Hey, here's chapter 22 of Rise of Zeo. As said at the end of the previous chapter, this will the adaptation of the episode Really Small Problems. Oh, and I forgot to say this in the last chapter, but the start of that chapter came from the user: SonoftheDragon, so thanks. Anyway, this chapter will be a bit different from the actual episode, including the debut of something new for Zeo's arsenal. Enjoy.
"So, they said I couldn't remove my thumb. But look..." Luz said, showing the Willow and Gus the thumb removing trick through the crystal ball, Grimrose sitting on top of Willow's head.
"You cut it off?! You cut off your own thumb!" Gus said in horror while Willow simply laughed.
"You actually make homework fun" Willow said, Grimrose chirping in agreement.
Zeo, on the other side of Luz, simply looked at the trick and chuckled.
"Gus you idiot." He muttered.
"Luz" King hopped onto the counter, "You've been talking to them all morning. Don't forget the Luz and King comedy hour" he said.
"Please, no. Not the comedy hour" Eda cringed as she stirred a pot at the stove.
"Hey, here's something that'll give you an hour of comedy" Zeo pulled out a card, "Night Howler, arise!" he tossed the card, summoning the dire wolf. She immediately hopped onto King, much to his chagrin.
"Why do you do this to me?" King complained.
"Because it's funny to me" Zeo chuckled, "Night Howler, take him away" he told the dire wolf.
Wagging her tail, the dire wolf went to another section of the kitchen. He heard Grimrose chuckle.
"Grimrose!" Willow lightly scolded.
"Don't be too hard on her, Willow. Night Howler's not going to do anything bad to him." Zeo said.
"That's a matter of opinion!" King yelled in the background.
That's when the crystal ball started buzzing.
"Oh, time school" Luz hugged Zeo's arm, "See you in class" she told the others.
"Bye" Willow and Grimrose waved.
"But what about the thumb?" Gus said before Zeo cut off the crystal ball.
"Night Howler, stay here with King while we're at school" Zeo told the dire wolf.
*Bark* "Thank You!" She said as the two started heading out the door.
"How is it that someone like Gus, who's supposed to be in the Illusions track, can't even figure out something as simple as that trick you did with your thumb?" Zeo asked Luz.
Once the door closed, King was able to squirm out of Night Howler's grasp and ran up to the door. "Do you really think she's coming back?" he asked Eda.
"Yes, she'll come back. She always comes back. It's cute you miss her though" Eda smirked.
"The king of demons misses nobody!" King pointed at her, "Besides, I bet you miss Zeo!" He countered.
"Cheap shot." Eda said as the door opened, revealing Luz and Zeo. "Hey, you're—"
"You're back!" King said excitedly climbing atop Luz's head. "I totally didn't miss you at all!" he said.
"Turns out there's an infestation of pixies at Hexside. So, school's canceled for today." Luz explained.
"Guess what's in my mouth that i'm about to throw up" Hooty said before hacking up several items, "The mail!"
"Gross!" Zeo muttered with a cringe.
"Junk, junk, death hex" Eda tossed that last one in the garbage which caused it to be destroyed, "Oh, a carnival's in town today!" she showed them a flyer.
"Oh, that sounds fun!" Luz said.
"We've been so busy with school; we could use a little fun" Zeo said.
"What's say we take this comedy hour on tour? It'll be a Luz and King day!" Luz said as she held King under her arms.
"That's my kind of day!" King beamed.
"Let's all four of us go!" Luz said.
"Great! I'll go get my stuff!" Hooty said.
"Carnivals bring crowds, and crowds bring suckers! This just might be the perfect opportunity to test out my new get rich quick scheme!" Eda said, pulling her staff out of the pot she was stirring.
"To the carnival!" they all said, Zeo returning Night Howler to her card state as they ran out the door.
"Good news! I'm bringing my knapsack full of games!" Hooty, now wearing a sunhat and sunglasses, carrying a camera, and having sunblock on his beak said. "Hello?" He asked upon noticing they had all left as a fly flew by. "Ooh, a fly! Talk to me! Talk to me!" He said, chasing after the bug.
The Carnival…
"So, "Pokémon" are monsters created by humans that are a part of games, trading cards and anime, all for entertainment?" Zeo asked having watched several videos on Luz's phone.
"Uh-huh. In a way, they're kind of like your beasts" Luz said.
"And they have the ability to change form?" Zeo asked.
"Most do. Once they get stronger and reach a certain level, that is" Luz informed, "And once they reach their final stage, some can gain a temporary transformation called mega evolution which increases their power. There's also Gigantamax that makes them a giant version of themselves, but that's not fun or as cool-looking" she added.
"Interesting" Zeo said with an interested tone as he pulled out his pencil and sketchpad, "This'll be the second card I've made today…" he muttered.
"Well, here we are, kids" Eda said as they had finally arrived at the carnival, "Look at all that fresh meat" she said while holding her staff.
"And smell all that fresh meat" Luz said, inhaling deeply, only for a fly to fly up her nose which she coughed out, "Fun!"
Owlbert opened his eyes tried to detached himself to fly off and play some games, only for Eda to hold him back.
