A couple of days had passed since the Plantar family was on the road. Fortunately, they hadn't run into any more Fallen since then, but that still didn't mean Anne wasn't on edge. She made sure to keep a close eye on the Plantars, Judro's sudden transformation into a Fallen brought up another danger, the Fallen might not just be monsters that were just woken up, they might be made. Since that revelation, Anne had been trying to focus her mind and channel the mysterious power that dwelled within her, but unfortunately, she was still unable to call to the power at will.
Anne hoped by summoning it of her own free will and thought, that she might be able to control herself during the fight and transform whenever she wanted. It would certainly help them if they ran into other kinds of dangers on the road, at the very least she could scare off potentially dangerous predators or bandits like the Hasslebacks.
Hop Pop eventually stopped the fwagon in the middle of a dense forest, the kids began to make camp, setting up the tents while Hop Pop himself was busy cooking up their meal for today. The old frog grabbed a platter with a lid on it and said, "Okay everyone, dinner's ready!"
"Whoo-hoo!" Anne exclaimed.
"Yeah!" Polly cried.
Sprig hopped into the log seat and said, "I'm starving."
Hop Pop placed the platter on a stump and said, "Now hold onto yer butts…" he then removed the lid and showed that there was just a stick and a couple of leaves on the platter. "Bam! Stick surprise!"
The kids groaned out of annoyance and hunger.
"Hop Pop, this isn't food," Sprig pointed out.
"But I didn't tell ya what the surprise is…"
The kids looked excited as they awaited the surprise.
"Alright there's no surprise." The kids groaned again. "Sorry, kids, this journey's been longer than expected, and we're out of food."
Polly, suspiciously, glanced back and forth between her brother, Anne, and Hop Pop. "No food, huh?" The polliwog stealthily reached into her big polka dot bow and pulled out a biscuit and said, "That's what you plebes think." Polly then took a bite out of the biscuit before placing it back in her hiding place.
Anne growled with frustration, mostly at herself. "Ugh, this is all my fault! I dragged you guys out here to help me find a way home! Got these crazy powers! And now we're going to starve to death!"
Hop Pop, Polly, and Sprig looked at Anne for a moment before bursting out into laughter.
After having their laugh, Sprig said, "We're not going to starve Anne. This our chance to find food the way nature intended, as hunters!"
"Hunters, eh?" Within Anne's mind she imagined a scenario of herself as a master hunter, slaying large prey and presenting to her favorite froggy family, becoming the great provider. "Heh-heh, heh-heh, yeah. Leave the hunting to me, guys!"
"Whaaaat?"
"That came out of nowhere."
"Not knocking ya down or anything, but why?" Sprig asked.
Anne got up and told them, "You guys have done so much for me, and with this whole 'Kamen Rider' thing, and these Fallen, it's the least I can do show my appreciation."
Hop Pop hummed, not sure about this.
Sprig hopped off the log and stood next to Anne as he said, "Oh, oh, let me teach her to hunt the Plantar way, Hop Pop! Just like you taught me!"
Hop Pop decided to relent to his grandson. "Alright, but you two need to be careful. We're not in the valley anymore, who knows what kind of dangerous predators could be lurking about out there? They could poisonous, or they could be psychic? They could be poisonous and psychic! YOU DON'T KNOW!"
"Whoa, whoa, Hop Pop calm down, it'll be okay," said Sprig. "Anne, you ready to hunt?"
"I am amped right now! This is going to be awesome!"
"This is not awesome…"
A couple of hours later found Anne on the ground, in the mud, with Sprig. The pink frog was currently eating the mud and spitting it out.
"I thought hunting was supposed to be about conquering nature, and stuff, not eating mud," said Anne.
Sprig, after taking in another mouthful of mud, chewed on it, and then spat it out before addressing Anne's misinformation. "Heh-heh, 'conquering' nature? No, no, no, hunting is about becoming one with nature."
"Do I at least get a cool weapon? A crossbow? A kunai? A kunai shooting crossbow?!" Anne asked excitedly as she held a branch as a prop weapon.
