EoH Evolution: Season 2

by Bahamut0


Episode 10: Family

Fang smiled as he and Narico sat down for breakfast that morning. It had only been a few days since they'd moved into Unityville. And much to their surprise, they found themselves right at him. Hard to believe that I adopted him only a couple days ago, and he's already close to me like we're actual siblings. Fang thought to himself as he watched Narico devour a bowl of cereal. "If you're all filled up now, it's time to get going to school. I'll pick you up once you get out."

"See you then Fang!" Narico chirped as he rushed over to his backpack. The young changeling shifting into a more human appearance and slinging his backpack over his shoulders. "Ready!"

Fang chuckled at Narico's enthusiasm just to go to school. Then again, he is friends with those three girls. Here's hoping they haven't been getting into too much trouble. "Alright. No need to go full-speed Narico." Fang took Narico by the hand, and the two exited the house. However, as they made their way to the school, a most unwanted figure sensed Narico's presence. Ever since Narico had left the hive, Chrysalis had sent out stealth observers to search for the nymph. And one such spy had just sensed Narico in Unityville through using the mental link all changeling shared. The drone flew off back to Chrysalis to report his findings.

"So. That is where he has taken refuge." Chrysalis said with a bemused expression as she sat on her throne. "Well then. I believe we should send a proper escort for his return." Chrysalis clenched the arms of her throne with her hands as she thought of her plans for Narico. A small squadron of soldier changelings stood before him. "Go. Retrieve the nymph. And make sure to be covert about it. My endgame is currently in progress. And any attention drawn to us is sure to hinder my progress. Now go!" The soldier changelings saluted, and their wings buzzed as they flew towards Unityville.

The hours passed by quickly at Suit Up Cosplay. Namely because Fang enjoyed his work there. Shadow Thunder was a good boss to work for. Especially since Fang got a designated break period to pick up Narico from school. Which was to happen right about now. "Think you can manage things while I pick up my litte bro?"

"I'm sure the place won't catch fire if you're gone for a couple minutes." Shadow Thunder said with a chuckle. "Besides, I've got siblings myself. I can relate to where you're coming from. Don't keep Narico waiting long, or he might think you forgot about him!"

Fang gave Shadow a small smile, and shook his head as he left the cosplay shop and headed over to the schoolhouse. Sure enough, Fang found Narico making a run towards him at full speed and jumping onto him! "WHOA!" Fang feigned surprise, and hit the ground while Narico was clinging to him. "So I take it you had fun?"

"Uh huh!" Narico said with an excited nod. And with that, he and Fang began to make their way home. However, Narico soon froze in his tracks. He began to shake all over suddenly when he felt a presence that wasn't supposed to be in Unityville. Fang took notice of Narico's panicked state.

"Narico? What's wrong?" Fang asked as he knelt down to Narico's level, and put his hands on Narico's shoulders. "You look pretty spooked."

Narico shivered a little. "There aren't supposed to be any other people like me here. . . " Narico said as he trembled. His response both puzzling Fang, and putting him on edge. A feeling only intensified by the approach of an odd group of people.

"There you are!" The leader of the group exclaimed as he spotted Narico. "We've been looking for you for quite a long time Narico. You had us worried."

Fang stepped in front of Narico, and addressed the group. "Who are you people? And what do you want with Narico?"

"We should thank you for caring for him for so long." The leader said with a smile. "We are his family. And we have come to take him back home with us." He then extended his hand.

Fang took a sniff in the odd group's general direction, and narrowed his eyes as he got their scent. He could smell it clearly. The true intent of these strangers. "Sure you are. . . " Fang said with a cautious glance towards Narico. "Would you excuse Narico and I for a moment? There's a call I need to make." Fang and Narico broke away from the group of disguised changelings, and Fang dialed up Shadow's number. "Shadow? Something's up. A bunch of people just showed up claiming to be Narico's family. Yes, I know it's weird. Could you tail us and bring that weapon you have? I could use some backup if things get. . . rough. Great. Thanks." Fang hung up, and led Narico by the hand.

"Don't worry." Fang whispered to Narico. "I'm not gonna let them do a thing to you. I promise." Fang then turned his attention to the disguised changelings. "Hope you don't mind, but I'd like to follow Narico. I just want to make sure he's safe on the journey home." Fang stared down the disguised changeling commander. "There's no problems with that, is there?"

The disguised changeling's eye twitched slightly at Fang's question. "Of. . . course not." The disguised changelings led Fang and Narico towards the outskirts of Unityville.

"So. How much farther to Narico's home?" Fang asked with narrowed eyes.

