Hey guys, here's chapter 18 of Rise of Zeo. This chapter was co-written with my good friend King of 2211. I'm sure this will be enjoyable.
It was another day at Hexside Academy. The bell then rang, signaling the students to head home. As he walked the halls, Zeo had his sketchpad in one hand and a pencil in the other. He hadn't been able to come up with an idea for a new card in some time. He could use some inspiration… but what? He looked at the banners of the different tracks. He made beasts based around animals all the time, so making one off the Beast Keeping track was out. He then looked at the Plant and Illusionist tracks, the tracks Gus and Willow were in. A beast based off a plant or a beast that's based around doing illusions. Zeo pulled out a coin.
"Heads, Plants; Tails, Illusion" Zeo said before flipping the coin with his thumb. It landed in his other hand, landing on… its side? "What the hell?" Zeo looked at the coin with confusion.
It was then that he heard a sigh. He looked to the side to see the familiar form of Willow; the plant magic witchling looking glum.
"Willow?" He asked no one in particular as he watched her. He saw her looking at what appeared to be a large seed in her hand with what appeared to be disappointment. Zeo walked up to the plant girl, "Hey Willow, what's wrong? You seem upset" he asked her.
"Oh, hello Zeo. I was just concerned about the assignment I was just given" Willow replied.
"Well, what's it about?" Zeo asked.
"We have to grow a plant.
"That shouldn't be so hard for you. Luz said you're crazy powerful with plant magic" Zeo said with a shrug.
True, but it has to be a living plant" Willow clarified, "I'm good with plants, but not when it comes to bringing them to life" she added.
"Oh…" Zeo said. Hearing this made him feel a little bad for the plant witchling.
Looking both ways, Zeo casually whistled to himself, then flicked the coin, "Well, will you look at that, heads. Plant-inspired card it is."
"Did you say something?" Willow asked, having heard him.
"Oh, nothing. Let's get cracking." Zeo replied.
"Huh?" Willow looked at him.
"I've got nothing better to do. How about I help you out?" Zeo offered.
"Really? You'd help me with my assignment?" Willow said with both surprise and delight.
"Why not? I mean, think about it, when have we ever hung out? We can get to know each other better." The card witchling replied. He then remembered something. "And before you ask, no, it's not like what Luz did when you first met."
"Well, what do you suggest?" Willow asked.
"I suggest we go to a lush forest and get inspiration by looking at local flora" Zeo replied.
"Ok. That definitely seems a lot easier than pretending to be my project. I doubt that would work a second time anyway" Willow said, "Come on, let's stop by my house to get some supplies." she said while taking the card wielder by the wrist.
Willow's House…
"I think this is the first time I've ever been to another person's house" Zeo said as he and Willow entered Willow's house.
Upon entering, they were greeted by two men. One that looked similar to Willow, and another that was balding and dark-skinned.
"Hi, Willow. How was school?" the one wearing glasses asked.
"It went well," Willow replied, "Oh, this is my friend Zeo. He's going to help me on my latest school assignment" she introduced the men to Eda's clone.
The men looked at the silver-haired boy and he looked back. Zeo remembered Willow mentioning her parents once or twice, including on the way here. Zeo looked around and saw multiple photos on the wall of Willow with these two men. Considering she never used the words Mom or Dad, and given the photos, it didn't take a genius to know what that meant. The beast summoner saw them looking at him curiously.
"Something wrong, sirs?" Zeo asked,
"It's just, it feels as though I've seen you before… but I can't quite put my finger on it…" The green-haired father said, adjusting his glasses. After a few minutes, he shrugged. "I guess it's nothing."
"Hope he's brighter than Augustus." The darker-skinned father murmured.
"Dad! Really!" Willow scolded.
He held up his hands, "I'm just saying. Augustus is a good kid, but sometimes he can be a little… what do you call them?"
"Nothing! Augustus is a well-meaning young man." The father with glasses stated, sending his husband a stern look.
"Okay. Just saying." The other father shrugged..
"Uh, we're just stopping by to pick up some supplies real quick. Come on, Zeo" Willow said, leading him upstairs as he followed her close behind.
Once upstairs, Willow opened the door to her bedroom. It was a nice, average-sized room, a few plants near her window. Wow, this girl really liked plants.
