Chapter 12: Save The Emperor! RX!

Over at the Emperor's Palace, Belos was sitting on his throne as his nephew, Hunter, approached him.

"Hunter, how are the preparations for tomorrow's festival going?" Belos asked.

"Everything is proceeding as scheduled, Uncle." Hunter replied.

"Good, remember, this is a celebration not just for those two, but you as well, Hunter. For your hard work," said Belos.

Hunter averted his gaze, deciding to stare down at the floor. "I don't feel like I'm worth celebrating, Uncle. I couldn't defeat Nuckelavee, and I only assisted those two in defeating the Phantoms at the end. Compared to them, I've only defeated a single Phantom."

"Don't belittle your involvement. Without your assistance, I think things would've turned out much differently."

Hunter smiled a bit from the praise he received and replied, "Thank you, Uncle."

Just then the doors to the throne room were pushed open as a Guard Captain entered. Hunter and Emperor Belos turned their attention to the approaching captain, but there was something about his demeanor was off putting. The captain seemed to carry himself with an air of superiority, which was not uncommon for those his rank, but usually that faded away in the presence of the emperor. And yet, for some reason, he seemed as if the captain felt himself above the emperor and Hunter.

"Emperor Belos," he stated, "I'm afraid Kamen Riders Witch and Heka have been captured."

This news made Hunter look at him in shock, while Belos raised an eyebrow under his mask. Both intrigued and weary of this news.

"Is that so, Captain? And how was it that two powerful beings such as them were captured?" Belos asked in a calm demeanor.

"There's a new power brewing responsible for this," the guard captain explained as he took his right glove off, "a power that makes you obsolete." He then rolled down his sleeve, revealing a new Coven brand that wasn't for the Emperor's Coven. The brand was that of a golden eagle standing atop the head of the Titan.

Belos narrowed his gaze at the captain, his eyes glowed bright blue as he glared. "What is that sigil, Captain? Are you mocking me and my Coven? You do know what happens to those who dare to do such a thing?"

"Heh-heh-ha! I do not fear your wrath, Belos. For I serve a new Coven, one far stronger than yours, with a leader far more powerful than you can imagine. And in this new Coven, I am the Priest of Crisis…" the Guard Captain proceeded to take off his mask as purple smoke engulfed his body. His mask dropped on the floor as a flash of light went off inside of the smoke, and once it cleared, he had a completely different appearance that surprised everyone in the throne room.

He now appeared as a humanoid inside a blue spacesuit. Visible inside the helmet was a ghostly-looking frog's head with glowing red eyes. Along his waist was a futuristic looking gun. This was Frog Astronaut. "...and your reign as ruler is over!"

Hunter, the Coven Scouts, and the Abomaton Soldiers took fighting stances as Frog Astronaut crushed his old mask under his foot. He then snapped his fingers as small portals opened in the air and Hooded Followers descended, some armed with glowing blades and others with magic flintlock pistols. Now assembled, the Hooded Followers released a war cry at the same time as the Coven Scouts. Both opposing forces charged for the other and began their clash as spells of various types were flung through the air, and magical beams were fired from their pistols. As the Hooded Followers engaged with the guards, two Abomaton Soldiers approached Frog Astronaut. Standing in place, he took out his gun and shot a beam at each of them, reducing them to dust in an instant. Frog Astronaut twirled his gun on his right index finger like a wild west gunman and holstered it as he approached Belos' throne. Hunter then took out his rings and activated his Driver.

[Driver Appear, Now]

"HENSHIN!"

Hunter then waved the ring on his left hand over his Driver.

[Initiate.]

[I am]

[The sword of justice!]

[I am]

[The warrior who paves the way!]

[I am]

[Crusa-Crusa-CRUSADER~]

A green magic circle appeared beneath him, and within seconds it rose over him, transforming Hunter into Kamen Rider Crusader.

Now transformed, Crusader squared off against Frog Astronaut. He then replaced his Diver Appear ring with his Hornbill Drill ring.