"Weapons are for barbarians!" Sprig declared as he slapped the branch out of Anne's hand. "Plus, you can transform into a super-fast, super strong Kamen Rider…sooooo…do you really need a weapon?"
Anne huffed, Sprig had a point, didn't mean she liked it. "…Still be cool if I had one…"
Sprig stood up and said, "Now then, hunting the Plantar way involves three main steps. The reason why I eat the mud is because the soil is a buffet of clues as to the whereabouts of your prey!" Sprig reached down, scooped up a glob of mud, and put it into his mouth where he began to chew on it. "Oh, oh, I think I'm getting something! This way!"
Anne followed Sprig as he began to hop away, along the way he would lick and chew on various plants and dirt, which apparently helped him to zero in on their prey. The pink frog child stopped before a bush that shivered with activity. From that bush emerged a creature that looked like a living éclair.
"Okay…"
"See, Anne, nature provides! We found some grubbles, they're supposed to be delicious," Sprig explained. "Now for step two: use your surroundings!"
Sprig walked over to the bush; he then dug a hole about two feet from the bush where the grubble emerged. After that he grabbed a tree and pulled off some of its bark and made a makeshift ramp out of it that led straight down into the hole he dug.
"And now it's time for the final and most important step…" Sprig turned to Anne, and with wide eyes he told her, "The dance!"
"Dance?"
Sprig widened his stance.
"What do you mean daaan – oooh my gosh…you gotta be kidding me…" Anne covered her eyes as she watched Sprig, essentially, shake his rear in the air as he began performing a strange, and frankly, embarrassing dance to Anne.
"This dance has been in the Plantar family for generations! Now watch closely, this dance is designed to both entice and disorient."
As Sprig continued his dance, the grubbles that were hiding in the bush started to take notice of his activity, and for some inexplicable reason, they all started to head down the ramp and into the hole he dug. After, literally, flopping on the ground like a fish out of water, Sprig sprung back up and began repeatedly hitting his face against the ground as more grubbles continued to drop into the hole.
"Oookay, that's enough. I think I can hunt just fine without some silly little dance, dude," said Anne.
Sprig turned around and crossed his arms as he looked up at the human teenager. "There's nothing funny about the sacred Plantar hunting dance, Anne. Besides, I thought you loved dancing?"
"Well, yeah, when there's music and a dance floor. Besides, is the dance even necessary? These little guys seem pretty easy to catch." Anne walked over to the bush, rummaged through it, and pulled out one of the grubbles, offering no resistance to her whatsoever. "I don't think these guys have brains."
"Not all prey will be as easy as the grubbles, but that's not the point! Hunting is about connecting to the harmony of nature, let its rhythm flow all through you…can you hear the drums Anne…? Can you hear them playing the beat of the hunt?!"
"No. Now let's split up and catch double the grubble. And don't worry about me, I got the eyes of a haw–"
"Look out!" Sprig exclaimed as he pulled on Anne's shirt.
His quick actions saved Anne from taking a swan dive off the side of a cliff.
"Totally saw that!" she febbed.
"Ugh…alright, just be careful, we still don't know what's out there. Especially with the Fallen."
Anne paused for a moment but then shook it off. "I got it, Sprig, I'll be fine."
Sprig picked up his grubbles and began making his way back to camp, unaware that the hunters was being were hunted.
Anne took up a stick and bushwhacked her way through the forest, searching for more grubbles to bring back to the Plantars. "Seriously, I don't need a dance. What even was that about anyway? Being 'one with nature' and all that."
Suddenly, Anne got a familiar sensation, the very same kind she got whenever there was…
"A Fallen…all the way out here?!" Anne threw the stick away and got into defensive stance. She could feel it, but she couldn't see it.
The bushes shook one after the other as the Fallen moved quickly through the brush. She couldn't tell where the creature was exactly, and with all the movement, Anne was wondering if it really was only one of them? Up until now she's only faced one at a time, even if she was in a trance when she fought, she wasn't sure if she could take on more than one of them by herself. Suddenly, leaves started to cascade, Anne looked up just in time to see a shadow coming down towards her.
