Ok, I'm on a bit of a posting streak when it comes to this story. Here's chapter 26 of Rise of Zeo.
Zeo stood in the kitchen, cooking pancakes over Magma Lizard's low flame. That's when Luz and Eda came in, the latter yawning as dug a bug out of her ear.
"Morning guys." Zeo said.
"Ooh! Are you making pancakes?" Luz asked.
"Yeah, for me, my old lady, and my best lady!" Zeo smiled.
"Awww!" Luz beamed.
"I get mine first!" Eda said.
"Don't forget me!" King said, joining in.
After breakfast was finished, Zeo stepped out of the house, on his way to do whatever he felt like. If Zeo were in the intro, he'd appear after Luz and summon Knight Owl behind himself. He was walking when he heard some rustling noises. Zeo summoned his Dragon Blade.
"Spicy toss!" he shouted shooting a fireball from his sword at a nearby bush.
"Ow!" A familiar voice rang out, causing Zeo to look into the bush to see.
"Aunt Lilith?" He asked in surprise.
"Hello, Zeo" Lilith replied, putting out a flame on her robe, "Did you just say "spicy toss"?"
"Yeah, I've been spending a lot of time with Mom recently" Zeo said, rubbing the back of his head.
"Of course." Lilith said with a playful roll of her eyes.
"Anyway, what are you doing here, Aunt Lilith?" Zeo asked.
"If you must know, I'm searching for something. There was a pillar of darkness some time ago and I was asked to investigate" Lilith told him.
"Oh, that thing. Turns out some crazy satyr was after mom for some reason, but we obliterated that sorry son of a bitch." Zeo said, clutching the part of his chest that was impaled with Cormac's sword.
"Oh. Well, that's unexpected" Lilith said, slightly irritated.
"Yeah, sorry if you wasted your time" Zeo said, "Besides, you're a little late for that anyway. That happened days ago"
"I'm just glad no one was seriously hurt." Lilith said.
"Yeah… no one." Zeo said, once again clutching his chest.
"If you don't mind me asking, how did you defeat the satyr?" Lilith asked.
"Luz merged with the doppelganger I made for her with my cards and Knight Owl." Zeo explained.
"You mean like how you did with your doppelganger against that golem?" Lilith raised an eyebrow.
"Pretty much." Zeo said with a nod.
That's when a buzzing sound could be heard. Lilith reached into her pocket and pulled out one of those pocket mirrors and it was none other than Kikimora. Luckily for Lilith, Zeo was busy twirling his flaming sword around.
"Kikimora. Funny you called, I just found out that pillar of darkness has already been taken care of days prior." Lilith said to her comrade.
"Very well. The Emperor has another task for you" Kikimora said. "It seems another pillar of darkness has been sighted about twenty miles outside of Bonesborough. The Emperor thinks they might be linked, he wants you to investigate." She explained.
"As he wishes" Lilith said before closing the device. She then turned to Zeo, "Zeo, how would you like to go on another quest together?" she asked him.
"I have nothing better to do, so I don't see why not." Zeo said with a shrug.
"Daze Raven, arise!" Zeo summoned the bird based off his aunt, "After you." he said, leading his aunt onto the bird.
Lilith got on to the white raven's back, followed by Zeo himself. With a caw, the bird took to the sky.
"I still can't believe you made a beast based off me" Lilith said.
"I was inspired by your loyalty and intelligence… even if that loyalty is to a magic-oppressing tyrant" Zeo muttered that last part under his breath, "I even made based on King of all people, if you can believe that" he told her.
"You're right, I don't believe it" Lilith replied.
*caw* "Neither can I, Lord Zeo" Daze Raven chimed in.
Bonesborough…
Luz and Willow sat on a bench, Grimrose perched on top of Willow's head as usual. Gus walked over to the two girls and handed each of them an ice pop.
"Thanks, Gus" the girls said as they took their cones, Gus sitting beside them with an ice pop of his own.
"So, that plant lizard thing that you fought yesterday was really after you?" Luz asked Willow.