"Excuse me while I change" Willow held up a finger as she walked across her room and behind one of the changing curtain wall things, "So, how's the Beast Keeping track coming along?" she asked as the silhouette of her started to undress.
"It's fine. I imagine it's similar to the Plant track except you learn about different creatures. Ironically, I'm the top student in that class" Zeo said, blushing as he tried to avert his gaze from watching his friend strip.
From what he saw though, it wasn't bad. Despite being a little thick in certain places, Willow had a nice, thin midsection, giving her that hourglass-like body.
"Wow…." He said, as if in a daze.
"Something wrong?" Willow asked, poking her head out from the wall. When he saw her looking at him, it broke him from his thoughts.
"Huh? I-I-I mean… no, I'm fine." He turned around to hide his blush. What just got over him?
Willow shrugged and resumed to change. A minute later, she came out wearing what appeared to be a safari outfit, one with skin hugging shorts.
"Just call me Adventurer Willow!" Willow said, giving a wink with a tip of her pith helmet.
"Good, now we can begin." Zeo said as they both made their way downstairs.
"Dad! Papa! We're going out!" Willow called.
"Be sure to be back by supper!" The bespeckled father called back before hearing the front door close.
Lush Forest…
"Ok, you ready for this, Willow?" Zeo asked, he and the Plant track girl having rode to the forest on Night Howler's back.
"Mm-hm" Willow nodded as they hopped off the dire wolf's back.
Zeo recalled Night Howler into her card form.
"So, where should we start?" He asked, taking in his environment.
"Hhm, let's look around and see what there is." Willow suggested as she led the clone along a trail."There are a ton of plants to choose from" Willow said while looking around.
"Yeah, but it's probably best if you get inspired by one that's more or less living" Zeo said.
They saw a dragonfly buzzing around their heads. The dragonfly then flew on a nearby plant. However, the plant then closed up, devouring the bug. Willow recognized this as a venus fly trap. But this wasn't a regular fly trap, it was a giant fly trap.
It was then that the plant grew bigger and bigger until it was about ten feet long. It took notice of the two witchlings, glaring at them hungrily, which made Zeo reach for his cards.
"Don't worry, I got-"
He wasn't able to finish when the Plant witchling approached the massive flytrap.
"Willow?" Zeo looked at the girl with confusion.
"Don't worry, Zeo, I've got this" Willow said reassuringly.
"'Don't worry', she says."
Despite wanting to help, he had the feeling that she knew what she was doing. Willow was a part of the Plant track after all. She approached the massive flytrap without the smallest indication of hesitation. The carnivorous vegetation snarled at the Plant track witchling as it lowered its head to her. But before it could react she did something he didn't expect… she reached out a finger, and tickled it!
"What?" Zeo looked on in confusion and disbelief.
What's more, the flytrap was beginning to laugh! How was this girl able to do this? Zeo was so confused right now. Somehow she managed to subdue this carnivorous plant by tickling it.
"I… I can't believe what I'm seeing…" Zeo muttered to himself.
What was more surprising was that Willow's action had caused the plant to retreat into the ground, back into its original position.
"How the hell did you do that?" Zeo raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just good with plants. Just like you're good with beasts" Willow told him with a small shrug.
He watched as she walked off, then looked back to the flytrap. He was still trying to process whether or not what he saw actually happened. The plant in question seemed to notice the clone staring at as it looked straight at him.
"Don't be hatin'." It said cheekily, then burrowed into the ground.
"Someone has an attitude." Zeo remarked as he went to follow his friend.
Zeo and Willow walked deeper into the forest. They were surrounded by several flowers, from roses to violets. They were also walking beside a stream.
"Hold on a sec, Willow. All this walking has gotten me thirsty" Zeo said as knelt to the ground.
He placed a hand in the water and took a few sips. He was about to do it again, when something lunged at him. It was a plant with what appeared to be a red colored head with white polka dots and a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Luckily Zeo was quick enough to reel his hand back. Plus, the plant was still attached to the ground.
"What the hell?" Zeo looked at the plant, "What is that thing?" he asked while pointing at it.
"Oh my gosh…. IT'S A PIRANHA PLANT!" Willow all but squealed as her eyes beamed. "I've read about these, they grow in mostly damp areas and are able to breathe fire!"