"WHOA!" Anne jumped forward and narrowly missed the Fallen's sneak attack. She rolled on the ground and got into a kneeling position to get her bearings. "What the – oh, wait, Sprig and Polly aren't here. I can swear for real! What the hell was thaaaa – oookay…"
The new Fallen was a snake, or a snake man. What were those called again…? Naga! It's Naga.
The top half was humanoid in appearance, with its chest covered in the same black armor with thirteen eyes molded onto it. The snake had a crest that reminded Anne of a king cobra and was colored different shades of green to make it able to blend into the surroundings. The Cobra Fallen had yellow eyes that glowed in the dark, and sharp fangs that dripped venom. On its wrists were bracers that had a hole in them that allowed for two long blades to grow out from its body, upon closer inspection, it appeared as if the blades were dripping with the same venom as what was coming out of the Fallen's mouth.
The lower half of the monster was completely reptilian, a long snake trunk slinked and slithered upon the ground, with more of it coming out of the brush that made Anne aware that the rustling in the bushes was due to this thing's body moving around. This one felt more dangerous than the last ones, this was a full predator, its green camouflage made it hard to tell apart from the rest of the foliage. This thing needed to be destroyed before it could reach the Plantars.
Anne's eyes glowed as the power of Calamity surged through her body. After performing her motions, the Driver appeared around her waist, after making more of her motions, Anne said, "Henshin." She pressed on the sides of the Driver and enveloped her body in lightning, transforming her into the hero of lightning, Kamen Rider Amp.
The Snake Fallen hissed and said, "Calamity of Heart…! Kill…!" the trunk of the Fallen broke out of the bushes and swiped at Amp.
Amp jumped straight into the air and perched on a branch, watching the monster's movements. The Cobra Fallen struck, rising to meet her as it slashed at the branch with its arm fangs, Amp jumped off just in time before the branch fell. Flipping in the air and landing on the side of a tree, but she wasn't given a reprieve as the Cobra Fallen attacked with its whip-like body, smashing through the trunk of the tree, and destroying it one blow. Amp was forced to play defense as this monster attacked from every angle, coiling up trees and striking with its mouth fangs or arm fangs.
Amp landed back on the ground, unable to find a way to get around this monster. Every time she thought she could attack, she was forced to go back to defense as the Cobra Fallen attacked again, and again. It was clear this monster had the advantage in this environment, with so many trees, it had many angles of which to attack Amp, and Amp's great speed was severely reduced as she had too many obstacles to utilize her speed to its fullest, the best she could do was dodge. Amp dodged backwards as the Fallen attacked with its body, slamming its long trunk down and forcing Amp to retreat.
That move unfortunately made her bump against a tree, cutting off her escape. The Cobra Fallen moved swiftly and slashed at the hero of lightning, Amp dodged to the right, but could not completely evade the arm fang attack as it slashed against her side. Amp grunted when she felt the fang slash her side, causing sparks to fly. But something else was wrong, the moment that Amp recovered, her legs felt wobbly, and her arms felt heavy. Something was wrong. Amp looked at her left side and saw that there was a small cut in the armor, and some purple liquid was coming from it. When she looked back at the Cobra Fallen, she saw that its arm fang was dripping with that same substance, along with the fangs it bared from its mouth.
It was some kind of venom, the Fallen had poisoned her. Her movements were already limited thanks to the trees and brush, but now this poison was going to hinder her even more. The Cobra Fallen smiled in fiendish delight, knowing that it didn't have to wait too long, now that she was infected with its venom, it was only a matter of time before she couldn't move as fast as she normally did, and that's when it was going to deliver the killing the blow.
The Cobra Fallen opened its mouth and lunged for her, its fangs ready to bite into her body. Amp knew she couldn't afford another attack like that, so she took a ready stance. Once the monster was close enough, she shot out with both her hands and caught the Cobra Fallen by its upper and lower jaw. The monster was strong, using all its strength to push forward and complete its attack, making Amp dig her heels into the dirt. At that same time the monster's snake trunk began to coil around them, swiftly closing off Amp's escape routes. The Cobra Fallen lashed out with its arms, slashing at her chest with its arm fangs, each attack landed caused more sparks to fly, and little by little the venom was being reapplied to her.