The disguised changeling commander's face soon sported a vicious smile. "Don't worry. YOUR JOURNEY ENDS NOW!" The changelings dropped their disguises, and came at Fang!

"Narico! RUN!" Fang shouted as he charged at the changelings! Slugging the commander right in the face! However, he was severely outnumbered and was pinned by the changelings! The commander advancing towards the freightened nymph who had dropped his disguise out of sheer shock and fear! "NARICO!" Fang screamed! "Don't you dare lay a finger on my little brother!" Fang struggled against the changelings pinning him down!

The changeling commander smirked at Fang's plight, and turned his gaze to Narico. "It's time to return home youngling. Our queen has quite the pressing matter to discuss with you. . ." But before the changeling commander could even lay a finger on Narico, a navy blue blur came down from the sky! Striking the changeling commander! "AGH!" Sparks showered out as the sound of a weapon striking chitin was heard!

"Hope I'm not late to the beatdown!" Shadow Thunder said with a smirk as he landed and raised his spear. He then looked to Narico. "Narico? Is. . . that you?" But before Shadow could further question Narico, he noticed Fang pinned under the pile of changelings! "Get to safety Narico! I'll handle these creeps!" Shadow flew at the changelings pinning Fang down, and bashed them away with his Duelist Arm! "Fang! You okay?!"

Fang groaned as he got to his feet. "Yeah. I'll be fine. . ." Fang got into a fighting stance. "I'm pretty sure we can take on these things together. Let's go!" The two charged at the changelings! Shadow slashing at any and all that came out them! Sparks showering forth from where he'd slashed them!

"Looks like these guys are made of tougher stuff than the the Nightmare Forces! That, or they're not pure evil." Shadow noted as he observed the sparks dissipating.

"All the same," Fang growled. "I'm not letting them take my little brother! NOT WITHOUT A FIGHT!" Fang rushed the changeling commander, but was knocked back by a blast of magic!

The changeling commander's hand was trailing green smoke as he lowered his hand. "What a stupid mutt. Maybe you haven't realized it yet, but we're bugs that bite back!"

"Yeah? Well. . . " Fang shot towards the changeling commander! "SO DO I!" Fang the bit down on the commander's arm! However, this gave the commander a chance to repeatedly punch Fang in the gut! "GGGNNNNGGH!" Fang screamed in muffled pain as he refused to release his hold on the commander's arm! I'm not gonna let go! Even if it kills me! Fang thought as he maintained his bite for dear life!

Shadow Thunder saw his friend's peril and tried to come to Fang's aid, but the changelings he was engaging pursued him through the air! Grounding him with a few blasts of magic! "AGH!" Shadow fell to the ground, and noticed the wing that was hit twitching in pain from the blast! "Maybe I should've brought along some bug spray. . . "

"Hope this is a good substitute." A voice called out as a charged blast shot towards the changeling commander! The commander screamed as the lightning ripped through him right after the impact of the charge shot struck him right on his wings! Burst Stream blew out the smoke trailing from his blaster! "Hey everyone. Hope you don't mind if I brought some more friends along." At that moment, Inferno Flare, Arctic Ace, Tyrannus Rex, and Dark Ice arrived. "Let's swat some bugs!"

The Elements of Heroism charged forth at the remaining changelings that were swarming Shadow! "Hands off ugly!" Dark Ice screamed as he swatted away a large number of the changelings with his claymore! "You want to get to our brother?"

"You need to get past us first." Ace said in a cool tone as he got into a fighting stance. The group readied themselves for the changelings' charge at them, but it never came as they were sent flying by a blast of thunder!

Tyrannus Rex smiled as he lowered his cannon. "Just thought I'd give them a thunderous send-off." Tyrannus then saw the changelings he'd dispatched vanish in a flash of green flame. "I didn't hit them that hard, did I?"

Meanwhile, the changeling commander had recovered from Burst's charge shot, and saw Inferno Flare helping Fang leave the battlefield! "You're not getting away that easy!" But as he flew at Fang and Inferno, he felt something strike his side! Sparks flying from where he'd been struck! The commander got to his feet, and saw Burst Stream with his sword drawn.

"Maybe you guys didn't hear, but we protect this kingdom." Burst Stream replied as he turned to face the changeling commander. He then pointed his sword right at him. "You bit us, so we bit you back. I'd say we're pretty even. Take your forces and leave. This is your first and only warning." The commander just hissed in response. "Well, time to whip out the bug zapper again." Burst sheathed his sword, and drew his blasters.Chargning both up, and unleashing a dual charge shot! Leaving the changeling commander covered in scorch marks!