[Hornbill Drill, Now.]

The Hornbill Drill appeared on his right arm, and he charged at Frog Astronaut. The drill spun out quickly as magical energy wrapped around. Crusader cocked back his right fist and punched Frog Astronaut in the chest with the drill. The blow managed to cause some sparks to fly off from the cosmic amphibian, making the Kaijin growl angrily. Crusader attacked again, jabbing with the Hornbill Drill to try and get another hit in. Frog Astronaut was being pushed back further and further away from the emperor's throne, something that he did not like. Crusader threw another punch with the drill, but Frog Astronaut managed to avoid it and tackle Crusader with his shoulder, pushing the young Rider away. Now off balance, Frog Astronaut struck Crusader in the face with a punch, sending him skidding backwards on his heels. The Kaijin then took his gun and twisted it so the barrel pointed upwards. The barrel then extended, turning the weapon into a sword.

Meanwhile, the Coven Scouts and Abomaton Soldiers were battling the Hooded Followers. Some were having better luck than others. One particular Coven Scout was doing really well. One of the Followers tried to attack him with a sword, but the Scout blocked him with his right hand at the wrist, pushed his arm away, and came in with a punch with his left fist. The Follower was knocked onto his back, out cold as his weapon dropped to the floor. Another of the Followers witnessed the Scouts fighting prowess and aimed their magic flintlock at him, cocking it back and firing a shot in the Scout's direction. The Scout managed to see the blast in time and dropped to the floor just in time for the beam sail over his head. Another of the Follower decided to try and take advantage of this and readied to stab the Scout while he was on the floor, but luckily, the Scout managed to jump back onto his feet just in time to grab that Follower's arm and lock it, making the Follower drop their weapon. A second was about to attack from behind, but the Scout used the Follower he was holding onto to swing himself around and kick the incoming one in the chest, sending them flying into the one that tried to shoot him. Once that was done, the Scout flipped the Follower he had into the air and onto the ground, hard.

Back with Crusader, Frog Astronaut, as strange as the creature looked, was more skilled and stronger than he was expecting. The two of them traded blows back and forth as the cosmic amphibian's sword clashed with Crusader's drill, showering the air with sparks with each contact that was made. Frog Astronaut dashed straight for Crusader and slashed upwards with his sword, knocking the Rider's Hornbill Drill up and away from him. Once clear, Frog Astronaut charged forward with a powerful knee strike to Crusader's chest. The avian Rider coughed as a small shockwave erupted from the hit, stunning him for a moment, but a moment was all that was needed. Using his sword, Frog Astronaut slashed Crusader several times in rapid succession before spinning on his heel and performing a backhand slash that sent the young hero to the floor. Frog Astronaut chuckled evilly as he opened his helmet's visor, allowing the cosmic amphibian to launch his long tongue out. The tongue quickly wrapped itself around Crusader, trapping his arms. The Kaijin quickly whipped his head upwards, smashing Crusader into the ceiling. He then jumped straight up and performed a somersault, dragging Crusader along for the ride. With one more whip of his tongue, Frog Astronaut tossed Crusader across the room where he crashed into the stone steps of the emperor's throne, leaving a body sized crater upon impact. The combined damage was, unfortunately, enough to cancel out his Rider form, returning Crusader to civilian form. Hunter coughed painfully from the assault, trying to get back on his feet but only managing to get onto his hands and knees.

"And here I thought you were going to be a challenge, Crusader. Compared to Witch and Heka, you're barely worth the effort," Frog Astronaut mocked.

On the other side of the battle, the martial artist Coven Scout was still helping his fellow Scouts. The Scout jumped through the air and performed an aerial roundhouse kick to the face of one Follower who was about to shoot a Scout. But that's when he noticed what was happening between Hunter and the Kaijin. The Scout ran towards Frog Astronaut and jumped at the last second as he tackled the cosmic amphibian to the ground and away from Hunter and Belos. The two rolled around on the floor for a few seconds before the Scout released the Kaijin, allowing both of them to get back to their feet. However, during the tackle, the Scout's mask had fallen off. Some of the Scouts, Followers, even Belos and Hunter gawked at what was clearly a male human with black hair. Noticing that his disguise had been compromised, the human had no other choice but to resort to that. "HENSHIN!"