Amp could only wait as it watched the Cobra's lower body coil in tight, and once she saw this, her plan went into action. The gemstone at the center of the Driver began to make its whirring sound, the lines on her body, and her crest began to emit sparks of lightning, growing in number with each passing second. Before the Cobra could react, Amp's entire body released a burst of lightning that surged through the Cobra Fallen's body, the creature hissed loudly in pain as its entire body was electrocuted, with Amp refusing to let go of its jaws. After about twenty seconds of continuous electrocution, Amp could no longer hang onto its jaws and released it. The Cobra Fallen began to retreat, spasming and writhing in pain as it disappeared into the brush, the rustling getting further and further away until there was no sign of the reptilian monster.
Amp used what strength she had left and retreated, she bound from one tree to the next, but on the tenth jump, she felt the effects of the venom and fell to the ground. She rolled around for a minute before coming to a stop, curled up into a fetal position. The transformation ended and Anne was alone, her body was convulsing and in pain, she looked at her left side and saw the small cut where the monster had pierced her armor. A small wound, but enough to do the job.
It was difficult to scream, her heart thumbed loudly in her chest, her throat feeling as if it was constricting, making it hard to draw breath. She couldn't even call out for help, neither with her cellphone nor her voice, Anne had no way to call for Hop Pop, Sprig, or Polly, she wasn't even sure how far away she was from the campsite. Did they hear the battle? Were they even looking for her? These questions and others raced through the young girl's mind as she lied there in pain, wondering if this venom was going to kill her or just paralyze her until the Fallen returned to finish the job?
I…I have t-to move…! Anne forced herself to crawl, she didn't know where she was crawling to, but the more distance she put between herself and the Cobra Fallen the better. Gotta find…Hop Pop…Gotta warn them…I…I…AAAH! The venom was like fire in her veins now, as if someone had replaced her blood with molten slag. IT HURTS! IT HURTS SO MUCH! MAKE IT STOP! MAMA, PAPA! THẢH̄Î MẠN H̄YUD! DỊ̂ PORD H̄YUD T̄HEXA (Make itstop! Please make it stop)!
Anne's vision began to get blurry; she could feel herself slipping away, fear gripping her. Was she passing out? Dying? Would she ever wake up again? Was this how her journey ended? Dying in a forest in the middle of nowhere? Her mother and father would have no idea what happened to her…Sasha and Marcy…were they in danger, too?
Before the darkness could completely overcome her vision, Anne saw the blue spirit from before. The ghostly being walked towards and knelt before her, affixing its white glowing eyes with hers. "This is not the end of your journey, child. You are far stronger than this. Reach inside yourself, the power within you can do more than you realize."
Anne was hyperventilating, she could hear his words, but she didn't understand how to do what he was asking of her.
"Steady your breath. Focus on the power, the power that chose you. Feel that power and let it wash over you like a river."
Anne started to take in deep breathes the best she could and released them in a long exhale. The more she did this, the more she started to feel something. That familiar sensation that occurred right before she transformed. Anne focused on that sensation, it felt warm and comforting, and it felt concentrated around her heart.
"That's it, girl. Now let it flow…"
Anne let the sensation spread throughout her body, at that same time, a bright blue aura appeared over her body, and covering Anne from head to toe. The blue spirit disappeared, it's work done, as Anne's power seemed to have activated a healing power. Anne lost consciousness after the power was activated, but she was still breathing, and the glow was still active.
Anne awoke with a loud gasp, her chest rising and falling quickly as she sat up and looked around. The sun seemed to have started setting as the forest was bathed in different hues of orange. The Thai American girl put her hand to her head and said, "W-What the hell happened to me…?" Anne looked down at her side where the cut in her shirt was, and almost immediately the memories of the battle flooded her mind. "Oh…Oh wow…I…did I almost die?!"
She remembered the pain she was in, but now it felt as if that whole experience was a bad dream. However, Anne knew better, the damage to her shirt was evidence enough that it was not a dream. "I need to get back! I have to warn them about that Fallen!"
