Chapter 13: Save Witch and Heka! Go Kamen Rider!
Eda, Willow, Gus, and King were sitting in the living room. It had been a few hours since they saw Takeshi ride off to save Luz and Amity, and they still haven't heard a word about what had happened to them. Or why they were taken. Eda was pacing the floor, anxious and nervous about what was happening Luz, while King rested on Willow's lap while she patted his head comfortingly. Gus was anxious as well, but he held out hope that these new Riders would be able to save his friends.
"He's certainly been gone a long time." King remarked.
"Yeah," replied Willow, "What if he doesn't make it?"
"Oh come on, he's a Kamen Rider," retorted Gus, "He'll save them."
Eda stopped her pacing and sat on the coffee table, her leg bounced up and down, hoping that Gus was right.
Outside the Owl House, Hooty was eagerly awaiting the return of Luz and Amity, and keeping a sharper eye out for any more monsters that might try to attack the Owl House. However he was not expecting who did show up. Two men on unique looking motorcycles stopped in front of the house and removed their helmets.
"Ichimonji-san," greeted Shigeru, "I'm guessing your assignment went well."
"Yeah," replied Hayato, "although I did have to drop my disguise."
Just then, Keisuke pulled up followed by Shiro, Joji, Amazon, Kohtaro, Ryo, and Kazuya.
"Looks like all our missions went successfully." remarked Hayato.
The others nodded their heads. The others looked up when they saw a shadow pass over them. When they did, they saw Skyrider, who landed in front of them and ended his transformation. "I guess we're all waiting for Hongo-sempai," he said.
"Uh…Eda," Hooty called out, causing the ten Riders to look at the talking door, "You might want to look at this!"
Eda hurriedly opened the door, accidentally slamming Hooty's face into the wall, to see what he was talking about and was shocked to see ten human males in front of her house.
"If this were any other time, I'd be absolutely giddy about seeing this many guys lined up in front of my house, but right now, I need answers! Just what is going on?! Where is Luz, and what have you guys been up to?!" Eda questioned.
The ten Riders glanced at each other and nodded their heads in agreement.
"It's time we filled you in on what's been going on up until now, Eda-san," said Hayato.
It took a bit of time, but eventually, all ten Riders were able to regale the residents of the Owl House with what they were each doing before arriving. To say that Eda, Willow, King, and Gus were shocked would be an understatement. They had no idea that the Shocker Coven's scheming went so far as to assassinate all the leaders of the nine Covens at once. Eda had to remember to thank them for saving Raine, although she still wondered why they were still with Bard Coven after what happened. But that was a question for another day. When they were done, everyone took a moment to absorb that knowledge.
"Wow, the Coven Heads and the Emperor must have gotten a kick out of you guys." Willow exclaimed.
"Well Belos definitely got a kick from me." Kohtaro replied. Everyone just looked at him with deadpan expressions. "What? Is it customary for someone to tie you up after you've just saved their life?"
"Given that it's Belos, yes, very custmoray," said Eda.
"Now that they have been taken care of, and the Coven leaders and the emperor safe, we can focus on the rescue operation to get Noceda-chan and Blight-kun out of their clutches. It won't be long before the rest of the Shocker Coven learns of their subordinates' failures, and we need to strike in that time," said Shigeru.
"But do you even know where she's being held?" King asked.
Shiro nodded. "We have surveillance on their base of operations, it's located in a mountainous area that you call, 'The Knee'."
"If the Shocker Coven took them anywhere, then it would be there," said Kotaro.
Eda sprang to her feet as she said, "Then what are we waiting for?! Let's head up there and get those two back!"
Ryo raised his hand in a stopping motion. "Hold on, that's not possible for you, any of you."
"What do you mean?" Gus asked.
"The Shocker Coven's base has a barrier surrounding it that will prevent any use of magic within its confines." Joji explained, "Only dark magic is able to function there. Not even Palismen can be used there."
Eda gritted her teeth and clenched her fists, she hated feeling so powerless. Even after obtaining some kind of resolution with the Owl Beast, she still didn't have enough power to protect the ones she loved. The Owl Lady stormed out of the room and went outside.
"Eda!" King called out as he readied to after her.
"King, give her a minute. I think I understand why she's angry," said Willow. "She feels like me and Gus, we can't help them even if we wanted to."
Amazon walked over to Willow, knelt before her and King, and patted Willow on her shoulder while patting King on the head. "You two not helpless. You worry for friends. Strength in bonds. Your bonds give them strength."
Willow and King's moods were lifted by the wildman's words, but still, the fact remained that they couldn't render aid in any possible rescue mission.