"No games for you, Owlbert. We've got scams to run" Eda told him, the little owl hooting in disappointment.
"The Owl Lady and company! So glad you could join us!" A voice rang out, and everyone but Zeo was surprised to see a familiar pig man in a ringmaster outfit in front of them.
"I see you got my postcard" the pig said.
"Tibbles? You sent this?" Eda asked, showing a holographic card that showed the pig dancing.
"Pfft! His name's Tibbles?" Zeo chuckled.
"It's actually a nickname. His full name is Tibblet Tibbley Grimm Hammer III." King said.
"And he willingly lets people call him 'Tibbles'?" Zeo asked laughing out loud.
"Aren't you mad at us for destroying your stand?" Luz asked.
"And ruining his life. That was the best part!" King added.
"Oh, no! Not at all! In fact, I should be thanking you! After my stand was destroyed, I found my true calling, I am now the ringmaster of..." Tibbles said, showing the group a small tent. "Tibbles' Tent of Tiny Terrors!" He announced.
It showed unicorns, a griffin and a manticore.
"Aww, so cute. You're my friends now!" Luz said, her face up against the glass.
"And to celebrate our newfound friendship, please take this totally innocent bottle of water." Tibbles said, handing them a bottle of suspicious pink liquid.
"Ok, let's just- yah!" Zeo grabbed the bottle and tossed in the air. He then quickly brought out the Griffin Blast and shot his target, the bottle exploding and the liquid evaporating. "Fool! Did you honestly think you could trick some one that's in the Potions Track, let alone the son of the Owl Lady?!" Zeo said.
"Took the words right out of my mouth" Eda smirked.
"Oh well, a simple "no" would have sufficed." Tibbles said. "Enjoy the carnival." He said, leaving the group.
"Now for my own scam..." Eda said, taking the Griffin Blaster out of Zeo's hands. She then approached a carney's stand and pointed the weapon in the guy's face. "Beat it, unless you want to see what this bad boy's capable of!" She threatened.
"Does she even know how to use that thing?" Luz asked Zeo.
"Oh yeah. She told me that's her favorite of my Beast Weapons… so far" Zeo replied.
"But just in case." Zeo said, leaving most of his deck with Eda. "Can never be too careful." He told her as the carney ran in terror.
"Thanks, Zee-Zee" Eda ruffled his hair, and then hopped over the booth, "Step right up to..." Eda drew a large spell circle and turned it into a stand of her own, "Eda's Human Horror House! Human's shed their skin and I've got proof" she said, stretching out a pair of pantyhose.
"You should really put a lock on your door" King suggested.
"For once I agree with the little runt" Zeo said.
"Eda can go through my closet all she wants because today's all about us!" Luz said.
Later the three were at a ball toss game, Zeo tossed a ball at a tower of bottles that were toppled instantly.
"Winner, winner!" The carney said, handing Zeo a large pink teddy bear holding a heart which he immediately handed to Luz.
"For you, my lady." He said.
"Aww!" Luz took the bear into her hands, and then gave Zeo a tight hug. King's eye twitched with slight jealousy.
Later the three were walking though the carnival.
"So, what do we do now? We could brave the molar coaster, or eat a mysterious blob!" Luz said.
Ooh, what's that?" King ran up to a prize stand, "Ah, some kind of deadly string weapon" he examined a broken heart trinket.
"No, silly, that's a friendship bracelet" Luz informed him.
"Is that a type of deadly weapon?" King asked.
"Idiot..." Zeo muttered.
"A weapon of love. It's basically a declaration to the whole world that you're the best of friends" Luz said, putting the two halves together.
"Wow. That was really corny, Luz" Zeo said. He then noticed something else in the booth, a golden choker necklace with a heart shaped ruby.
"Well, that's better than becoming blood brothers" King said.
"Aaand yoink!" the prize guy snatched the pendants out of Luz's hands, "Sorry you two, if you bone son wants these bracelets, you'll have to play the games and win the tickets. You know, carnival rules" he told them.
"Beat up the man and steal his things for me" King tugged at Zeo's cloak.
"Just play the games and win the damn tickets" Zeo said condescendingly.
"Oh, yeah, that too." King said as he and Luz headed off, chanting "games" over and over, while Zeo hung back.
"Friends!" Luz said, running into Gus, Willow and Grimrose who was perched on top of Willow's head.
"Hey Luz" the other two said as they hugged.
"Didn't expect to see Carniv-y'all here!" Luz joked.
"Boo!" Gus said.
"We received an invitation from Tibbles!" Willow said, holding a flyer similar to the one Eda had.
"We figured it's a trap since we squashed his stand with a walking house" Gus said.
"But who cares? This place is a scare-iss wheel!" Willow beamed.
"It's like a human Ferris wheel, except it gives you long-lasting nightmares" Gus told her.
"Yes! This mama is ready for trauma!" Luz said excitedly.
"Speaking of which, where's Zeo?" Willow asked.
"Huh?" Luz asked, looking behind her. "That's odd, he was right behind me a minute ago. Oh, check out this little cutie pie he won me at the bottle toss game!" Luz said, showing the teddy bear.