Anne shot back up, after getting her bearings, Anne ran as fast as she could back towards camp. She could see the fwagon, but then Anne heard screams of distress coming from camp, which prompted the teenager to double time it. When she arrived, Anne found the campsite completely abandoned save for Bessie, who was freaking out.
Anne hurriedly rushed over to the snail and began calming her down, "Hey, hey, girl, shhhh," she cooed. "Bessie, where's the family…" Anne trailed off as a shadow started to loom over her and Bessie.
At first, she believed it to be the Cobra Fallen, but when she turned around, well, it wasn't the Cobra Fallen, but it was still something bad. The creature was big, easily dwarfing her, it had four eyes with cat slit pupils at the center. Its back was covered in exoskeleton armor that went all the way down its back and formed a long scorpion tail. It walked on all fours and had razor sharp claws, in keeping with its red, sharp pincers that jutted from the sides of its mouth as it bared its many rows of sharp fangs. This feline-insect beast had the Plantars coiled around its tail.
"IT CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!" Sprig screamed.
"Careful Anne, still might be psychic!" Hop Pop warned.
"I'M TOO CUTE TO DIE!" Polly yelled.
"GUYS!" Anne yelled as she ran towards the beast, but the chimera turned around and ran back into the forest, it already had its prey, it wasn't about to get greedy. As it ran, a biscuit fell out of Polly's bow and onto the ground before Anne. The human girl reached down and picked it up, a look of annoyance appearing on her face. "Dang it, Polly! You food hoarder!"
Anne looked back towards where the beast ran, and saw that it left a trail of destruction, claw marks, snapped tree limps, it was perfect. "A trail! Yes! I can still save them! I'm coming fam!"
Anne ran deep into the woods, following the destructive trail the chimera left behind. The Cobra Fallen was still out there, but that fear was put to the back of her mind, her only concern right now was saving her adopted family, and nothing was going to stop her from doing that.
"Oh…Okay…this…this is going to be a problem…"
The human girl found herself at a crossroads, the trail ended before a four-way split, and unfortunately, she couldn't see any other signs of where the chimera may've gone. Anne, in frustration, punched a nearby tree. "Some huntress I am…Some hero too…Sprig was right, I have no idea what I'm doing out here!…I wish you were here with me, buddy…"
Anne felt a strange sensation, again, similar to her Rider powers. Blue energy seeped out of her back and began to form a glowing orb behind her. "Annne…" The Thai American girl turned around and shrieked in surprise when she saw the glowing orb, but then the orb started to shift and take on the form of Sprig's head. "Follow the true way of the hunter…"
"SPRIG?! Holy crap are you dead?! Is this your ghost?! Oh man I really messed up!" Anne panicked.
The Sprig apparition looked at Anne with confusion. "What? No! The real Sprig is still out there and needs your help. As for me, I'm most likely a stressed induced hallucination."
"Huh…So what you're saying is…I've finally lost mind," said Anne in a strangely cheerful tone.
Apparition Sprig gave her a thumbs up as if indicating she was correct.
"Okay then, so long as you're here to help me out and not torment me with soul crushing guilt, then let's get going! What's the first thing we need to do?" Anne asked.
"Follow the steps…"
"Right, right, the steps!"
Silence.
Anne nervously turned around and looked up at Hallucination Sprig, she then asked, "What were those steps again?"
"UGH!" Hallucination Sprig smacked his forehead with his tongue before replying, "TRACK YOUR PREY, ANNE!"
"Right! …How do I do that again?!"
"We're going to die…" Hallucination Sprig floated down to the ground, "Ah, sheesh, smell the dirt, Anne!"
Anne got down on all fours and brought her face close to the ground, taking a deep whiff of the forest floor.
"Now taste it!"
Anne looked at the floating head with disgust. "Eww! I am not eating dirt!"
"By all means take your time, we're only about to be eaten by a HORRIFYING MONSTER!" Hallucination Spriga punctuated his point by morphing into the head of the monster that took them.
"Okay! Okay!" Anne, reluctantly, very reluctantly, scooped up some of the dirt, stuck out her tongue and licked the clump in her hand. Then she gagged and spat it out. "UGH! Nasty! Sprig what is the point in – wait a minute…" Anne reached down with both hands and shove some dirt into her mouth, chewing it, and tasting it. "I'm getting something…it's…Polly's biscuits! Which means they went this way!"