Outside of the house, Eda was still fuming about her lack of power. Luz, the daughter she never had, and said daughter's girlfriend were trapped by a bunch of cultist whackos and all she could do was stand here and twiddle her thumbs. However, as Eda was about to go back in there and give the Riders a piece of her mind about taking her to The Knee, she stopped.
"What?"
Eda started hearing something. A voice, and a familiar one at that.
"You? What do you…?" Eda paused as she listened to the voice. "Wait. You want to help her? Why?...You owe her? Wait, is that because she saved you from getting killed by my Inner Phantom?"
The voice of the Owl Beast acknowledged this, and more.
"Oh, and you like her? Huh, okay, didn't see that coming. So, does that mean you'll let me go into Harpy Mode so we can save her?" Eda asked.
The answer came in the form of Eda's body immediately shifting. The red dress that Eda wore merged with her body, becoming red feathers, as her legs transformed into that of a half-humanoid half-bird like state, with two talons on the front of her feet and one on her back heels. Eda's gold colored nails now became gold colored claws, gray wings sprouted from her back, and her eyes became pools of black with golden irises staring out from them. Eda looked upon her form, as this was the second time she had entered this form.
"Alright, let's go save our kid!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Eda flapped her large wings and took off into the air. Once she reached the desired altitude, she flapped her wings again and jetted straight towards The Knee.
Hooty, who had witnessed all of this, had his jaw drop from watching it all happen. "Everyone! Listen up!" Hooty shouted as he opened the door and gained the attention of everyone in the living room.
"Hooty, buddy, what's wrong?!" Gus asked.
"Eda just went into Harpy Mode and she's heading to The Knee! Right now!" Hooty stated.
"'Harpy Mode'?" Keisuke asked.
"Long story," King replied. "But, this might be a good thing. The form is from a curse that was placed on Eda. If that barrier thing blocks out everything but dark magic, maybe her curse is the loophole!"
"Let's just pray it's enough," said Kazuya.
This had to be the weirdest day for Hunter. One of his colleagues was a monster that tried to murder his uncle, and another was a Kamen Rider he had never seen before. Now he was inside a weird talking contraption that was taking him to who knows where. They had been traveling underground for several minutes now, going up and down, and sideways. Now it felt as if they were going straight up, and Hunter worried where exactly they were going to end up. Finally, Ridoron broke through, breaching the surface as rock and dirt were tossed about.
[CRUSADER,] Ridoron stated, [WE HAVE ARRIVED.] The door opened and Hunter basically fell out of the car, curled up in a fetal position, eyes wide open and hands clenched into fists.
It took a couple of moments for Hunter to regain his senses, but it helped that the cold snow that he landed in helped to snap him out of his stupor. The Golden Guard stood up, scanned his surroundings, and immediately knew where he was. "This is the Knee…" No sooner did Hunter say that, Ridoron sped away leaving him alone. "Hey wait!" Hunter called out, "How'd you even get me here so fast while traveling underground?!"
"Ridoron can reach speeds up to 1500 kilometers an hour." said a voice. Hunter turned around to see a man dressed in a thick black frock coat, standing by a motorcycle. "Kamen Rider Crusader I presume?"
"Yeah." Hunter replied, "Who's asking?"
"I'm Takeshi Hongo, Kamen Rider Ichigo." the man answered, holding out his hand. Hunter hesitated before accepting it and the two shook hands.
"So…" Hunter began, "any reason why I was attacked, put into a strange contraption, and brought here?"
"We needed your help for an important mission," Takeshi explained, "I was going to recruit Noceda-san and Blight-kun while Kohtaro-kun brought you here to assist. But the two of them were captured."
"Yeah, the Guard Captain did mention they were captured." Hunter remarked.
"Now we proceed with the plan while attempting to rescue them." Takeshi replied, "Let's go."
"Wait," Hunter remarked, "how can I even trust you?"
"Because one; there's an invisible barrier that'll cut you off from your magic once you cross it, and two; we're both Kamen Riders, and you'll need my help if you want to overcome this." Takeshi explained. He then took off with Hunter reluctantly following him.
Takeshi and Hunter were making their way through the terrain. They ducked for cover to hide from some Hooded Followers. When the coast was clear, Takeshi pulled out a folded piece of paper. He unfolded it to reveal a map.
"This is a map of The Shock Coven's underground base." he explained, "According to Riderman, they've carved their headquarters inside the very bones of the Titan itself."
"How come we never noticed this so-called 'Shocker Coven'?" Hunter asked.
"Probably for the same reason you haven't noticed us on the Isles for the past week." Takeshi remarked.
Hunter deadpanned. "Fair enough."
They then noticed two Hooded Followers hiding in a nearby cavern. They moved closer to listen in on them.
"What are we going to do? Just tell the Head that we failed?" one of them asked.
