David was sitting down in his chair watching the evening news. Today was the day that his best friend, Michael, was coming over to hang out and enjoy the evening playing video games and eat pizza. It was also the day that he was going to receive a rare and mysterious item. To him, it was going to be the best night the duo will have.
7:00 PM
David heard a knock on the door and Michael was at the door.
“Hey Michael! Just in time good ol’ buddy!”
“Ready to have a rocking time?”, Michael asked.
“Hell yeah! I’m ready for gaming and such! And what about that surprise you’ve been telling me about…?”, David asked.
“It’s coming tonight. I’m so excited!”, Michael exclaimed, wondering how David would react.
A FEW MINUTES LATER…
After chowing down pizzas and sodas (and lots of gaming), the doorbell rang.
“IT’S HERE! IT’S FINALLY HERE!”, Michael exclaimed.
It was a large and huge. David thought that Michael ordered something expensive for himself.
When Michael opened the box, he saw what it appears to be a red cloak with a black shoulder rest and a slanted sword with red colored on the end of the sides. There was nothing else in the box.
“You mean, that’s it…?”, David asked, annoyed.
“Yeah, what do you expect? A car?”, said Michael, miffed.
“And it’s all for you!? Not even for me!?”
“Look, you can take...that stupid thing! I don’t even want it! Also, we’re no longer friends!”, David shouted, leaving Michael’s apartment.
“Well fine! I don’t even care! You are always a sucker!”, Michael shouted back.
MINUTES PASSED…
Michael sat on the sofa and looked at the package, reminding him of how he lost his only friend. With much annoyance, he threw the package outside his apartment. He sighed and went back inside…only to find the same package inside the house.
“What the…?”
He grabbed the package and threw it out the window. Cars managed to crush the package into pieces. That managed to do the trick. He smiled and looked back…the package appeared yet again.
“What kind of sorcery is this!? I can’t throw it out again and again!”
A voice rose in a dark tone: “YoU haVE beeN ChosEn…”
“Hey, who made that noise!?”
The voice came from the package. He opened it and saw the cloak/shoulder rest alongside with the sword.
“YoU Are CHOSeN…To TaKe OvEr tHE BlACK DeMOn…”
Now Michael was starting to get scared. What did it mean to take over the black demon? He looked at the armor and made no choice.
Michael grabbed the cloak and put it on his shoulder and soon he grabbed the weapon. It’s wasn’t that heavy that what he thought it would be.
“Great, now I feel ridiculous…”
Soon, purple haze appeared in his apartment. He covered his nose, but he didn’t passed. In fact, it was harmless smoke but ominous.
“Hey, what’s goin-rgh!”
There was a sharp pain in his stomach. No, it wasn’t the pizza he ate with the visitor. It was something else. Something…out of the ordinary.
“aH yEs…sOMeonE wHO wiSheS tO TakE oVer tHe lIfe Of ThE BLAck dEmon…”
When Michael heard this, he tried taking off the cloak but it was stuck like superglue.
“Why…why are you doing this to me!?”
The voice echoed: “YouR ActIOns HaVe pRoVEN yOu aRe wOrtHY…tO TakE cHaRge oF…”
Soon, the voice faded away. The changes have begun.
Michael’s hands start to turn gray fur while his fingerclaws, while his fingernails turned to claws. The gray fur started to spread from his hand to his arm. He started to develop some muscle in his arms, making him strong.
“Tell me what’s going on! I need answers!”
He felt the fur spread to his body. From there, he felt got and and warm underneath his shirt. Soon, he began to develop more muscle on the stomach region. With a cry of pain, he ripped out his shirt. He could now see that his chest had been modified to make him look even more stronger.
“Jesus! What is going on to me?”
He then felt the fur reach up to his face. His face started to pull forward, forming a black canine nose. His facial region were starting to form similar to a lion, but gray. He gained two front fangs while the rest of his teeth became sharp. While the changes happened, his bushy brown hair started to smooth out and started to grow long, turning into dull gray into the process. Red protrusions grew from both sides of his head. He grew a small tiny beard, colored gray in the process. Finally his eyes started to glow green with envy.
“Urgh…someone…stop this…grr…”, Michael said, with a deeper voice.
His legs also formed the same gray fur. The fur spread to both of his feet. His feet became quad-toed with dark claws. Muscle started to form, changing his jeans into a dark armor for his legs.
“YeS…tHE tRaNsfORMAtioN iS AlMosT cOmPlEte…”
He then felt something grow on his back. Two withering demon wings grew out of his back, colored red on the inside. The wings destroyed some of Michael’s stuff and finally, a long black tail grew. At last, the transformation was complete and Michael became not someone but something different.
“No…what is this!? What have you done to me!?”
The room then started to disappear around him. Soon, he appeared on what looks like a dark palace.
“Hey!”, he growled. “ Where am I!?”
The sinister voice replied:
“wELcomE…tO YoUR nEW HOMe…”
“This isn’t my new home! Take me back!”
“Daddy? Is that you?”
Michael stopped and saw a girl with gray hair and what it looks like some gray fox ears. She too was wearing the same cape Michael was wearing and was holding a plush.
“Listen, I’m not your dad, okay? You just…need…RGH!”
Michael’s head started to hurt. It was a split pain with a high pitched sound. Then he heard the voice again.
“MiChaEL…YOu ArE lOsING your PreCIOUs mEmORies…NO MorE, MichAEL…”
“No! I refuse!”
“ToDAy, yOU shALl be CaLLed ZuOh, DeSTROYER Of WorlDs…hAted By tHe DraGONs in ThE WorLD…”
“I DENY EVERYTHING!”
“And iN RETurn, yoU ShaLL hAvE your DaUGHTer…nAMed RoMIa, wHo you PromisED To PrOTECT…And wHAT yOu have WIsHED For…”
“No! Stop! I don’t want to! Stop the ringing! Just stop…”, Michael screamed, collapsing. The ringing stopped.
A minute passed. Zuoh woke up, unaware on what has happened. He then saw Romia, who was scared.
“Daddy! Are you all right!?”, Romia asked, with panic.
“Romia? Is that you?”, Zuoh asked.
“Oh daddy, you scared me! I thought you died or something!”
“It’s nothing. I just passed out. Happens to me all the time.”
Romia was confused on what he said.
“Anyway, what happened when I was gone?”
“Well, it looks like Aamir been chatting up with carbuncles again and Scarlet has some feelings for you…”
“No way! For real?”
Romia nodded.
Zuoh sighed. He had no idea what just happened, but all he knew was that he was happy on where he was.
A WEEK PASSES…
“Hey Michael!”
David knocked onto Michael’s door. No response.
“Look Michael, I’m sorry if I shouted at you! We can be best friends again, right?”
The manager came nearby, annoyed.
“Hey! What are you doing!? Are you insane or what? Nobody lives here anymore!”
“Listen, someone does live here for once and his name is Michael! We were hanging out last night!”
The manager was confused. “Listen, there’s no one named Michael in this building.”