"You're doing it, Anne!"
Anne chuckled in triumph. "With you guiding me, I know we can pull this off! Let's go, Hallucination Sprig!"
Anne and Hallucination Sprig trekked through the forest for a while, but they were eventually able to track down the chimera creature to its den. Anne parted the leaves and got a good look at its dwelling, the entire area was littered in the scattered, boney remains of its previous meals, the bones of frogs and forest creatures alike were arranged in a kind of macabre décor, whatever this thing was it had some intelligence, enough to decorate its den to show that it was dangerous and any creature daring to get near it would die. The chimera had just arrived at its den and released the Plantars onto the ground. They tried to escape, but the chimera swiftly pinned them with its large paws.
"What even is that thing?" Anne asked.
"A Scorpileo, Anne. Half lion, half scorpion."
"A 'Scorpileo? Man, that is one messed up horoscope," Anne thought aloud. "Okay, now that we've found them, what was step two…?" Anne and Hallucination Sprig thought for a moment before coming to the same answer. "Use your environment!"
Anne quickly began digging a hole, while this was going on, the Scorpileo was readying to eat the Plantar family. Its lower jaw broke apart into a split mandible and released a screeching roar that pierced the night.
"I SHOULD'VE EATEN MORE BISCUITS!" Polly yelled as, apparently, her dying words.
Hallucination Sprig was watching this while Anne was digging the hole, and alerted her, "Okay, running out of time here!"
Anne climbed out of the pit she dug and asked in an annoyed tone, "Then why don't you lend me hand?!"
Hallucination Sprig shot her a deadpan look and said, "Think about what you just said."
Anne did and mentally facepalmed herself as she got out of the pit and quickly covered it with large leaves. "Okay, that's done! So, what's next?!'
Hallucination Sprig floated up next to her and said, "Oh, you know what comes next…the daaaannccccce."
Anne remembered that dance, it was pure cringe, but right now if cringe works, then it works. "Okay, but only this once! Because I like you guys, a lot!"
The Scorpileo played with its food for a little bit, licking them and savoring their taste. The chimera raised its stinger high into the air and aimed it for Polly. The little tadpole looked on in fear as she prepared herself for the end.
"HEY FURBALL!" Anne shouted.
The Scorpileo stopped and turned its head around, there it saw Anne, who took a deep breath and began to do little shuffle step. The Scorpileo watched this for a couple of seconds before losing interest in her and going back to its meal.
"It's not working! Why isn't it working?!" Anne asked.
"It's because you don't believe! You have to feel the music!" Hallucination Sprig instructed.
"But there is no music!" she retorted.
The Scorpileo sat on its belly and used its claws to hook into Polly's bow, which it used to raise her up and over its mouth, preparing to drop her into its maw.
Hallucination Sprig started to panic. "This is it; you have to save them! Me?! Us?! Them?! THIS IS CONFUSING!"
Anne took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Okay, let's do this…"
Anne widened her stance, she then closed her eyes and got into a crouching position, hands placed flat and firm against the ground as she concentrated on the sounds. Slowly, her ears were picking up on something, a beat, a rhythm, it was subtle at first, but it was there. The longer Anne listened to it, the louder it became, until it became music, the music of the wild, of nature itself.
"That's it, Anne, listen…Listen to the rhythm of nature all around you…"
She could feel the rhythm now, it resonated through her hands, up the soles of her feet, and into her body. Somehow, this rhythm resonated within her on another level, and the more she allowed it to fill her up, the stronger the beat played. Much like her trance state while in Kamen Rider form, Anne began to shake her body to the rhythm of nature.
"Let it take hold of you…"
Anne rose and continued her dance, now swaying to the beat of nature, to its natural flow and unending wisdom. The Scorpileo stopped once again, turning its head and looking directly at Anne. Through the vision of the chimera, it could see heat radiating off Anne's body. Instinct took over as the beast released the Plantars and slowly made its way over to Anne as she continued the dance, unaware of the Scorpileo's movements.
