creep," Zeo says with a cryptic smile as he increases the speed of the cycle to run the Horseman over.
The head of the Drago-cycle roared as mowed down the zombie horde like a weed whacker. It then used its tail to launch itself into the air with the two witches on board. The Horseman was knocked to the ground as the bike tore through his horse's body, the equine releasing a neigh of agony and pain as its flesh was torn apart.
"I guess this makes my ride better than yours," Zeo mocked, making the pumpkin-headed leader growl.
"And in exchange, this makes you an easier target on yours," the horseman said as he casted more flaming pumpkin heads from before and launched them at the surviving heroes. Zeo quickly revved his bike and they were able to dodge the projectiles and ride away, but this time, the Horseman wasn't going to let them get away again and summoned his blue heat-seeking pumpkins from earlier that incapacitated Zeo's signature flyers.
"Get them, my minions! They too must join us," he ordered as he launched the blue pumpkins as horde ran after the pair with haste.
"This is not good, Zeo. We're outnumbered with no plan. What are we going to do?" Luz asked as Zeo for the first time ever, didn't have an answer.
Until he heard a familiar sound. He looked behind him and saw the blue pumpkins that knocked out Knight Owl and Daze Raven, only this time this time, they had faces, making them Jack-O-Lanterns...and they were laughing at Zeo. As if they were mocking his attempts to win this fight.
"Well, that's new," Zeo muttered in shock.
Zeo was so distracted by the taunting projectiles, he was paying attention of where he was going...
"Zeo, look out!" Luz shouted as Zeo quickly focused and drove through a fallen cart, forcing the two to fly off the cycle and landing onto the ground.
By the time, Zeo and Luz could recover, the approaching horde was already on them, thereby making the Drago-Cycle useless in a battle for the first time since Zeo would inevitably be swarmed and overwhelmed by bodies as the horde started advancing on them.
"Don't worry about the bike, Zeo. We just need a place to make a final stand," Luz suggested as she spotted a ladder to the roof of a nearby building.
"Quick, up there!" she shouts and points to the roof and runs over to the ladder and starts climbing with Zeo quickly following her as the horde started following their lead and began climbing too.
Luz had managed to make it to the rooftop. Zeo, however, wasn't so lucky as one of the zombies grabbed his leg.
"Zeo!" Luz cried out her boyfriend's name.
Zeo was stuck on the edge of the rooftop on a ladder while he kicked and stomped on the pumpkin-headed zombie of an anchor holding him down, but all it did was give its friends an idea and they grabbed onto him while another grabbed Zeo's other leg and another manages to climb all the way up onto Zeo's back, but he quickly elbow the zombie off of him before he can grab his neck, but his legs were still trapped.
"Luz. I hate to say it, but I think it's the end of the road for me," Zeo says as he felt the zombies try to pull him down and off the ladder as he maintains his grip on the ladder rung he was on, but Luz came over to try to grab his free hand and pull him up, but with all of those zombies holding onto him, she wasn't making much progress.
"Don't say that. I can't lose you too," she says as she starts crying until Zeo pulls her in close as he too feels like he was losing his grip on the latter he was barely able to hang onto.
"It's okay. Because, in the end, if I can't think of a way to save the day, then maybe you can," he says as he pulls her in one last time for a surprise kiss before he felt his grip slipping. "Luz..." he began as he felt his legs pulled off the ladder along with his hand with tears in his eyes. "...I love you," he finishes as he felt his hand slip through her grasp.
"NO!" she shouts in disbelief as she watched him fall off the ladder along with the zombies who were holding him down into the growing horde of people down below.
She then heard her boyfriend's scream, signaling his transformation into a pumpkin-headed zombie. Luz collapsed to her knees, tears welling up in her eyes before she broke down, crying at the multiple friends she has lost tonight… until she heard the pumpkin heads begin to advance on her with nowhere for her to run. Then, she saw Zeo, wearing a pumpkin on his head, who looks happy to see her.
"Join us" Zeo as he was flanked by Amity, Gus, and Willow, who all had pumpkins on their heads, forcing Luz to scream at the top of her lungs as they advanced on her as Zeo put his hand on her neck to keep her still as a vacant pumpkin hat was handed to him as she saw the Horseman laugh at her misery. The pumpkin-headed Zeo brought the pumpkin down on Luz's head, signaling the beginning of her everlasting nightmare.
"NO!" Luz screams in fear of the reality of the situation as her vision goes dark and she hears a voice calling her name.
"Luz! Luz! Wake up! You're are having a nightmare," Zeo said as she opens both of her eyes as she saw Amity, Willow, and Gus looked at her with concerned faces, having woken up on the couch.
"Luz! You're awake!" Zeo said as he gave her a hug.
"Zeo! You're alive?" she asked in shock as she began patting his face and shoulders to check he was real. "You're alive!" she shouts in excitement as she grabs his shirt and kisses him so hard, the interaction takes them to the floor, shocking everyone.
The other three witches glanced at each other, and then at the kissing couple.
"Uh… I think we should leave them alone for a little while" Willow suggested.
"Yep" Amity said in agreement.
"Uh-huh" Gus nodded, the three of them then headed out, leaving Zeo and Luz by themselves.
"Heh. That must've been one hell of a nightmare…" Zeo chuckled at the mercy of the assault of his girlfriend's repeated kisses… not that he was complaining.
Out in the distance on the top of a hill was a horseman with a Jack-O-Lantern for a head. He then turned to the audience…
"Happy Halloween…" he told them sinisterly with an evil chuckle before vanishing into a gust of wind and several leaves.
Alright, that's the end of this little holiday one-shot. At the time of this posting, it's still Halloween where I am, so… Happy Halloween. Since this was all just a dream, it most likely won't be canon to the main story, which I'm ok with.
This story was suggested by IrishKatana and co-written with Clock King 10. I know this seems a bit rushed, but I wanted to get it out in time for Halloween… even if it is with only a few hours to spare.
Anyway, remember to Read, Review, and Favorite/Follow, and I'll see you all in the main story.