"Why?" Gus asked.
"Well, Zeo and I are..." Luz looked off with a blush.
Getting the hint, Willow smiled. "Oh, I'm so happy for you guys!" Willow said, Grimrose chirping in agreement.
"What do you mean?" Gus asked, only for Willow to slip one of Grimrose's command cards into her, allowing her to shoot a couple seeds at the illusionist for not getting the hint.
Luz chuckled. "Anyway, we're on a very important quest to win a special prize for King" she said.
"Oh, we can help with that! Right, Grimrose?" she looked up at her plant beast.
*Chirp* Grimrose said.
"Aww. does King want to win a prize?" Gus asked in a baby voice, pinching his cheek. King smacked his hand away.
"What do you say, King? The more the merrier" Luz said in her usual upbeat tone.
"Uh, sure, whatever you want, Luz" King said sheepishly.
"Alright. approval!" Luz said, her and her friends cheering as they ran to go play games, King tripping over his legs.
Unfortunately, they kept getting sidetracked. From ski-ball, to taking pictures, to eating a fried orb which Grimrose took the last bite of just to spite King, to talking about how the pixie infestation was caused by Boscha's pet pixie. As King fell down from his latest attempt to get tickets at a "Pop-The-Polyp" game, he grew increasingly frustrated.
"Curse these stubby legs!" He said as Zeo showed up.
"Problems, runt?" He asked.
"Yeah. Where have you been?" King asked.
"Just getting Luz this." Zeo said, showing King the choker necklace that he saw earlier at the booth.
"It cost twice as many tickets as the friendship bracelets that you want. Which, by the way, you'll need a million of" Zeo informed him.
"How did you—"
"I broke into a few of the games and stole whole rolls of tickets" Zeo told him. King rubbed his chin, "Don't even think about it" he said, knowing what the tiny demon was thinking.
King groaned in frustration. Sighing, knowing there was no point in trying to ignore the demon's plight, Zeo decided to act.
"What's wrong this time?" He asked, clearly annoyed.
"I wanted to get these friendship bracelets for Luz and me, but she's been too distracted with her school friends to try and get tickets for it" King told him.
"Wow. I feel bad for you... and not in the mean-spirited way that I usually do" Zeo said.
"Thanks. I think." King said as Luz and the others saw them.
"Zeo! There you are!" Luz said, kissing him on the cheek as King got up and left.
"I have something for you. Close your eyes" Zeo told her, Luz doing as she was instructed. Zeo walked around her and placed the item around her neck, "Ok, you can open them now"
Luz did so and looked down to see the necklace. "Oh my gosh! Zeo!" Luz said, hugging him and kissing him on the lips.
"I'm confused." Gus said as Willow slipped another command card into Grimrose, allowing her to shoot more seeds at the young witch's head.
"Hey Gus, Willow" Zeo greeted the two of them, "Hey Grimrose, how's Willow treating you?" he asked the plant beast.
*Chirp* "Great, thanks for asking." She answered happily.
Elsewhere, King was sitting on the ground, upset. It didn't help matters that right next to him was a poster that read "Carnival, Best with Friends".
"Oh, my, my, my. You seem troubled" A voice said.
"Who said that?" King asked.
"Me! Obvioso!" A person who was quite obviously Tibbles with a bad fake moustache.
"Haven't I seen you somewhere? It's almost so..." King looked at him curiously.
"Obvious?" Obvioso said.
"That's what I was going to say! Wow, you really are psychic" King said.
"What troubles you?" Obvioso asked.
"Today was supposed to be about me and Luz, see? Now she's distracted by her cool new school friends and boyfriend" King said.
"I see. What would you say if I were to tell you I could make all your problems disappear?" Obvioso asked.
"I'd say that sounds illegal. I would also say go on" King said, sounding interested.
Obvioso went into his tent to retrieve a familiar-looking bottle.
"Observe." He said, spraying the bottle's contents on a nearby gargoyle, causing it to disappear in a burst of flames.
"Holy bones, you poofed it! Call the cops, this guy's crazy!" King shouted.
"Relax! The effects are only temporary. All I have to do is give my cheeks a tap, and." Obvioso said, doing so, causing the gargoyle to reappear before laying an egg which hatched.
"Take this" Obvioso handed him the bottle, "Enjoy the carnival, without the problems. Those friends of your friend will never be the wiser" he said.
"Thanks, Obvioso!" King said, running off as Tibbles removed the mustache and started laughing maniacally.
"Hey" King came back, Tibbles quickly putting his mustache back on, "On a side note, do I ever find love?" he asked.
"Uhh... yes" Obvioso said, King chuckling.
Later King was walking down the streets, carrying the bottle, but he was starting to get second thoughts.
"King!" Luz called out, she and the others catching up to him, "Sorry we lost you back there, little dude" she said.
"Hey, it's ok. Let's go back to the games and win those bracelets" King said, taking Luz by the wrist.
"But we haven't gotten on any rides and there's no line for the bumper carcasses" Gus said.
"Games!" King said.
"Carcasses!" Gus said.