The human thrust his right hand into the air and then brought it down slowly before slashing the air from left to right. In the same swift motion, he brought his right hand against his side, balling into a fist as he slashed the air from right to left with his left arm. Upon completion of these actions, the human's eyes began to shine with power. That same power manifested itself in a Driver belt with a gold buckle and two red ruby orbs placed side by side. The light and energy emitted from this Driver engulfed the human, donning him in a suit of armor. The suit had black gauntlets and boots, with the left gauntlet sporting a wrist device that was square shaped, made of some kind of gold-like metal, and had a red ruby orb at the center. The suit of armor sported two black shoulder pauldrons, and a chest green chest plate. Upon this chest plate was a stylized symbol over the left pectoral, and at the center of the abs was a silver hexagonal metal plate that resembled solar paneling. The Rider's black helmet, which resembled a green milkweed grasshopper, had large, red compound eyes, outlined in silver. Two silver antennae stuck out from the middle of the forehead region, and further down was a silver mouth plate. The was Kamen Rider Black RX.

RX flipped through the air over Frog Astronaut and landed in front of Emperor Belos and Hunter. His body then glowed, causing everyone to look at him in shock and awe.

"I am the child of the sun!" the Rider announced, "Kamen Rider Black RX!"

To everyone there, it was one shock after another. One of their own was a monster hell bent on murdering the Emperor while another was a Kamen Rider they had never seen before.

"Hunter," said RX, "Witch and Heka need your help. I'll take care of this guy."

"How can I trust you?!" Hunter asked, "And even if I knew where they were, how would I get to them?"

"Don't worry, I got you covered." RX replied as he slapped the ground and engaged the Kaijin.

RX used his superhuman speed to get behind the cosmic amphibian and struck the creature in the back of the neck with a chop, throwing the Kaijin straight to the floor with a powerful "BOOM!" that cracked it.

Just then, everyone stopped fighting as they heard strange sounds echoing through the castle. It sounded as if something was crashing through something else. What was stranger still, the sounds were getting progressively loud by the second. At that moment, the right wall of the throne room burst apart, sending brick and mortar flying as a vehicle came to a screeching halt at the center of the room. The vehicle was red in color and was a car. It had a razor-sharp silver spine that ran from the hood to the back of the car. There were two silver antennae that matched that of RX in the middle of this spine, and with the two large, black, circular windshields, the entire vehicle looked like a giant bug. On the side of the car was RX's symbol, indicating that this was his machine, the Ridoron. The car came to life, tires screeching as it drove right up to Hunter, stopping at the last second on the driver's side.

[KAMEN RIDER CRUSADER,] the car "spoke", [I AM RIDORON. I AM HERE TO TAKE YOU TO WITCH AND HEKA'S LOCATION.] The car's door rose to allow Hunter inside. Hunter looked at his uncle to see what he thought of this matter, but Belos just stared at him motionless. RX then tumbled in between them.

"Hurry! Get going!" RX yelled, "The Boiling Isles are depending on you!"

Hunter's indecision was shattered as he steeled himself and got inside of the futuristic vehicle. "Uh, how are we going to get out of here? Can you fly?"

[NO, I CANNOT. BUT I DO HAVE OTHER MEANS BY WHICH WE CAN ESCAPE WITH.]

"Okay, what kind of meeeeAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Ridoron's tires screeched again as it lurched forward, driving to the opposite side of the throne room. But before it could hit the wall, the self-driving car hit the brakes, spinning it around until it was pointed towards the hole it had made upon coming in.

"W-W-What are you doing?!" Hunter asked, afraid.

[YOU MIGHT WANT TO PUT ON YOUR SEATBELT.]