"Yep" Willow took a lick of her ice pop, and then offered some to Grimrose, "Apparently that thing tracks its prey down using the thistles it launches into its prey's body. Grimrose told last night" she informed her friends while the botanical creature took a few licks of the frozen fruit treat.
"By the way, that evolution of hers was so cool!" Gus beamed.
"Yeah, no kidding" Luz said in agreement, "Couldn't she have just stayed like that?" she asked.
"Sorry, but as much as I'd love for that to happen, she just can't" Willow admitted, "Plus, even if she could, it'd be hard to explain to my parents why I brought home a girl that looks just like me" she added.
"She has a point" Gus said.
"Besides, she's more adorable and easier to carry in this form anyway" Willow said, reaching up and petting Grimrose's head.
"But either way, you're one proud mama" Luz said in her usual bubbly tone, making the plant witch blush.
"And Zeo's one proud papa" Gus interjected with a slight teasing tone.
Willow giggled, "How's he handling that, by the way?" she asked her human friend.
"He says it feels weird but he can tolerate it. He doesn't like it when I tease him about it, but he can tolerate it" Luz told her with a chuckle, "He's more accepting of it than Eda was when he started calling her mom, that's for sure" she muttered that part under her breath.
"Hey, isn't that him right now?" Gus asked, pointing towards the sky.
They all looked up to see him flying through the sky in the distance on Daze Raven. They could see someone riding with him, though they couldn't tell who.
"Oh, looks like he's off on another adventure" Luz commented, "Maybe we should have a little adventure of our own" she smirked, holding up a card between her fingers.
"What's that?" Gus asked.
"A new beast weapon that Zeo created, he said I could test it out while he was gone" Luz said, "Beast Weapon: Steel Spiders, arise!" she tossed the card, summoning two spiders.
They were metallic, chrome-colored spiders with glowing red eyes. They had the arcane attribute. Luz crouched down, allowing the metallic arachnids to crawl up to her forearm. It actually kind of tickled. They turned around on her arms so their heads faced her hands. Their legs intertwined around her arms, locking themselves in place, their red eyes glowing. Their heads then rotated around Luz's arm to the other side. A brief, white energy channeled into Luz's body which tingled a bit before quickly vanishing.
"Ooh-hoo-hoo-hoo! Tingly!" Luz chuckled as she stood up.
At that moment, she heard the kick of a ball. Getting tingle in her head and down her spine, without even looking, Luz ducked, narrowly avoiding getting hit by the ball. Sadly, the ball ended up hitting Gus in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him.
"Luz, how did you do that?" Willow asked with amazement, taking a lick of her ice pop which nearly gone thanks mostly to Grimrose.
"I don't know. It's like I could sense the danger or something. Almost as if I had…" Luz paused for a few seconds, and then looked at the Steel Spiders on her arms.
Curious, Luz set her eyes on the building behind the bench they were sitting on. She ran and jumped off the bench; a few feet higher than she ever has in her life. She performed a corkscrew and found herself sticking to the wall, upside down no less. Luz looked at the top of the building and saw a gargoyle start directly above her… or below depending on how you looked at it. Luz aimed her right arm at the base of the statue and, with a flex of her wrist, curled her middle and ring fingers inward, the spider shooting a thick string of webbing out of its mouth and sticking to the base of the statue.
Luz released her hold on the wall and descended while hanging upside down with the web. She descended until she was hanging upside down between her friends, a huge grin upon her face.
"Oh, no, you've got that look on your face…" Willow said worriedly.
"I think I'm going to head to the house and make a costume" Luz said excitedly, "It's time Boiling Isles had their own friendly neighborhood Spider-Luz!"
Gus, Willow, and Grimrose all looked at each other with concern.
The Lower Part of the Isles…
Zeo and Lilith had arrived at the pillar, Daze Raven landing front of it as they hopped off her back.
"This is just like the one that created Cormac, but stronger." Zeo said as he recalled Daze Raven back into her card form.
"Cormac?" Lilith repeated.
"The satyr we obliterated." Zeo explained.
"Ah" Lilith said.
"I wonder who we'll have face this time" Zeo said curiously.
The pillar soon subsided, revealing a red, anthropomorphic demon dog.
Eh, I've seen scarier." Zeo said with a small shrug.