"Yes, Anne, you're doing it…become one with the power…"
Anne felt the energy inside her flowing outwards, it was different from before, even though she didn't have her eyes open at all, it was if she could see. She knew the Scorpileo was a few feet away from her, she knew that it was captivated by her movements, and she also knew that they weren't alone. Anne made a few more movements, but purposefully digging up some dirt with her right foot and kicking it straight into the chimera's face. This action angered the Scorpileo as it crouched and then lunged for Anne. The Plantars watched on as fear gripped them, but that fear was soon lifted when Anne, at the last second, bowed low. The chimera completely missed Anne and fell right into the pitfall that she had made.
Anne made a few more movements, before ending the dance and opening her eyes. When Anne looked to Hallucination Sprig, she gasped and saw that he had morphed into the Blue Spirit from the ruins. "You again?!"
"Well done, child…" Those were the only words it spoke before disappearing.
Deciding to address that later, Anne ran to the Plantars and inspected them for injuries. "Are you guys okay?!"
"We're good," said Polly.
"Anne, that was amazing! You did the dance!" Sprig praised.
"Thanks," Anne turned around and assumed a defense stance, "but it's not over yet."
Before any of the Plantars could ask what that meant, the Scorpileo crawled its way out of the hole and set its sights on them. However, right as it started to charge, it was attacked by something deadlier and just as big as it was. That's when Anne saw the Cobra Fallen strike from the brush and wrap itself around the Scorpileo. The chimera roared, clawing and striking the Fallen with its stinger, but none of its attacks were harming the reptilian monster as it quickly tightened its coil around the chimera. The Scorpileo continued to fight, but it was in vain as the Cobra Fallen completely wrapped itself around the animal, and right after there was a sickening cascade of crunching sounds coming from the Scorpileo before it ceased all movement and went silent.
The Cobra Fallen released the now dead animal, its eyes glowed and the beast was enveloped in a green aura, which lifted the carcass up and tossed it like a ragdoll off to the sides.
"IT'S PSYCHIC!" Hop Pop yelled.
"And poisonous," Anne added.
"PSYCHIC AND POISONOUS! AH KNEW IT!"
"Guys, get inside the den, I owe this thing some payback," said Anne.
The Plantars did as Anne instructed and headed into the Scorpileo's den. With the Plantars safe, Anne let the power take over, her eyes turning blue as the crackling whirring sound echoed in the air, signaling the appearance of her Driver. Anne went through her hand motions and cried out, "Henshin." In a spiral of lightning, Anne was transformed into Kamen Rider Amp.
The Cobra Fallen hissed in a way that could've been construed as mocking laughter. It knew that Anne had no counters against it, and in this environment, the Cobra Fallen still had the edge over it. However, something was different about Amp. Instead of getting into her ready stance, Amp's right hand hovered over the device on her right hip. Amp pressed down on it, and suddenly a new transformation began. The armor shifted colors, becoming bright pink as the gemstone on the Driver had two colors. The right half was pink while the left remained blue, this was Kamen Rider Amp: Poison Form.
The Cobra Fallen was taken aback by this new change, but it didn't seem to regard it with much in the way of caution as it opened its mouth and shot out a stream of its venom right for Amp. The hero of lightning's hands began to glow with the same pink energy that colored her armor, she widened her stance and held out both of her glowing hands as the stream hit them. The power of Poison Form nullified the venom as it was coming at her, rendering the attack completely useless. Amp was counteracting the Fallen's venom with her own, anti-venoms were made from the venom of the animals that created it, so all Amp did was take what it used against her and used it to render the venom useless.
The Cobra Fallen stopped attacking with its venom stream and used its telekinetic powers, it didn't think it would have to resort to its trump card so soon, but it wasn't about to fail its mission. Bones and rocks started to rise into the air, with a flick of its wrist, the Fallen sharpened them into spears and aimed them right for Amp. Amp started to move towards the Cobra Fallen, but her movements were like a dance, as she flowed like water. The Cobra Fallen hissed at her and launched its attack.