Hunter looked around and saw something that looked like a robe or a strap. He immediately grabbed it and looked around for a latch. His eyes fell down towards his right side and saw something. It had a hole that was the same shape as the strap he had, so without another moment to spare, he quickly attached it, securing himself. Once he had done that, Ridoron ignited their thrusters, revving the engine as smoke built up from the screeching tires. The Abomatons, Scouts, and Followers watched, still confused as to what the mysterious machine was doing. After a minute, the car took off at great speed, a small sonic boom erupted in the throne room, tossing the Abomatons, Scouts, and even the Followers in different directions as Ridoron started driving through the hole it created.

The poor Golden Guard was pressed against his seat as he bared the brunt of the g-forces pressing down on him from Ridoron's great speed. The walls passed by within seconds, and that's when Hunter saw the exit, or rather entrance, from which Ridoron came through. He could see that the hole led to the outside, and that's when he realized something.

"HANG ON! HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?! THERE'S A CHASM FILLED WITH SHARP ROCKS AND YOU SAID YOU CAN'T FLY!" Hunter yelled.

[YES, I CANNOT FLY. SO I DROVE A TOP SPEED AND LAUNCHED MYSELF OFF THE CLIFF. USING THAT MOMENTUM TO CRASH THROUGH THE WALLS AND ENDING UP IN THE THRONE ROOM.]

"B-B-B-BUT IF YOU CAN'T FLY, AND JUST CRASHED, HOW ARE YOU GOING TO CLEAR THE CHASM WALL?!"

[I DO NOT PLAN ON CLEARING THE WALL.]

THIS THING IS GOING TO KILL ME!

Before Hunter could contemplate his life choices, Ridoron launched itself through the hole it made in the castle wall, and out into the air. Hunter felt a sense of weightlessness as he and the car flew. The whole time the young Rider was screaming his head off as Ridoron was getting closer and closer to the chasm wall. This was it, this was how he died, not fighting in against a great evil to defend the people. Not due to old age after faithfully serving his uncle. But strapped to a mad machine that was about to crash into a wall and eventually plummet to a painful death down below. However, that was not going to happen.

Before they could hit the chasm wall, a pair of mandible-like pincers extended from the front of Ridoron. The pincers began to glow and vibrate to the point that they were a blur before becoming visible again. The moment they hit the chasm wall, the rocks in front of Ridoron instantly shattered like fragile glass. Ridoron kept going, easily burrowing through the solid rock as if it were wet tissue paper. The car and Hunter disappeared into the hole, the sounds of the car's engine fading into the distance.

"Great. Now then!" RX turned back to Frog Astronaut. "Let's finish this fight. I have somewhere to be!"

With no more distractions, RX continued his fight with Frog Astronaut. The cosmic amphibian groweld angrily at the interference of this new Rider. After getting back to his feet, Frog Astronaut charged straight for RX. The Kaijin swung his sword in a frenzy, trying to land a blow on the Rider, but RX managed to nimbly dodge each of his frantic strikes. But the frenzied attack was forcing RX to keep backing up. RX noticed what he was doing, and upon Frog Astronaut's next swing, ducked under it, rolling away as the blade slashed the wall as sparks danced in the air. Frog Astronaut opened his face shield and launched his tongue out at the RX, wrapping it around the Rider's waist. With a flick of his head, the cosmic amphibian whipped RX across the room, smashing him into one of the giant gears inside of the room before throwing him into another. Frog Astronaut retracted his tongue as he smirked at his handy work.

RX managed to get back up, and was through playing games with this monster. The Legendary Rider widened his stance and called upon the power of the Vital Charge as he was once again engulfed in light. Within that light, another transformation was taking place. Within a matter of seconds, RX's armor completely changed shape, becoming something entirely new. The armor was now black and gold colored, with the Driver's buckle becoming whirring gears instead of two ruby gemstones. The stylized symbol of RX was still prevalent on the chest plate. The helmet had gone through some changes as well. The red compound eyes were a bit smaller, but now had red lines coming down the sides of its face, as if it were crying tears of blood. The there was more silver plating compared to before, but it still had its two antennae. This was RX Robo Rider.

