EoH Evolution: Season 2

by Bahamut0

Episode 18: Savage Spirit

For Fang, it was just another day working at Suit Up Cosplay. He had just helped out a couple looking to cosplay as a pair, and took note of the time. "Yo Shadow! It's about lunch time. Want me to go on a lunch run for you?"

"Nah! I'm good!" Shadow Thunder called out as he set another box of accessories down. "My brothers already made me a lunch this morning. What about you?"

Fang smiled. "Leftover ribs for me. I made sure not to scarf them all down in front of Narico." Fang's tail wagged happily at the thought of feasting upon his favorite food. "Just need to heat them up in the microwave real quick." Fang headed to the break room, and put his ribs on a plate. His ears twitched in anticipation as the timer counted down. Sure enough, his patience paid off. "Sweet!" Fang grabbed a bottle of water, and headed outside to enjoy his meal in the fresh air. "Yup. Ribs for lunch equals a good day." Fang bit down onto a rib, and his tail swished happily upon eating his favorite meal.

"Hoping to save the bones for a game of fetch later?" Venus Bloomer quipped as he sat down next to Fang. "Good to see you again Fang. Still having to beat off the hoards of adoring women with your Duelist Arm?"

Fang grinned. "Hey Venus! Good to see you too. You manage to not be weighed down by the girls that wanna be all over you?" The two shared a laugh about their popularity with women. "Also, a fetch joke? Really? That's too easy!" Fang's wolf ears then drooped a little. "Though I still like to gnaw on the bones a little. . ."

"So it seems you're dining out as well." Venus said with a smile as he dangled his own lunch bag. "I just got on my lunch break as well." Venus opened up his bag, and pulled out a salad and a can of tea. "Mind sharing one of your ribs?"

Fang shook his head. "Not at all." However, a burning question entered Fang's mind as he handed a rib over to Venus. "Wait. You got a job now? Where're you working at?"

"Well, I thought it would be obvious." Venus said with a chuckle. "Due to my last name, I have quite the affinity for plants. So naturally, I am now employed by the flower shop. You could say they're my specialty. Ever since I was little, I always had an interest in gardening. It's a good hobby of mine, and working with plants was soon discovered to be my talent. Pretty common for an Earthbound." Venus then stared at the sky in thought. "But the most unusual thing was that somehow, I could feel what the plants needed. Heh. Sometimes my mom thought my only friends would be plants and flowers."

Fang chuckled. "Heh heh! My parents called me a real wild child because of my wolf ears and tail. But they always meant it as a term of affection. Although, I DID wind up catching the ball with my mouth whenever my dad and I played catch." The two shared another laugh before taking a swig from their respective drinks. "But back to that point of your mom worrying about you making friends, I don't think she'd have to worry about that. Chances are, with your good looks, there wasn't anyone who wouldn't want to get close to you."

"Yeah. And that was a problem for me." Venus said with a sigh. "All the girls would usually go crazy over me, and I didn't have to do a thing to warrant such attention aside from looking about as pretty as them." A bitter laugh escaped Venus' lips. "It felt so empty. All they liked me for was my looks without even getting to know me."

Fang put a hand on Venus' back. "I know the feeling dude. Girls would scream over how cute my ears are. Heck, half of the girls I tried asking out told me 'yes' because they were afraid I'd give them sad puppy dog eyes if they said no to me. And I'm pretty good at doing that."

"Please," Venus scoffed. "You might have the ears and tail. But that doesn't mean you're THAT good at-" Venus immediately shut up as he saw Fang crouching with his wolf ears splayed against his head with his wolf tail curled around one of his feet. And Fang was hitting him hard with puppy dog eyes. ". . . I take it back. You are that good at doing that." Venus them came to a horrifying realization. "Oh Sweet Celestia. If you turned that on that mob chasing us, they would've locked us up in a fortress just to preserve us as idols!"

"Pffft! AH HA HA HA HAH HA!" Fang nearly bust a gut laughing. "I gotta say Venus. I wasn't expecting today's lunch break to be this eventful." Fang then noticed Venus's whip hanging at his hip. "Huh. You're packing your Duelist Arm? I know you don't have much training yet, but why're you carrying it around?"

Venus looked to his whip, and smiled. "Oh. Black Rose just seems happy whenever she gets to come along with me wherever I go." Venus patted the handle of his whip. "Plus, it never hurts to be prepared. After all, doesn't Burst Stream carry around his Duelist Arms with him?"

"Huh. Fair point." Fang said as he scratched his head. "But isn't the name you gave your Duelist Arm a bit on-the-nose? You might be making it too obvious that you're the plant specialist and pretty boy of our team."