"Games!" King replied.
"Carcasses!" Gus replied.
"Both of you, shut up!" Zeo shouted.
Luz's stomach then started growling. "Food! I'm going to go get some Rotten Candy while you guys try to figure this out!" Luz said, kissing Zeo on the cheek and heading out.
"When Luz comes back, let's go on the four-man cauldron spinner!" Willow said, Grimrose chirping in agreement.
"Or the quadruple swing!" Gus chimed in.
"Oh, and that's close to that photo booth that can fit exactly four people!" Willow added.
"But... today was mine and Luz's day" King said.
"Aww, does the little baby boo miss his buddy Luz? Uh, does he? Uh, does he?" Gus teased, only to receive a punch in the arm from Zeo.
"Ow! What was that for?" Gus asked, rubbing his arm.
"I'm the only one that gets to insult him. Well, me and mom" Zeo told him.
"Aw, but it's so easy and fun to tease him!" Gus said.
"Not for me, it's not!" King said, trying to squirm out of Gus' grasp, only for the bottle Obvioso gave him to fall out of his fanny pack.
"Wait, is that?" Zeo asked as the bottle landed on the ground, spraying Zeo, Gus, Willow, and Grimrose. In a poof, the four of them vanished.
"Oh no, what have I done?!" King panicked.
"Wow, they really wanted to ride those Bumper Carcasses." Luz said, walking in, carrying what resembled Rotten Candy.
"Actually, Luz, there's something I've got to tell you..." King said with some guilt.
No, there's something I've got to tell you, King..." Luz said sternly before changing to her usually friendly tone, "I said I'd help you win those friendship bracelets. So, win them we shall! Ok?" she said.
"Uhh... the three of them will be ok for a little while, right?" King muttered to himself.
"What was that?" Luz asked.
"Nothing! Now, let's go. Heh heh" King took Luz by the wrist and led the way.
"Ready or not, here we come!" Luz said.
"Yes! Ha ha!" King said.
Zeo, Willow, Gus and Grimrose, having shrunk, watched as King and Luz walked off.
"That son of a bitch, he shrank us!" Zeo growled with clenched fists. "I knew I recognized that spray bottle!" Zeo angrily ranted. "Its contents must have been what Tibbles tried to peddle us when we first got here!" He added as Grimrose started whimpering nervously.
"It's ok, Grimrose, we'll get back to normal" Willow told the plant creature in a comforting tone.
All of a sudden, a shadow was cast over the group. They looked up to see Tibbles' pet gargoyle, obviously having been sent to get them.
"AHHHH!" Gus screamed.
"Don't worry, guys I've—" Zeo said, reaching into his pocket, only to remember something. "Ah hell! I left most of my cards with mom! The only one that can help us escape is this one" he said, holding up Tracker Tick's card.
"Well summon him!" Willow said.
"Ugh. Son of a bitch..." Zeo muttered, "Tracker Tick, arise!" he said, summoning the spy bug. When he saw Zeo and the group, he chittered in confusion. "No time to explain, just get us away from ugly over here!" Zeo said as he hopped on, before pulling Willow and Grimrose up.
"Gus, come on!" Willow said.
"How am I supposed to—" Gus was cut off by Tracker Tick flying and lifting him up by his head with his legs.
"Willow, Tracker Tick's command cards are all support based, you're going to have to use some of Grimrose's to help shake off our pursuer!" Zeo told Willow as the monster continued chasing them.
"Right. Command Card: Thorn Barrage!" Willow tossed the card into Grimrose, which allowed the plant creature to shoot out a barrage of thorns. This hit the gargoyle, but it was only a minor inconvenience.
"The shrinking must have affected the strength of her powers as well, don't let up! Just keep attacking until he lets off!" Zeo ordered.
"Sorry about this, sweetie." Willow told Grimrose.
Grimrose let out a continuous barrage of thorns. However, this still proved to be a minor inconvenience.
"It's still not letting up!" Gus said in fear.
"Enough of this!" Willow said, her eyes glowing as she triggered her plant magic. What surprised everyone was that this made Grimrose's eye glow as well.
"This is interesting." Zeo said as Grimrose gathered a ball of green light and fired it at the flying monster, blasting through the eye on its forehead and out the back of its skull.
"Okay, I don't know what you just did, but it's a good thing you did it." Zeo said as Willow came out of her trance and Grimrose passed out.
"Rest well, little one." Willow said.
"Now come on! We need to find Luz and get King to return us to normal so I can kick his ass for doing this to us!" Zeo said as Tracker Tick flew off.
"Round as the moon her ears are with mood swings as terrifying as the night itself. Now, who wants to touch an outdated human reference?" Eda asked, spinning a fidget spinner.
"Ok, show's over" someone said, "This witch doesn't have a license"
"Ah, what're you, the fun police?" Eda asked mockingly.
"Yes" A clown said, squeezing a squeaky badge, "And you're coming with me"
"Uh, excuse me, sir, I'd like to have a word with your staff!" Eda pulled out her staff, only to find Owlbert missing, "Owlbert? Owlbert? Where are you?" she asked.