This shocked Frog Astronaut, causing him to ask, "What is this?!"

"I am the Prince of Sorrow!" the Rider replied, "RX! Robo Rider!"

"DAMN YOU RIDERS TO HELL!" Frog Astronaut yelled as he shifted his weapon back to gun mode.

Robo Rider began walking slowly towards Frog Astronaut in a very robotic manner. Frog Astronaut began firing off several shots at the golden Rider. Each shot fired landed and exploded against Robo Rider's armor, and even on the floor around him. But shockingly, none of Frog Astronaut's blasts were phasing him in the least, it was as if Robo Rider wasn't even feeling it or taking damage at all. Robo Rider lowered his right arm, which hovered over his right thigh. Within seconds a pistol weapon materialized into his hands.

What…What is he?! Frog Astronaut thought.

"Vortech Shooter!"

Frog Astronaut was about to fire his blaster again, but Robo Rider was quicker on the draw as the golden Rider fired several shots at the cosmic amphibian. Multiple explosions went off as sparks flew from the Kaijin's body, causing him to stumble backwards. Robo Rider locked onto Frog Astronaut's hand and fired a single shot at it. The beam hit his hand, causing him to cry out in pain as he was forced to toss his blaster into the air. Robo Rider locked onto that weapon and fired a second beam, hitting it dead on and causing it to explode, destroying the Kaijin's main means of offense. Frog Astronaut gasped when he saw this, he was essentially defenseless now without his weapon. Out of sheer desperation, Frog Astronaut charged straight for Robo Rider. As soon as he got close, Robo Rider reached out with his left hand and grabbed the monster by his neck. Frog Astronaut gagged as he kicked and struggled against the Legendary Rider's iron grip. With a flick of his wrist, Robo Rider tossed the cosmic Amphibian across the room like a ragdoll, sending him crashing into the left wall of the throne room.

Robo Rider's body was engulfed in light once more, and once the light faded, he was back in his primary RX form.

"Revolcane!" he yelled as he brought his left hand towards his Driver.

There, a handle formed in his hand. RX grabbed the handle and slowly pulled it out further and further until the entire object was out, revealing itself to be a sword with a glowing light blade. Frog Astronaut tore himself out of the body sized hole he made and launched his tongue out at RX in an attempt to throw him around like before. But RX wasn't about to get ensnared by the same attack twice in one day. Just before the tongue reached him, RX slashed part of the Kaijin's tongue off. The monster cried out in pain from the burning sensation as he flailed about. This granted RX his chance as he charged straight towards the comic amphibian at full speed. Once he was close, RX stabbed Frog Astronaut through his midsection. Sparks began spraying out from both ends at a rapid pace, this one of RX's finishing moves, the Revolcrash. RX pulled his sword out, as he turned his back to Frog Astronaut, just as the Kaijin fell onto his knees and then backwards before exploding in fiery fury, ending the threat from the Priest of Crisis.

RX released a calming breath as he dismissed his Revolcane. However, when he did, sinewy strands of muscle and bone rose from the floor and walls and wrapped themselves around RX, completely immobilizing him. That's when RX turned his head towards Emperor Belos, whose right hand was glowing bright with crimson light.

"I was under the impression that there were only two Riders I needed to worry myself with. And yet here you are, a third. You're obviously human, and I'm quite intrigued on how it was you managed to get here," said Belos

"Sorry, not going to happen." RX replied

Suddenly, RX's body turned into water, allowing him to slip through his restraints. Belos was genuinely surprised by this action, so surprised that RX's liquid body managed to slither along the floor and quickly reform behind Belos as he went to deliver a kick. The emperor was caught off guard as he stumbled forward and into the wall. The ruler of the Boiling Isles turned around and saw a liquid body standing there before him. Within seconds the body of water took on a solid form, revealing a new form of RX. His armor had once again changed shape and form, now it was mainly blue and silver with red accents. The Driver had changed again as well, the two red gemstones had merged into a single gemstone that took up most of the middle of the buckle. The helmet was blue now, with two orange compound eyes, and a silver mouth plate. The antennae were square shaped in this form, and had a single red square going down the middle of them. This was RX Bio Rider.