Venus blinked, and raised an eyebrow in confusion. "I wasn't talking about my Duelist Arm. I was talking about the spirit inside it." Venus' hair glowed slightly with green-and-yellow light as a beautiful dragon spirit manifested before him. However, only he could see it. "Burst mentioned to me that he heard a voice coming from his Duelist Arms twice so far. It intrigued me, and I soon discovered something after my awakening as the Element of Spirit. Due to my higher state of natural excitement, I was able to see the source of such a voice by looking at my own weapon. Black Rose is quite the talker."

"Wait. You mean you can SEE the monster your weapon's based on?!" Fang exclaimed in shock! "How come I haven't heard any voices coming from my weapon? Have you talked to any of the other guys about this?"

Venus stroked his chin in thought. "While Burst heard the voice of the monster his weapons are based on, he can't see the actual spirit of the dragon. Namely because the spirit has chosen not to manifest yet." Venus then looked to the spirit of Black Rose Dragon, and smiled. "Black Rose has manifested herself upon my seeing her despite the lack of interaction between our friends and the spirits of their own Duelist Arms."

"Huh. Cool." Fang said as he munched on another rib. "Maybe you could try and see the spirit inside my Duelist Arm." Fang scarfed down the remaining meat on the rib, and summoned his Duelist Arm after licking his fingers clean. "Have at it."

Venus smiled. "Sure thing." Venus' hair glowed once more, and he put his hand on Fang's gauntlet. However, the spirit dwelling within the Duelist Arm was not alone. "Odd. There should only be one spirit within your weapon. What's-AGH!" Venus was knocked back by a wave of dark energy!

"Venus!" Fang rushed to Venus' side. "You alright? What happened?!" Fang helped Venus to his feet, and walked him back to their bench.

Venus shook his head as he snapped out of his shock. "Fang. I think there's something else inside your Duelist Arm. Something dark, angry, and incredibly savage." Venus shot a worried look at Fang's gauntlet. In specific, the chains that seemed to wrap around the portion that covered the lower arm. "Whatever is inside there with the monster spirit, it obviously wants out. And who knows whatever beast within is going to break free of its chains."

"Still. . ." Fang said as he looked down at his gauntlet. "I need my weapon to protect Narico. To protect our home." His gaze then steeled with determination. "And even if whatever's in here does break out, I'm not letting it take me over without a fight. You can be sure of that."

Venus sighed. "Just, be careful Fang. You're a pretty good friend. And I'd hate to have to hurt you. Especially if it meant that I'd need to save you."

"Hey. I'm pretty tough to put down." Fang said with a smirk. "I tanked a changeling commander's magic blasts at point blank and I still powered through the pain just so I could keep my biting hold on the creep."

Venus chuckled. "Element of Determination indeed. Well, lunch was fun while it lasted." Venus dusted himself off, and headed back to work. "I'll stop by your work tomorrow. See you then!" And with that, Venus waved goodbye.

Fang waved farewell too, and headed back to Shadow's cosplay shop. He looked down at his Duelist Arm before dismissing it. "Whatever's inside it, I'm not going to give in without a fight." Soon enough, Fang's shift ended and he went home for the day. After having dinner and putting Narico to bed, Fang started to get ready for bed himself. Sparing a thoughtful glance at the full moon outside.

"Sure is a nice night." Fang thought out loud as he stepped outside. "Almost nice enough to make me howl." Fang then summoned his Duelist Arm. "Funny. It's usually at night when wielding you feels most natural." Just then, Fang felt his Duelist Arm pulse. "Wh-What the-?!" Fang then fell to his knees as he felt his entire body trembling.

"After all these years. At last! Another who has inherited the wolf spirit appears before me!" A dark voice rang in Fang's mind! And as the voice spoke, the chains around the forearm portion of Fang's Duelist Arm began to shake! "Tonight, my fury shall be unchained!"

"AAAAAGGGHH!" Fang screamed as he covered his wolf ears! Doubling over in pain as he felt something within him stirring! "What's. . . happening. . . to me?!" Fang's eyes widened with horror as he saw aura claws form around his hands! A red-violet aura covered his entire body! His tail had grown longer, and his hair had become wild! But what really horrified Fang was that his teeth started to become more fanglike! The chains around his Duelist Arm breaking!

"You make a fitting vessel cub." The voice taunted in Fang's mind. "But it is futile to defy your alpha! Now stop resisting and let's see how sharp your fangs are. This town shall make an excellent sharpening tool. . .

"N-No!" Fang growled before letting out a loud howl! Waking up nearly all of Unityville in the process! As whatever dark force currently trying to manipulated him moved his body, Fang fought back to restrain himself! "I. . . won't. . . let you!"