Then she found him cutely playing a giraffe game similar to whack-a-mole.
"Owlbert, you're lucky I can't stay mad at your adorable antics!" Eda said as she pulled out the Griffin Blaster, "Thank you, Zeo..." Eda said under her breath.
Eda aimed the weapon at the clown, pulling the trigger and firing a powerful blast from the weapon, only for the clown cop to form a spell circle that absorbed the blast and fired it back, knocking the weapon out of Eda's hands and back into its cards.
"Good thing that's not the only one I have." Eda said, pulling out Zeo's deck. "Let's see... Ooh, this one's new. Zee-Zee must've made it on our way over here" he said while eyeing her son's latest card, a level 5 dark monster, "Joke Star, arise!" she tossed the card.
In a flash of dark purple light, out came a jester-like being wearing green checkered clothing with black outlines. Its face was concealed with a platinum star mask with a smile on it. Topping it off, it had a black top hat, along with a black cane in its hand.
Joke Star looked over its shoulder and tapped its hat at Eda in greeting.
"Command Card: Hat Cannon!" Eda tossed the card into Joke Star.
Joke Star removed his hat and aimed it at the clown, the barrel of a cannon somehow sticking out of the entrance. Out of the cannon shot a large, spikey cannonball, Joke Star recoiling a bit at the force of it. The clown cop dodged out of the way due to how fast the ball was coming.
"Ooh, this one sounds good. Command Card: Iron Maiden!" Eda tossed the card into the jester-like creature.
Joke Star's hand then glowed in a transparent purple aura. Two purple portals opened up on both sides of the clown cop. Joke Star then quickly clasped his and hands together, his fingers intertwined. This caused a large item to come out of each portal, the two halves coming together, sealing the clown cop in a metal person-shaped cabinet device. It was then that a *shing* sound was heard, followed by a scream of terror. Out the bottom of the cabinet oozed a large pool of blood.
Joke Star looked back at Eda, snapping his fingers which made the cabinet vanish a puff of smoke. The Owl Lady looked on with her mouth slightly agape. There was brief pause before she blinked.
"What the hell's going through Zeo's mind when he creates these things?" she asked while looking at her son's deck.
Luz and King were walking around the carnival, with King dragging Luz to different games in order to win tickets. They played everything from ski ball, which Luz had to tickle in order for King to get the ball through to get the tickets, to a ring toss game. All the while Zeo and the others had been following them on Tracker Tick.
"That son of a bitch. We can't keep chasing them down forever" Zeo said. It was then that Willow noticed the house of mirrors.
"We won't have to for much longer" Willow said with the expression of having an idea.
"Wow, that was some haul. I can't believe we sold out of all trash I collected from the human realm" Eda said, tossing a large bag of coins up and down in her hand, "Though it probably helped that you had all those tricks up your sleeve. You're quite the showman" she said to Joke Star, the jester creature looking between the sign that had Luz's face, and then the Owl Lady herself, "Don't worry, I didn't sell any of Luz's stuff. That was just for display" she said reassuringly, "Question is, what should we do now?"
Eda's question was answered when Joke Star went around the backside of her stand. He came back seconds later with a cart full of caramel crab apples.
"Where did you get those?" Eda raised an eyebrow.
Joke Star replied by waving his hand. In a cloud of glittery dust, it showed just how he was able to get the cart of caramel apples.
After he had taken care of the clown cop, Joke Star had found the office of the carney that was running this place. The jester creature snapped his fingers to disappear, and then reappear behind the carney. Joke Star reached into his hat and pulled out a bottle of chloroform, along with a handkerchief from his sleeve. He poured the chloroform into the handkerchief and quickly forced it over the carney's nose, the head clown taking a deep breath of the chemical which caused him to pass out. Joke Star took some rope he found and hogtied the carney, and then slapped duct tape over his mouth before tossing him into a nearby closet.
Joke Star waved his hand again, dispelling the image he had shown Eda.
"Not bad. Very sneaky" Eda gave an impressed smirk, "There's going to be a show in a little bit. I'm guessing you're suggesting we sell these things there?" she insisted, Joke Star replying with a confirming nod, "Alright I'm game" Eda shrugged, "And I think I know how to add a little more entertainment to the crowd" she said while looking at Knight Owl's card.
Luz and King were at the prize booth with the prize guy counting their tickets. While the others were watching from afar.
"We need to figure out a way to catch Luz's attention. But how?" Willow said.
"If we could somehow lead her to that hall of mirrors over there, we might be able to." Zeo said.
Meanwhile with Luz and King, as the ticket guy continued counting, King got excited.
"Now, King. Before you spend your tickets, are you sure you want those bracelets and not this bad boy?" Luz said, pointing to a skull on display.
"Rahh! I am the king of night, and every breath you take brings you closer to darkness!" The skull said in a dark voice.
"This guy's a riot!" Luz said.
"Yes, Luz, I want the bracelets. It's kind of important to me, ok?" King told her.
"I can be important to you" the skull said, "I, who have seen the birth and death of countless—" it was cut off by the prize guy whacking it with his broom.