"Just like Edalyn." Lilith said with a chuckle upon hearing her nephew's reaction to the demon dog.
"Who are you?" Zeo asked.
"I am RoJo! AKA Your doom!" The demon dog said, raising a fist and socking Zeo in the face, causing his nose to bleed.
Zeo then laughed, surprising Lilith and RoJo. "Please! Compared to having a sword shoved through my chest, a punch from an overgrown mutt is nothing!" He said, lifting his shirt, revealing his scar.
"You got stabbed through the chest?!" Lilith said with some surprise.
"Cormac really wanted mom dead." Zeo explained, pulling out three cards. "Crimson Eyes Onyx Dragon, Razor-Dillo, Fusion Vortex!" he called out.
In a brief pillar of earth and darkness, out came Crimson-Eyes Razor Dragon with a roar.
"Sic him!" Zeo commanded his metal dragon. With a roar, Razor Dragon flew at the demon dog, only for him to backhand the fusion monster before breathing a stream of fire at him, "Command Card: Energy Absorption!" Zeo shouted, tossing the card into the reptile.
The dragon absorbed the attack through the metal on his body.
"Command Card: Dragon Burst!" Zeo commanded.
The energy from Razor Dragon's body gathered into his mouth in a ball of orange energy. RoJo approached the dragon, not at all intimidated. With a roar, Razor Dragon fired a powerful energy blast that which was enhanced by RoJo's attack, hitting the demon dog at close range. RoJo engulfed in the blast as it created a trench before exploding. When the smoke cleared, there stood the demon dog, snickering with not a single scratch on him.
"Oh, that's not a good sign." Lilith said with some concern.
To make things worse, the fusion had been undone, and RoJo was currently on top of Crimson Eyes, with Razor-Dillo back in card form.
"Is this seriously the best you've got?!" The dog asked, holding Crimson Eyes by the neck above his head before tossing the large dragon at Zeo's feet.
"You bastard!" Zeo glared at him, "Crimson Eyes, buddy. Are you okay?" Zeo asked his trusty dragon worriedly.
*Roar* "Did I just get my tail kicked by a dog?" Crimson-Eyes asked.
"Unfortunately." Zeo said.
*Roar* "What do we do?" Crimson-Eyes asked as he stood.
Trying to think, Zeo received a vision. It was a vision of a warrior with dragon wings. That could only mean one thing.
"Crimson-Eyes, there's only one way to win..." Zeo said, looking at his deck, "Zeonidas, arise! Command Card: Mind Convergence!" Zeo said, summoning his doppelganger and merging with it.
"What are you thinking?" Lilith asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. Crimson-Eyes, I need you to trust me." Zeo said, placing a hand on the large beast. Crimson-Eyes nodded, "Fusion Vortex!" Zeo tossed the card between them.
The two then turned into wisps that entered the vortex that then exploded in a pillar of complete darkness. Out came Zeo with his dragon's wings, wearing armor similar to the Red Dragon Fire Ranger from Power Rangers Mystic force except with silver armor and purple accents. Zeo's eyes had gone from golden to red, his pupils having turned into slits. His cheeks had dragon scales on them as well, Crimson-Eyes' horns protruding out the top of his head and its tail protruding out of his backside, coiling around his waist like a belt.
"This power, amazing! I see why Luz loves it so much!" Zeo said, admiring himself.
He then received a vision of a sort of shield with two slots at the top that cards could fit in, one on the left and the other on the right.
"Interesting." Zeo said as he reached behind his back. He pulled out a shield that resembled a dragon's head, reminiscent of the Shield of Triumph from Power Rangers Dino Thunder, "Shield of Conquest, activate!" Zeo shouted, the shield changing color from white to black with red eyes. "Dragon Blade" he placed the card into the card slot on the right.
A dragon's roar could be heard as it quickly gained a fiery aura that went inside of the shield. The shield then sprouted wings on the side. The blade of Zeo's sword then popped up out of the top of the shield in a flash of fire.
"Ooh, I'm so scared!" RoJo sarcastically said before firing another stream of fire.
Zeo held out his shield which blocked the attack. Amazingly, the shield/sword combination actually seemed to energize Zeo.