"You saw that creature!" the other answered, "It just tore the Priestess to shreds!"
Takeshi brought his right finger to his lips, silently telling Hunter to remain quiet. The Legendary Rider quietly sneaked closer to the Hooded Followers, carefully making sure he didn't knock against anything that would give away his position. Once he was close enough, Takeishi made his move. Takeshi thrust kicked the first Follower with all his might, sending him crashing into the wall of the cave, face first, and knocking him out instantly. The second Follower went for a haymaker, but Takeshi blocked it with his left arm, and punched the Follower in his gut and face, and for the finisher, he grabbed the Followers by the shoulders and drove his knee right into their gut. The Follower let out a pained gasp before his lights went out, going lax in Takeshi's grip.
"Sorry." Takeshi said to the unconscious person. He then looked up at a wide-mouth Hunter and said, "Looks like these two had a run in with Amazon." He then proceeded to take off one of the Follower's robes.
"Well come on," he said to Hunter as he began to put on the robe, "We're infiltrating their base."
Hunter shook his head, bringing himself back to his senses as he quickly responded, "Y-Yes, sir!"
Once they were dressed as Hooded Followers, Takeshi and Hunter made their way towards the entrance to the Shocker Coven's HQ. The entrance was just a cave with two Hooded Followers guarding either side.
"Just follow my lead, and let me do the talking." Takeshi whispered. Hunter nodded as they marched towards the cave.
"EEK!" the Followers yelled as they threw their right arms into the air.
"EEK!" Takeshi copied, with Hunter quickly following suit. Once they were allowed inside, Takeshi and Hunter made their way down the corridors. The two of them then snuck into an empty room, removed their hoods and Takeshi pulled out the map.
"Okay, Noceda-san and Blight-kun should be in the dungeons." Takeshi explained. "We need to get them out of here."
"ALL SHOCKER COVEN MEMBERS," a voice announced, "MEET IN THE MAIN CEREMONIAL CHAMBER! IT IS TIME FOR THE ULTIMATE CEREMONY!"
Takeshi and Hunter looked at each other. "Change of plans," Hunter remarked, "we know exactly where they are."
With their hoods back on, they crept out of the room and made their way to the main chamber.
"Get your hands off of me!" Luz yelled as she and Amity were being dragged through the corridors of the Shocker Coven's HQ.
"I swear if you hurt Luz, I'll make you regret it for the rest of your lives!" retorted Amity, but it seems the Hooded Followers were uninterested in what either of them had to say. They kept going until they entered the main ceremonial chamber where the Head of the Shocker Coven awaited them.
"Ah, welcome, my pretties." she said in a silky voice that made Luz and Amity feel uneasy.
"What's going on?! What are you going to do to us?!" Luz questioned.
"All in due time, my dear. All in due time. Restrain them," the woman ordered.
The two young girls continued to struggle, but it was useless. They were brought before two ornate pillars in the center of the room. Once there, the Followers worked together to slap the cuffs around their wrists and ankles. The chains of their restraints were short, not allowing for any wide range of motion, but to keep them securely in place. Luz feared what this creepy cult was going to do with them, during her whole time on the Boiling Isles, this was the first time she had ever encountered a group like this.
As soon as everyone took their places, the Coven Head addressed her prisoners.
"Are we comfortable?"
"Does it look like we are?" retorted Luz.
"Don't worry," the lady said as she caressed Luz's chin, "it'll all be over soon."
"Who are you anyway?!" demanded Amity.
The Hooded woman turned towards Amity and gave a lilting chuckle at the question.
"Well neither one of you will live to see what happens next, I suppose you do deserve to see the face of the one who will bring your young lives to a short end…" she proceeded to remove her hood.
Once it was done, Luz and Amity beheld the visage of a beautiful witch woman. She had raven black hair that gleamed in the light of the torches. Her skin was flawless and pale. She possessed sharp, fuchsia-colored eyes that seemed to pierce your very soul, and at the same time, beckoned you to approach her. This revelation shocked Amity.
"Mrs. Blackrose?!" she exclaimed.
"Who?" Luz asked.
"The Blackrose Family are known as the top Oracle witches on the Boiling Isles. The head of their family is this woman, Agatha Blakcrose," Amity explained.
"Prisesly," Agatha responded as she walked over to Amity, "it's really a shame you had to be a Kamen Rider, young Blight. But at least you'll still be serving our Coven." She then addressed her Followers.
"Members of the Shocker Coven," she announced, "As you well know, my family, the Blackrose Family, are the strongest Oracle witches in the Boiling Isles. And with that power, we saw a grand vision. A glimpse into the human world. When we did, we witnessed the glory and power of a powerful group with powers beyond our imagination, who sought to bring order to their world! But, the destiable beings known to us as Kamen Riders, continued to thwart their holy mission again and again!"