"Great, now I've lost count. Oh, so you were the lucky lady who got the choker necklace." He said upon seeing Luz's accessory.
"Oh, yeah, my boyfriend got it for me. He's a little… rough around the edges, but deep down he's a real sweetie" Luz said, swooning. This made King start to feel a little guilty.
"I figured that, he said he wanted to get it for the most amazing and beautiful girl he knew. Guess that's you." The ticket guy said, continuing to count the tickets.
"Aww!" Luz gushed, "I'm going to have to assault him with kisses when we get home"
Unbeknownst to her, Zeo was flying overhead on Tracker Tick who was carrying a piece of Rotten Candy.
"The most amazing and beautiful girl you know, huh?" Willow asked teasingly with a chuckle.
"...Shut up" Zeo muttered with an embarrassed blush. As this happened, Tracker Tick dropped the Rotten Candy in Luz's hair.
"Ah, dang it! I need a mirror. I'll be right back, King." Luz said, heading somewhere to get it out of her hair.
She then entered a hall of mirrors that showed different versions of herself. She then looked down and saw an arrow made of cotton candy that told her she made it. Ahead, she saw Zeo, Gus, Willow and Grimrose, the plant beast having recently woken up.
"Guys! There you are!" Luz said, running into the mirror, only to faceplant. "Ow." She said before noticing Willow pointing downwards, she then saw them shrunken down. "What the?" She asked in shock.
"1,000,000. Yep I just counted to 1,000,000. The bracelets are yours." The ticket guy said, handing the trinkets to King.
"Yes! Now Luz and I will share a bond as mighty as these trinkets!" King said before running over to the hall of mirrors. As he was doing so, Boscha walked up to the ticket counter with a mound of tickets.
"I would like that choker I saw earlier" Boscha said.
"Sorry, ma'am. Some guy already bought it for his girlfriend." The ticket guy said.
"WHAT?!" Boscha shouted in disbelief.
"I didn't catch any names, but the girlfriend went into the Hall of Mirrors." He said.
"Oh, I swear if it's that human…" Boscha grumbled as she stomped towards the hall of mirrors.
"Hey, Luz! Thanks again for helping me get those bracelets!" King said, walking into the hall, where Luz was kneeling down, holding something in her hands.
"King!" She said angrily, showing King their friends, surprising King.
"You son of a bitch!" Zeo yelled angrily.
"You shrank us!" Willow added, Grimrose hissing.
"Now I can't ride the big boy rides" Gus said.
Zeo, Willow, and Grimrose glared at Gus.
"Really? That's why you're angry?" Zeo asked.
"What? But you weren't supposed to shrink, you were supposed to disappear! Wait, that came out wrong." King said.
"Give me the spray bottle, King" Luz said sternly.
"No!" King said defensively.
"King, give me the bottle!" Luz said, and soon a tug of war began.
"Please let me explain! I was just—"
"Trying to shrink my friends and boyfriend?!" Luz said.
"I was just trying to make my problems disappear!" King said, unfortunately, during the scuffle, the top came off, causing the liquid to splash on Luz and King.
"Uh-oh..." They both said before shrinking down.
"Hey" Willow and Gus greeted them flatly as they walked up to them.
"King, now that you're our size, I'm gonna—"
Zeo was cut off midsentence when Grimrose unleashed her vines and wrapped them tightly and King's neck. The plant beast hissed angrily as she lifted him up his neck, tightening the hold on his throat, strangling him as he choked for air.
"Wait! I can fix this!" King said, struggling to breathe. Grimrose slammed him against the mirror.
"Then do it now, you idiot!" Zeo told him.
"At least have your psycho plant let me go first!" He said, straining. Against his better judgment, Zeo nodded to Willow.
"Grimrose, down. Gently" Willow said in a soft voice. Against her better judgment, Grimrose let King down, but still glared at him.
"You have 10 seconds to fix this or I'll let Grimrose finish the job!" Zeo threatened.
"Don't worry! Don't worry! Obvioso showed me how when he gave me the potion!" King said, preparing to tap his cheeks. "Observe!" He said, tapping his cheek. Only for nothing to happen, "Tapping my cheeks is supposed to turn us back. Why isn't it working?" King asked.
"Oh, I think it's working quite well!" A voice said, everyone turning to see Tibbles with a malicious smirk approaching them and picking them up, chuckling evilly.
"Hey, Porky!" A voice rang out, Tibbles turning to see Boscha. "Have you seen a girl wearing a gold choker necklace with a heart shaped ruby around here?" She asked.
"No, can't say that I have" Tibbles said.
"Damn it!" Boscha said. "I must have missed her. I swear, if it's that human!" She said, storming out of the hall.
"Don't worry, Luz. If she tries to hurt you, I'll use my Dragon Blade to gouge her third eye out" Zeo said
"Aww" Luz kissed his cheek, "Graphic yet somewhat sweet"
"Big talk for someone so small!" Tibbles said.
Later Tibbles had taken the group to a large tent, and King continued to slap his cheeks.
"Luz, I think King's broken." Gus said.
"Tapping my cheeks was supposed to reverse the potion's magic. That's what Obvioso said!" King complained.