"This. . . isn't over yet. . . " The changeling commander hissed as he weakly stood up. "You may have beaten us, but we are merely part of a larger hive! And soon, under our queen, we shall swarm you! Your kingdom will become our own! Our queen's plan is already in motion! You fools have no idea what's coming!"

Burst steeled his gaze. "Yeah, I figured you'd say that. You all look like grunts anyway. Inferno? Give him an explosive send-off."

"Got it Burst." Inferno Flare said with a nod as he charged up his own blaster, and fired a blast of flame that exploded when it hit the changeling commander! When the smoke cleared, he had vanished in a flash of green fire. "Huh. I'm pretty sure that never happened when we destroyed any of the Nightmare Forces."

Burst shook his head. "That was an emergency teleport spell. It's used to transport heavily injured people to a safe point where they can heal. And I'd say that specific spell's destination was the hive mentioned. What that guy said does worry me, but we can focus on that later. Right now," Burst looked back in the direction of Unityville. "I think we'd better see how Fang's holding up." The Elements of Heroism returned to Unityville, and saw the rest of the Main 6 heading to Fluttershy's cottage. Sure enough, the found the Main 6, Fang, and Narico inside.

Fluttershy was tending to Fang's injuries while Twilight was observing Narico and furiously scribbling down a mess of notes. Fang slowly got up as he noticed Burst Stream and the others enter. "I'm guessing you'd all like an explanation for why those things attacked? Well, that's only fair." Fang then looked to Narico. "Sorry Narico. Looks like the secret's out." Fang returned his gaze to the Elements of Heroism and noticed that the Main 6 had shifted their focus to him as well. "Narico is actually a young changeling I found hiding in plain sight during the Nightmare Night festival not too long ago. I knew he was different because of his scent. He was all alone, and I couldn't just leave him as he was. So, I adopted him. From what I can gather, the changelings that attacked today were after Narico. I don't have an exact answer for why they did, but I've got a pretty good guess."

"Maybe it's because I'm different from everyone. . . " Narico said sadly. "I look a lot like everyone else, but I don't act the same. I don't feel hungry like all the other changelings do. But why is that a bad thing?" Narico's eyes began to tear up a bit. "Isn't it a good thing to feel full?"

Fang gave Narico a small smile. "Narico, being different isn't bad at all. In fact, it's a very good thing. Take a look at these people." Fang gestured to the Main 6 and the Elements of Heroism. "They've been able to do so many great things because none of them are exactly alike. Each of them has something special." Fang then pointed to Narico's heart. "Just like you." Fang's tail wagged when he saw Narico beam at the compliment. However, Fang's face turned serious. "Burst. You know that offer you made? Is it still available?"

"As far as I'm concerned, there was no expiration date on it in the first place." Burst Stream stated. "And I'm guessing you brought it up because of today's events. Why didn't you summon your Duelist Arm?"

Fang sighed. "Because today, someone close to me was put in danger. My little brother was attacked, and I got my tail kicked out there." Fang clenched his fist as he reflected upon the recent events of the day. "That's something I don't want to happen again." Night Fang steeled his gaze. "I want to protect my family. To show anyone stupid enough to attack my home that I won't back down. But right now I'm not strong enough. Please! Let me fight with you! Maybe it sounds selfish that I'm only joining because I've got a personal stake in this, but I'm not gonna call it quits if you shoot me down!"

"Fang. What you're doing is far from selfish." Burst Stream said with a smile. "Your want to protect what's precious to you. And you've got the sheer determination to see that through." Burst exteneded his arm, and held out his fist. "We'd be happy to have you on our team."

Night Fang smirked as he fist-bumped Burst Stream. "So. How hard's the training?"

"Thinking of calling it quits, are we?" Burst Stream joked.

Night Fang chuckled. "As if! Real heroes never quit!" The group of friends shared a laugh, and soon went their separate ways. Once they were back home, Fang noticed Narico was clinging to his hand pretty hard. "Narico? Are you still scared from what happened earlier today?"

"No." Narico shook his head. "It's just, I don't know where my home is anymore. Or if I even have a family."

Fang frowned, and put his hands on Narico's shoulders as he knelt down to his level. "Listen Narico. Family isn't where you're from, or what you are. And home isn't were you live. A home is where you feel safe. And a family is the people who care about you. It's where you feel that you belong."

Narico slowly smiled as he hugged his adoptive brother. "Then you're my home Fang!"

"I sure am." Fang said with a chuckle. "I sure am."