On que, the piranha plant's mouth puffed up, then spat a fireball at the two. Luckily Zeo was quick on his feet as he dodged it and pushed Willow out of the way.
"How is that a good thing?" Zeo reached for his cards again. "Time to freeze this vegetable!" he said as he held Frost Lizard's card between his fingers.
"Hold on, Zeo" Willow placed a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.
"What?" Zeo looked back at her.
"I read about how to deal with piranha plants." Willow said.
"Really? What is it?" Her companion raised an eyebrow.
"Just trust me, please."
Though he was hesitant, Zeo couldn't really say no to the Plant magic girl, especially since she handled herself quite well the first time. He watched as Willow reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag of jerky. Now that he thought about it, considering its teeth and the fact that it had piranha in its name, it kind of made sense… sort of. Zeo watched as Willow tossed a few pieces the plant's way. The sharp-toothed plant regarded the pieces of jerky, sniffed them, then began to gobble them up.
Once again, the card maker was left speechless, "... I literally know not what to say right now."
"It always pays to do your research" Willow said while scratching the piranha plant under the chin.
"Whatever you say, Plant Whisperer" Zeo said jokingly with a roll of his eyes.
Suddenly, the plant went rigid as it looked around in alertness, almost as if it sensed something. Before Willow could ask what was wrong, the piranha plant ducked back into the water. This made Zeo cock his head, he was about to inquire if that was normal behavior, when…
"Hey, do you hear that?" A low, distinctive sound could be heard all around.
At that moment they heard rustling of the bushes. They looked up and, out of the bushes, came a red creature with black spots. It had six legs and a round body. It was a ladybug. A giant ladybug.
"Whoa, big bug!" Zeo said with amazement and slight shock, "Eh, I'm sure you can handle this, right, Willow?" he asked the plant girl. However, he received no response, "Willow?" he looked at his companion and saw that she was in a state of shock, "Willow, what's wrong?" he asked, placing a hand of concern on his shoulder.
"L-L-L-Lady… L-L-Ladybug…" Willow stammered.
"Wait, you're afraid of ladybugs? You're in the Plant track, aren't you used to this crap?" Zeo asked.
"I'm not afraid of ladybugs. I'm afraid of giant ladybugs!" she clarified, running around and hiding behind Zeo like a shield, her body shaking.
"Whoa, you're really freaked…" Zeo muttered, "Don't worry, Willow, I've got you" he held a card between his fingers, "Knight Owl, arise!" he tossed the card, bringing forth his ace beast. Knight Owl looked at the bug, and then at Zeo with confusion, "Yeah, we're fighting a stupid ladybug. It's for Willow, so make it quick" he told the bird.
"Aphids..." The giant bug growled as it flew straight towards the teen witchlings.
Knight Owl was able to swat the insect away, now seeing it was a threat to its creator and his friend. Zeo blinked a bit, so the ladybug was big and it could talk…. Eh, at least it didn't run it's mouth like a certain canine demon he knew at home. Zeo then held up another card.
"Command Card: Lunar Victory!" he tossed the card into the armored bird.
Knight Owl flew several feet into the sky. The bird then created a giant orb of white energy. He released a screech before launching an attack at the downed ladybug. The attack hit, obliterating the bug in a pillar of light. When it was over, all that was left was a circle of scorched ground. Knight Owl flew down in front of the two teens.
"Ok, the stupid bug is dead. You good now, Willow?" Zeo looked over his shoulder at the Plant girl.
Willow sighed in relief, "Yes, thank you, Zeo. Thank you, Knight Owl." She told them.
"No problem..." He replied when he realized how close they were. Unfortunately, the memory of Luzura flashed in his mind and leapt two feet away, blushing madly and coughed. "We should…. We should keep going."
"Uh, yeah" Willow said in agreement, running a finger through her hair as she blushed.
Zeo recalled Knight Owl into his card state, he and Willow continuing their journey.
"Ok, we've run into a venus flytrap, a piranha plant, and now a giant ladybug which Knight Owl completely obliterated" Zeo said while counting on his fingers, "Did any of those creatures give you any inspiration?" he looked at Willow.