"King, you idiot, don't you get it?" Zeo asked.
"What?" King asked.
"Tibbles is Obvioso, you moron!" Zeo said as Grimrose chirped some things. "And trust me, you do NOT want to know what she just said. Just that she's mad at you." Zeo said.
"Ohh..." King said in realization.
"Idiot..." Zeo muttered.
"That's right! And guess what, little bone boy. Only my cheeks being tapped by me can reverse the potion's effects!" Tibbles said, continuing to laugh maniacally.
"Why are you doing this?!" Luz asked.
"When you destroyed my stand, you destroyed generations of Grimhammer history! Now it's time to pay" Tibbles said as they entered the tent. He then dropped everyone in a hamster tank, "Welcome to... the greatest show on the Boiling Isles" Tibbles said to the crowd in a microphone. Everyone gasped, "Will these witches and demon survive feeding time? Let's find out" Tibbles said as he rang a bell.
They all heard growling as the tiny beasts they saw earlier walked out of the miniature tent. Luz looked at the unicorn that had a cute face.
"Aww. At least he's still my friend" Luz gushed with a blush. The unicorn then roared at her, "That's how friends react" she said while hiding behind Zeo.
"Whatever you say, Luz" Zeo looked back at her as the beasts approached.
"You ruined my livelihood. So, now you'll feed my livelihood" Tibbles said as he drew a spell circle which turned on stage light as a magical screen displayed to the audience.
"Tibbles, when I get back to normal size, it's you, me, and a bottle of barbeque sauce!" Zeo yelled at the pig threateningly.
As the mini monsters approached, Grimrose started squirming and whimpering nervously, when she perked up and chattered something.
"What? You sense Knight Owl and Joke Star in the area?" Zeo asked.
"Where?" Luz asked.
Zeo looked around. "There!" he said upon seeing Eda.
"Caramel crab apples! Get them hot and pinchy!" she said while Knight Owl performed arial stunts above and Joke Star did smoke and sparkle tricks.
"I'll take one" someone in the crowd said.
Eda tossed a caramel crab apple in the air which Knight Owl caught. The armored bird spun around before tossing it at the customer. Sadly, the force of the throw was so great, it ended up piercing the customer's hand. The customer screamed in pain.
"I don't think they'll be of any help. Which sucks because Joke Star would've been very useful in this situation. I wonder what caused her to summon him" Zeo said curiously as Luz clapped at Knight Owl's performance.
"Wait. Zeo, I know you gave most of your cards to Eda, but do you at least have your doppelganger?" Luz asked, pulling out the card for Luzura. Zeo had agreed to let Luz keep it after they started dating… mainly because he knew she was going to ask him at some point.
"Uhh…" Zeo filed through whatever he had left of his deck, "No. Damn it! All of my powerhouses are with Mom, including Magma and Frosty and the dog bros" he said.
"Oh, that's not good…" Luz muttered, putting her doppelganger's card away.
"The only beast I have that can attack is Razor-dillo!" Zeo said, showing the card for the armadillo.
"Well, what're you waiting for? Summon him!" Gus said nervously.
"Like I have any other choice. Razor-dillo, arise!" Zeo tossed the card, bringing out the razored armadillo who revved its blades.
"Wait, is Razor-dillo even strong enough to take these things on?" Willow asked, Razor-dillo looking back at her with a slightly annoyed expression.
"Probably not. Luckily, I created this earlier" Zeo pulled out another of his latest cards, the one he had created after his conversation with Luz about Pokémon. It depicted the silhouette of a beast standing in front of glowing decagram rune, "I was saving this for Knight Owl or one of my other high-level beasts, but… Magic Card: Rank-Up-Magic Arcane Force!"
"Looks like someone's been watching Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal…" Luz muttered with an amused expression.
The card in Zeo's hand then glowed brightly, and then transformed into a ball of white light. Zeo then grabbed it and crushed it in his hand, the energy enveloping it. It was in this moment that Zeo surrounded in a brief golden aura that vanished a second after it came, this probably being either his inner magic or his spirit. Either way. Zeo then punched towards Razor-dillo, the energy of the card firing towards the razored armadillo and entered his body. Razor-dillo's body then glowed with a bright, bronze light before shooting into the air.
"Go, Rank-Up Beast Evolution!" Zeo shouted as the light exploded and glowed brighter, "Appear, Armadrillo!"
The light dissipated, a new creature to fall to the ground. Armadrillo was a bipedal armadillo with metal spikes running down its back and tail, along with drills for claws, four on each hand.
"Evolution, nice! Kind of reminds me of Sandslash" Luz smiled.
"Thanks. Got the idea for that Pokémon stuff you showed me" Zeo said. That's when three new cards appeared in Zeo's hands, "Whoa, cards for Armadrillo!" he said as he saw the beasts still approaching, "Command Card: Spiral Missiles!" he tossed the card into Armadrillo.
The drill claws on Armadrillo's hand spun rapidly. Armadrillo hissed as he aimed his right hand and shot three of his drills at the unicorns like… well, missiles. The drills impaled the unicorns' chests, coming out the other end. The drill missiles then came back and reattached to Armadrillo's hand.