Belos narrowed his gaze as he looked upon RX's new form. He should've guessed that this Rider had another transformation, considering how many Witch has this was to be expected.

"I am the Prince of Anger!" He announced, "RX! Bio Rider!" Bio Rider then looked at Belos and said, "We're even now, Belos. I gotta go!" He then turned into water and zoomed out of the castle.

Two-to-three miles away, Bio Rider emerged and reverted back to RX. After looking back in the direction where he once was he walked towards his sentient motorcycle, Acrobatter.

"I hope Ichigo-senpai and Hunter got to them in time." he said to himself as he mounted Acrobatter and sped away.

Still in their cell, Luz and Amity were still getting over the revelation that they were cut off from their magic.

Amity was freaking out a little bit, she had never been cut off from her magic before. There was that time the Greater Basilisk stole her magic, but she was drained so much that she passed out soon after. But this was different, it was as if it had been erased, but that couldn't be true. She still had her bile sack, she could feel it. The Blight girl quickly checked, again, to make sure there wasn't a scar or anything that would indicate that it had been removed. And again, there was not. But that still didn't quite ease her nerves, as healing magic could've erased the scar easily.

Luz was still trying to figure out why they were in these dresses, and why this Shocker Coven wanted them. However, she put that on hold when she noticed how Amity was doing. "Hey, hey, it's alright, Amity. We'll be okay."

"Luz, we can't use our magic! I can't draw circles or use my rings! And you can't use your glyphs or rings," said Amity.

Luz had to admit, it was unnerving that she could use either her glyphs or rings.

"I don't understand this myself. It's as if something is suppressing my magic, subtle though it is," said La Lechuza.

"It's annoying that anything can keep my brilliance from shining. But it looks like that's the case. Might be a spell of some kind, or perhaps the cell is made of something that nullifies magic?" Bast pondered.

"Possible, the former is more likely. I don't see a feasible reason why they'd only limit it to just a single cell. If that is the case, then we simply need to find out how far this spell's area of effect is," she suggested.

"Well, that's something then. If we can manage to get out we can start finding where the weak spot in this spell is," said Luz as she got down on her knees before Amity and smiled at her. "We'll get through this, hermosa, together."

Amity looked up at her girlfriend's confident expression. Her anxiety over this situation was starting to ebb away a bit. What's wrong with me? I can't let Luz be the only brave one here. The purple haired witch girl took a calming breath and smiled back at Luz. "I'm sorry for that little freak out. I've never been in a position like this where I have no magic."

"I get it, it's okay. You've lived and breathed magic since you were a baby. Everyone here has. It's a part of you. Not being able to feel your magic is probably like having one of your arms or legs missing. But for me, this is a familiar feeling, so it doesn't affect me as much," said Luz.

Amity scooted closer to Luz and rested her head against her left shoulder. "I'm glad you're here, even if this is a sucky situation."

Luz blushed and replied, "I'll always be there for you, Amity."

"So will I," said Amity.

Their moment did not last as two Hooded Followers opened their cell door. Luz and Amity quickly sprang to their feet, with Luz entering a fighting stance as Amity mimicked her, remembering their training. However, one of the Followers drew a spell circle and immediately conjured construct cuffs around both of their wrists and angles. The two light cuffs acted like magnets and slammed together, forcing Luz and Amity to fall back to the cell floor with their arms behind their backs.

"It is time," he said.

Notes:

A big thanks to Micheal Ravencroft for helping me with the dialogue between Luz and Amity.

Fun Fact: Frog Astronauts appearance is loosely based on the Spooky Space Kook from the Scooby-Doo franchise.