"Some idea, but I feel as if we're missing something." She had a few notes and tapped the pen against her chin. "But what?" It was true… she still drew blanks.
"Beats me. Maybe it'd help if you checked out an animal that revolves around plants?" Zeo offered.
"No, it has to be a plant. Or at the very least, something vegetative in origin." Willow replied, how was this so hard to do? Maybe if they could find some seeds, they could at least have some idea.
Zeo rubbed his chin in thought. He leaned against a tree with his arms crossed. However, this made pollen fall onto his shoulder, which he dusted off. He took a second glance at his hand, his palm having a lot of the golden powder on it. Actually, there was more of it than there probably should've. Way more than an average flower could produce. Come to think of it, a huge portion of the tree was practically covered in pollen.
"...Okay, since when did trees have-" He was caught off when he felt the ground beneath him tremble a bit.
The two looked around to see what was happening; was there another giant bug attacking them now?! It was then that they heard a low moan, which made them freeze. Slowly turning around, Zeo saw that the tree was moving! Not only that, but it wasn't even a tree at all. Before their very eyes, a massive reptile-like creature rose up from the brush.
Though it resembled a lizard, it looked like an odd combination of tree and flower. It's head resembled a flower with tendril-like leaves around its head, leaves for toes, dead roots that protrude from its back like spikes, two tails that also resembled roots, and was covered with green leaves from its neck to its rear and even some on its legs.
"Willow…. What is that thing?" Zeo asked, keeping his voice low as the creature had yet to notice them.
"I… I don't know." She replied, just as stunned as he was.
"Okay, now-wait… you don't know?!" Zeo questioned quietly as he turned to face the Plant track girl. "How can you not know? You're in the Plant track."
"I-I've never seen anything like this before" Willow told him.
"Ugh! Son of a bitch…" Zeo muttered, "Well, if you don't know what this thing is then are you ok with me fighting it?" he asked her.
"... Uh, Zeo…. behind you." Willow said, her eyes wide as dinner plates.
Turning around, the clone saw that the creature noticed them and began to snarl.
"Of course…" Zeo rolled his eyes before pulling out three cards, "Frost Lizard, Magma Lizard, arise!" he tossed both cards, summoning the lizard brothers, "Fusion Vortex!" he tossed the third card between the two, the lizards merging into their dragon form. "Beast Weapon: Dragon Blade!" Zeo summoned his dragon themed weapon, gripping it in his hand.
Zeo hopped onto the dragon's back. He then held out his free hand to Willow, which signaled for her to hop on the dragon's back, riding behind him. With a roar, Frostfire Dragon took flight.
"Command Card: Frozen Inferno!" Zeo tossed the card into the dragon.
Flying around, Frostfire released a cyan-colored flame which froze all four of the plant lizard's legs solid. Frostfire then flew around again, allowing Zeo to slice off each of the plant lizard's legs with a swing of his sword which caused the beast to scream in pain each time.
"Take that, you overgrown weed!" Zeo shouted mockingly, "Now to finish this..." he said as the blade of his weapon was encased in flames, "Dragon's Inferno!" he shouted as he swung his sword.
A dragon made of fire was released. It hit the plant monster straight in the back, lighting whatever remained of its body on fire. The creature snarled once more, before sucking in some air and puffed up. Before Zeo could take a jab, splinter-like spikes erupted from the thing's back. Frostfire had to evade the spikes in different angles to avoid getting hit. Unbeknownst to the teens or dragon, a single thistle flew off one of the spikes as it collided with a tree. It flew fast in the air as it embedded itself into the back of Willow's neck.
"You think that did it?" Willow asked, having had to hold on tightly around Zeo's waist.
"I had better. If not, I'll just have Frostfire attack until there's nothing left" Zeo told her, Frostfire releasing a growl of agreement.
They were just in time to see the creature vanish into the treeline.
"Coward…" Zeo muttered with narrowed eyes.
"Ok, I think that's enough research for one day. Let's go home" Willow said. Zeo nodded with understanding.
With a roar, Frostfire took off, leaving the forest as he flew the two teen witchlings home.
The Next Day…
Hexside Academy…
Zeo was walking down the hall, heading to class, when he spotted Willow in front of the door of the Plant class.
"Hey Willow, were you able to finish your assignment?" Zeo asked as he approached her.