Sure enough, the Elements of Heroism arrived on the scene. Equipped with their Duelist Arms, and clad in sleepwear. Venus' jaw dropped in horror. "Luna's moon, that's Fang!"

"What's wrong with him?!" Shadow asked with concern in his voice. "It's like he's going crazy! Like his body's been hijacked from him and he's trying to fight back against whatever's driving him nuts!"

Venus narrowed his eyes. "You're right on the nose Shadow. Earlier today, I sensed something inside Fang's Duelist Arm. There was another spirit inside it besides the monster Fang's gauntlet was based on. Something dark, angry, and savage." Venus then noticed that the chains around the gauntlet's forearm portion had broken. "And now? It's free of its chains."

The group then froze when they saw Fang's eyes go purely white, and Fang crouched to the ground. A low growl coming from him. "And I say it wants to bite a chunk out of us!" Inferno yelled as he readied his blaster! The possessed Fang let out a savage snarl before pouncing at his friends! Inferno rolled out of the way, and opened fire! The blasts of flame searing his possessed comrade! "Whatever's making Fang go savage on us is definitely not nice! Otherwise my shots wouldn't be dealing this much damage!"

Venus was hesitant in readying his whip. However, something very specific caught his eye as he watched his fellow Elements of Heroism try to contain Fang. Each time Fang would attack, he tried to stop himself. Fang was fighting the malevolent entity that had hijacked his body! Unfortunately, it looked like said force had a strong hold on him! There has to be a way to snap Fang out of it! I've got to free him! Suddenly, Venus noticed that the flexible portion of his whip was wrapped in purple flames!

"All of you get back!" Venus cried out as he readied his whip! "I think I've found a way to free Fang!" Venus coiled his whip around Fang's arms and torso, and yanked on his whip! The purple flames shot through the whip, and surrounded Fang's body! The red-violet aura around him burning away! Fang was in great pain as the malevolent force controlling him was expelled! "So. This is the savage spirit behind all this trouble." Venus said with a scowl as he glared at the entity he'd expelled from his friend. The dark spirit looked like a more feral version of Fang.

"You may have driven me out. But you have yet to destroy me!" The dark spirit warned. Mark my words. The cub has not seen the last of me yet. Remnants of my strength remains with him! All it lacks is a trigger. And with that, the dark spirit faded away.

Venus coiled his whip, and helped Fang up. "Hey. You put up one heck of a fight with that thing. Just like you said, you didn't give in to it. Whatever that was."

"Thanks Venus." Fang said with a weak smile. "Though I guess I ruined your beauty sleep for the night."

Venus chuckled. "Coming from the guy who had a nasty case of bedhead without even falling asleep? Let's get you home. Something tells me you could use some rest."

"The couch never sounded so good. . ." Fang groaned. "Hey Shadow? I don't suppose you could give me a day off to walk this off?"

Shadow let out a sigh of relief. "I think I'll manage just fine on my own. Don't worry about calling in, and I'll pick up Narico tomorrow for you."

Fang smiled. "Best boss I've ever had." He then looked to Venus. "I don't suppose you'll be giving me a 'Get Well Soon' card, will you?"

"I'll send flowers." Venus said with a chuckle.

Comments

[Bahamut0]

8907523
Next chapter's up! Sorry if it took longer than usual.

[ArcticAce01]

8916245
It’s alright definitely worth the wait and I so enjoyed it and we got a first appearance of Savage Aswell and Venus seeing spirits

[MasterPhoenix93]

The Savage appears and Venus is seeing spirits...

Well worth the wait. Great chapter

[Bahamut0]

8918294
Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Btw, what did you think of the previous chapter?

[MasterPhoenix93]

8918298
I found it very cute...especially the ending of it.

[Bahamut0]

8920032
Well, FlutterTy is the most adorable ship I've made yet. As for hottest ship, I'd probably say Burst's ship.

[MasterPhoenix93]

8920128
I agree with that.

[Bahamut0]

8920169
I think a lot of people are with you on that. I think that compared to season 1, this season's more of a chill season. I've not written as many fight scenes, but the ones I have were tense and actual stakes. Plus, there's all the development I've been giving the new characters. I daresay that Fang and Venus' best bud level is on par with that of Burst and Inferno.

[MasterPhoenix93]

8920180
It has been pretty chill and slice of life ish...a change of pace to set things up in way.

[Bahamut0]

8920215
Oh? And just how has it been setting things up? Btw, season 5 will have PLENTY of slice of life episodes to it.

[MasterPhoenix93]

8920216
When i mean setting up, I mean setting up the set pieces for events and actions that POSSIBLY could occur (not naming what as that is up to you, but essentially right now...season 2 is acting like an interlude)