"Whoa…" the teens all said, amazed.
"Cool!" Zeo smiled.
As King watched on, he realized he had to do something.
"Zeo, Willow, Grimrose, Gus, I'm sorry for poofing you guys" King told the four of them, "And Luz, I'm sorry for taking you away from your friends and boyfriend" he told the human girl, "I know you'll eventually go home and now you're spending time at school and going on dates with Zeo, I just... wanna be around you!" he admitted.
"Yeah, like a pet dog" Zeo muttered.
"Stop saying stuff like that!" King yelled as he jumped up, avoiding a pounce from a manticore and griffin. "I'm the reason we're in this situation, so I need to be the one to get us out!" He said, reaching the top of the tank.
The manticore roared as it lunged at Zeo. Armadrillo, however, leapt in between them.
"Command Card: Drill Rush!" Zeo said as he tossed the card into Armadrillo.
Armadrillo jumped into the air, joining his limbs together in a diving position before spinning at high speed. He essentially became a living drill as he pieced through the manticore's chest, coming out the other end and landing on his feet as the dead manticore skidded across the ground, stopping at Zeo's feet. Amazingly, Armadrillo wasn't covered in blood. Zeo just hoped that old lady that he helped some time ago with retrieving her pet manticore wasn't here watching this.
"I only have one shot" King said while spinning the bracelets in his hands, "Nyah!" he tossed them.
The bracelets hit Tibbles' cheek. "Darn flies." He said, absentmindedly tapping his cheeks. "Oh crap." He said as everyone he shrunk was enveloped in a pink glow.
Meanwhile, Eda was in an argument with an irate customer. "Hey, no discounts, bub!" She said.
"We want a refund. Not a single of those dumb kids has gotten eaten yet!" One of the customers said.
"Dumb kids?" Eda questioned, turning to the screen, "Wait... Those are my dumb kids!"
Knight Owl saw the screen, and immediately pounced on Tibbles.
The kids, Armadrillo, King, and Grimrose grew back to normal size... As did the animals. Both the dead ones and the living griffin.
"You shrunk the animals too?!" Luz asked.
"It's the tent of tiny terrors, something had to be tiny!" Tibbles said.
Knight Owl screeched in Tibbles' face. He then held his talons underneath Tibbles' him.
"Now, now Knight Owl, don't be hasty." Zeo said. "Let him go, give him a five-minute head start then start chasing him!" Zeo ordered.
"What?! You can't be serious!" Tibbles said in fear.
"Oh, yeah, you're right. Make it an even 60 seconds, then start chasing him!" Zeo said.
Tibbles screamed and started running. A minute later, Knight Owl took flight.
"Save some bacon for the griffin!" Zeo said.
"Well, looks like we ruined his life a second time." Willow said.
"We're on a roll!" Gus said playfully.
"Now I'm debating whether or not to still kick King's ass" Zeo's said.
*Chirp* "I'm not." Grimrose said, angrily.
"Sorry, King." Luz said, handing him the shattered remains of the bracelet. "It's all that was left." She said.
Noticing there was 6 pieces, King decided on something. "It's okay, now there's one for everyone!" He said, offering some of the pieces to the others.
"Wow, thanks, King" Willow smiled, taking a piece.
"Yeah, I've always wanted to own a jagged piece of cheap metal!" Gus took piece.
Zeo and Grimrose took the pieces with a smile while glaring at Gus for that comment.
"Thanks" Zeo said.
*Chirp* "Fine, I won't beat you up. This time." Grimrose said.
Armadrillo's body then glowed with the same bronze-colored light from before, a ball of white light in the center. Armadrillo then shrank back into Razor-dillo, the white ball of light returning to Zeo's hand back into the form of the evolution card.
"Huh. So, it's kind of like Pokémon and Digimon" Luz commented as she picked up King.
"I'm sorry, Luz. Demons can get pretty crazy when we're missing someone." King said.
"Can I tell you a secret? I've been missing you too" Luz told him, kissing his forehead.
"You know, there's still a couple hours of carnival left, want to go hit those bumper carcasses?" King offered.
"You read my mind" Luz said as the two of them, along with Gus, Willow and Grimrose ran out.
"You coming, Mom?" Zeo asked.
"Nah, I've got everything I've wanted out of this" Eda said while relaxing on a huge pile of coins with Joke Star, the bleachers falling behind them, "Another great year at the carnival"
Ok, that's the end of this chapter. I cut out the part about Hooty eating that fly because I really don't see the point in putting that in. Anyway, looks like Zeo has a new humanoid beast and a new method of increasing his beasts' power.
Joke Star was created by Chance Green G King, though the Iron Maiden command card was thought up by yours truly. I imagine Joke Star is kind of like a clown version of Deadpool or a toned down, good guy version of the Joker.
The evolution card and the idea for Armadrillo was thought of by IrishKatana, though I came up with the name. Expect to see more of Zeo's beasts get evolutions, though not every beast will.
I thank both of these guys for the contributions and ideas.
Remember to Read, Review and Favorite/Follow.