The Plant track girl didn't reply as she held up an empty pot; she looked as though she was about to cry, which made the clone concerned.
"Willow, what's wrong?" He asked.
"I could think of anything-I tried, but nothing came to me." She replied glumly Facing away from her friend. "Not only that, but my Magic's been acting weird…. I think I might be losing my touch. I mean, just look" She made a magic circle, only for it to drop to the floor and dissipate.
He was about to say something, when he noticed something; something was sticking out at the back of her neck, but it didn't look like a hair, pimple, or even a blackhead. It looked like some sort of thistle one would see in a bramble or thorn bush. Must have gotten it when they were exploring the other day. Without a moment's hesitation, he reached and plucked it off.
"Ow!" Willow yelped, then gave the clone a stern look as she rubbed the part where he plucked.
"Try using your magic now," Zeo told her. Willow formed a spell circle which spewed water into the pot, "I think that thistle screwed up your magic. Must've been when we were fighting that plant lizard. One pain in the neck to another."
'Well, that fixes my magic problem. But i still have nothing for my assignment! I'm going to fail!" Willow said with worry.
"Hmm…" Zeo rubbed his chin.
It was then that images flashed through his mind; like how many of his cards were created. He saw vines, thorns, leaves, and even heard the same phrase the flytrap said the day before. 'Don't be hatin''. Okay, that part made no sense, but the rest of these visions were elating him a solution to their problems.. Zeo pulled out his pencil and sketchpad, Willow watching him as he drew something. Once finished, Zeo tapped on the glyph on the back, creating the card.
Like the lizard brothers, this was a level 3 creature. The symbol underneath its name was a green leaf, signifying it as a grass/plant type monster. The image was a seedling-like creature with four feet, lying down in the lush grass. This creature went by the name of Grimrose. Despite the name, it was really cute looking.
"Grimrose, arise!" Zeo tossed the card, summoning the creature in a light green light.
Out came the green, seedling-based creature. It was a creature with a round head with four paws on the bottom of it, two in front and two in back, small claws protruding from them. It had large, round, beady eyes. On top of the head was a rose bud. Grimrose had a large smile upon its face, its mouth filled with tiny sharp teeth as it released a grunt of delight. The plant creature was then picked up by Zeo.
"Willow, meet Grimrose," Zeo said, handing the creature to the Plant girl.
"Ooooooh! It's so cute!" She squealed as she took the seedling and began to rub it under its chin, much to its delight.
They didn't have time to talk as the first bell rang, signalling students to get to class.
"And that's my cue. Are you sure you'll be okay with Grimrose?" Zeo asked.
"I'll be fine." Willow said reassuringly, "I'll be sure to give Grimrose back the next time I see you"
"Actually…" Zeo handed her what appeared to be Grimrose's command cards, "I think it would best if Grimrose stayed with you. You keep it" he told her.
"Really? Are you sure?" Willow looked at him, unsure.
"Of course I'm sure. You're great with plants and you're a real sweetheart when it comes to killer plants." He smiled as he rubbed the back of his head, "…That, and I kinda owe you for almost "pruning" the flytrap and piranha plant yesterday."
"Aww" Willow pulled him in for a hug with one arm. After a few seconds, she broke the hug, happily taking the command cards for the plant creature and placed them into her pocket. "Thanks, Zeo" she said, planting a kiss upon his cheek, Grimrose grunting in agreement.
The card user watched as the two entered the Plant classroom, "N-No problem…" Zeo said to himself, a hand upon the cheek where he had been kissed as a blush crept across his face.
It was an interesting two days he had, to say in the least. Though he had one question that popped into his head. How was he attracting so many girls so easily?
And that's the end of this chapter. As I said before, this was co-written with my friend King of 2211. In fact, he's the one that came up with the idea of Grimrose. I thought we'd base it off Tanemon because that plant digimon is just plain cute. This marks the first (and probably only) planted-themed monster Zeo's created. Despite Zeo creating it though, Grimrose belongs to Willow since he gave ownership of the creature. That and he basically just made it for her assignment anyway, so… yeah. This was a fun chapter to write.
The plant reptile Zeo fought was based off Petaldramon from Digimon: Frontier (Digimon Season 4).
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