"This is more power than I've felt before. I like it!" Zeo said clenching his free hand into a fist.
Spreading his wings, he then charged headfirst into RoJo, slamming his head into the demon dog's, sending him flying before taking flight himself.
"Apocalyptic Draconius!" Zeo yelled as an aura surrounded him, taking the form of a dragon, entering the shield.
He sent out three slashes, each turning into a dragon made of fire. The three dragons struck RoJo, each taking a chunk out of his body before the third dragon obliterated him, leaving nothing but dust.
"Whoa..." was all Lilith could say.
"Feel free to tell Emperor Belos you took him down all by yourself. I don't care about the glory, especially if it comes from him." Zeo said, recalling the Dragon Blade's card from his shield and placing it back behind his back.
"That was quite impressive, Zeo. You really are my sister's son… and my nephew" Lilith gave a small smile.
"And don't you forget it." Zeo said, getting ready to walk away.
"You know, my offer to join the Emperor's Coven still stands." Lilith said, causing Zeo to stop in his tracks. "With skills and powers like yours, you could easily rise through the ranks, and even become my successor with enough hard work!" She said.
"I like you, Aunt Lily, but there's no way I'm serving under a tyrant that imprisons innocent witches for something as ridiculous as not joining a coven" Zeo told her.
Lilith sighed. "I understand. But if you ever change your mind, you know how to call me." She said.
"I'll keep that in mind" Zeo said before taking flight.
*Sigh* "He really is Eda's son." Lilith said with a chuckle as a cloaked figure watched from afar.
The Owl House…
Zeo flew down in front of the Owl House.
"I'm home!" He said, walking through the door.
"There you are. Where've you been?" Eda asked with her hands on her hips.
"Ran into Aunt Lilith and obliterated a demon dog thing." Zeo said, plopping down on the couch. "In other words, standard Saturday." He joked.
Eda then noticed his form "You look... different. Care to explain?" she asked.
"Turns out Zeonidas and Crimson Eyes have a fusion similar to that of Luzura and Knight Owl." Zeo explained. "Got to test it out against the demon dog. Guy didn't stand a chance!" He said.
Eda gasped and scooped him up in a tight hug, "That's my boy!" she said, nuzzling her cheek against his.
"Mom!" Zeo said.
"Aw, don't worry about it Zeo! My mom does that all the time!" he heard Luz's voice. Looking up, he could see her dangling upside down from a string of webbing.
"Decided to test the Steel Spider weapons, huh?" Zeo asked with an amused expression.
"Uh-huh, they're awesome!" Luz beamed, "I'm gonna using them to become a superhero!"
"Uh, no, don't think so. Steel Spiders, return!" Zeo recalled the weapons back into their card forms.
Luckily for Luz, she was still dangling by the web. She did a flip and landed on the couch, shooting Zeo an unfair glance.
"You said you ran into Lilith?" King asked.
"Yeah?" Zeo said while still being held by Eda, "She said the offer to join the Emperor's Coven she extended to me was still open." He said.
"But you obviously turned it down, right?" Eda raised an eyebrow.
"Of course" Zeo said.
Eda kissed his forehead, "Good boy"
"But Aunt Lilith had one hell of a sales pitch. She said with my powers and skills I could easily rise through the ranks and succeed her one day." He said.
"But I refuse to join something that punishes innocent witches just because they refuse to join what's basically a cult" Zeo said.
"And I'm glad you've got that mindset. Although she does have a point. Your cards are unique, anyone would be lucky to have you on their side." Eda said, ruffling his hair.
"Heh. You're damn right they would" Zeo said with a hearty chuckle.
And that's the end of this chapter. Now Zeo has a fusion involving one of his beasts just like Luz does. I know it probably makes more sense for him to fuse with Knight Owl, but in my opinion, dragons are cooler than birds. Besides, I have more fusion for Zeo planned in the future, so he just might fuse with Knight Owl one of these days. This chapter was co-written with JTWAS1994.
Steel Spiders were thought up by IrishKatana.
Next chapter will be an adaptation of Understanding Willow. This one I'm actually excited for.
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