Amp's hands started to glow brighter as she created another poison. As the shrapnel came hurtling towards her, Amp waved her hands through the air, creating a wave of plasma-like liquid that intercepted the shrapnel, and in turn severely corroded the bones and rocks before they even got close to hitting her. Amp continued her advance, the one's that she couldn't intercept, she merely dodged them, letting them pass her bay without any wasted effort or expense of energy. It seemed that Amp had incorporated the lessons learned from the dance and meshed it with her fighting style, which was why the Cobra Fallen was having such a hard time interpreting Amp's movements.
The Cobra Fallen gave up on attacking her with objects and focused its telekinetic power on her instead. However, the moment it tried, its mind felt as if it had just rammed itself into a wall made of steel. Whatever power that Amp had, it seemed it was protecting her from direct telekinetic attacks. How? It did not know, but the monster knew its attack options were now severely limited.
Amp took the initiative and slashed her hands through the air, sending to waves of liquid plasma energy towards the Cobra Fallen. The attacks hit and the monster was immediately struck with a powerful paralysis that locked its body in place. Now immobile, Amp readied for the finish. Her crest fanned open as she entered her attack stance, Amp raised her right index and middle finger, letting a mass of poison energy coalesce into the tips. Lightning surged through her legs and into her feet, and then she took off. Crossing several feet in just a few seconds as she cocked back her right hand and struck the Cobra Fallen in the center of its chest with her two fingers. The attack created a ripple effect on its body, showing that the poison attack had immediately spread through its body.
Amp flipped backwards and landed a few feet away from the monster. She then made a prayer gesture with her right hand, veins of pink light started to appear on the Cobra Fallen's body, spreading all around it and up to the tail of its trunk, and just then a halo of black and purple energy appeared over the Fallen's head. With a flutter of her scarf, the monster exploded obliterating it from this world.
Bessie was crestfallen by the abduction of her family, Anne had gone after them, but a lot of time had passed and still there was no sign of her family. She slithered over to the plater that had the stick, and just due to pure stress she sucked up the stick and ate it. She missed her family, Anne, Sprig, Polly, and Hopediah, and hoped they were okay.
Just then, Bessie heard rustling, and then voices.
"ANNE! That was incredible! You not only learned the dance, but you gained new powers, too!" Sprig gushed.
"Ah still can't believe you got attacked and almost got yerself killed! From now on, yer either sticking by me or Sprig when yer going out, can't have somethin' like that happenin' again," said Hop Pop.
"Not gonna lie, Anne, that was SICK the way you poisoned that poisoner! Snakes ain't got nothin' on you," said Polly.
Bessie chirped happily as she slithered towards her family, she ran into Anne and began licking her affectionately, causing Anne to giggle. "It's okay, girl, it's okay, we're fine."
Hop Pop petted Bessie's side as the snail purred in content.
"Seems like there's more to this power than I thought. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, this kind of thing always happens to Riders, at least that's what Marcy told me," said Anne.
"You're other friend, she knows about Riders?" Sprig asked.
"HA!" Anne guffawed. "Knows about Riders? Dude, Marcy's an encyclopedia of Anime and Tokusatsu stuff. She's the one who got me into it. So, yeah, she knows. And based on what I know and what she's told me…I'm probably gonna get another power up in the future."
Sprig gasped as his eyes widened and practically sparkled with intrigue. "You might get another power up?!"
"Yeah, it's pretty common. The Riders get their base forms, which, I guess mine's lightning, then they get subsequent powered up base forms, which in this case was poison. In the show, Atlas has like three to four before he gets his Super Form and Final Form. And…"
Polly hopped up and perched on Anne's shoulder, she then slapped her hand over her mouth and said, "Uh, better stop now, Sprig looks like he's about to burst with excitement."
Indeed, it looked as if Sprig was shaking with barely contained enthusiasm at seeing when Anne will obtain her next form.
Anne decided to stop talking, but another thing was bothering her, added on to pile of other things, was the Blue Spirit. Who or what was it? It appeared at the ruins, a second time when she first transformed, and more recently when she was in trouble. It even took on the form of Sprig to aid her in finding the Plantars. Anne wasn't sure if the Blue Spirit was an alley or just a ghost haunting her, for now, though, she would regard it as an alley.
At this point, I'll take all the help I can get.