The Hooded Followers all began jeering at Amity and Luz, being the only Kamen Riders within their immediate vicinity for which they could direct their ire towards.
"Yes, the glorious Shocker was brought down, but they were destined to rise up like the mighty phoenix from the ashes! You all have tasted the grand power of this Coven, and it has made you strong! Stronger than any witch or demon in this realm! Now, it is on us, the Shocker Coven, to realize their dream within our world!" The cultists cheered loudly as she moved to several banners hanging on the wall.
The first banner was that of an eagle standing atop the world.
"Shocker!"
The second was that of a gold eagle with a silver snake wrapped around it.
"Gel-Shocker!"
The third was a silver scorpion with a ruby red stinger.
"Destron!"
The fourth symbol was that of a head with a scary visage upon it that abstractly made the letters "G" "O" "D".
"G.O.D.!"
The fifth symbol was a circle with an abstract looking creature with small eyes.
"Gedon!"
The sixth symbol was a wreath of feathers with a circle at the center.
"The Garanda Empire!"
The seventh symbol was a rounded trapezoid with a gear in the middle.
"Black Satan!"
The eighth symbol was a snake with its tail forming a capital "Q".
"The Delza Army!"
The ninth was a combined, stylized "N" and "S" with a red eye to the center right of the symbol.
"Neo Shocker!"
The tenth was a pair of eagle's wings, a beak, and a single red eye in the middle in the shape of an arrowhead.
"The Dogma Kingdom!"
The eleventh showed a golden eye with a red pupil, inside a red parallelogram, inside an explosion looking shape.
"Jin Dogma!"
The twelfth banner had the letters "BDN", with two eyes inside the gaps of the "B" and a mouth with sharp teeth in the gap of the "D".
"The Badan Empire!"
The thirteenth banner was an image of a golden snake with its mouth open, poised to bite into a red orb.
"Gorgom!"
The final one had six red abstract shapes with white outlines.
"The Crisis Empire! All of them had dreams of world domination! But now that I have inherited this Coven from my family, I, Agatha Blackrose, and the Shocker Coven will fulfill it in their stead!" The cultists continued to cheer, but what they didn't know was that Takeshi and Hunter were right there waiting to make their move.
Agatha continued, "And while the Priests and Priestesses are taking care of the Coven Heads and the Emperor, we will summon The Great One to lead us to victory!" She then turned towards the two chained girls. "And that's where you two come in." Luz and Amity became even more uneasy as she produced a large crystal orb. "We are going to use the mana from your Inner Phantoms to create a gateway for The Great One to enter our realm!"
Agatha drew a spell circle, and before Luz and Amity a pedestal rose from the ground. The head of the Shocker Coven slowly walked on the pedestal and gently placed the orb at its center. "Let the ceremony begin!"
Everyone began to chant in some long forgotten language as a large window opened in the ceiling, allowing sunlight to shine on the orb. Suddenly streams of energy shot out of Luz and Amity's chests and into the orb, causing them to yell in pain. Luz recognized this pain, it was similar to when Lich took her magic and almost killed her. And now that was happening again, but this time it was happening to Amity as well. Within each of their Underworld's, La Lechuza and Bast were both grunting in pain as their mana was being taken away from them.
"Laly! This is bad isn't it?!" Bast asked.
"Very! Try to hang on Bast! Keep struggling until your last breath," said La Lechuza.
The great Owl Phantom, as well as the great Cat Phantom, knew that doing so was only going to lengthen their hosts' suffering. But they had no other options, if they just let go, then that would be the end of for Luz and Amity, they had to hold out for some kind of miracle that Luz and Amity would find a way out or that someone would rescue them.
In the Overworld, Luz and Amity continued to writhe in pain from the absorption. Luz struggled, but she managed to turn her head in Amity's direction. Amity sensed her girlfriend's gaze upon her and turned to meet it. The two lovers looked at each other, Amity could see it in Luz's eyes, this was something that they weren't going to live through.
"LUZ!" Amity grunted, "I…LO…" Before she could finish, Amity passed out. Luz, shortly after, passed out as well.
It was then that Takeshi decided to take action. While everyone else was bowing down, he pulled out a few smoke canisters, yanked out their pins and threw them around the room. When they went off, everyone panicked as the room filled with the smoke cleared, Luz and Amity were gone, and Agatha was furious.
"THEY MUST NOT ESCAPE!" she yelled, "Cat Samurai, bring them back before they're allowed to spill our secrets!"
"At once, your Holiness!" the Priest of Shocker stated as he ran out of the room.
Agatha was still seething with anger for the loss of their magic batteries, but her anger subsided a bit when she looked at the orb and saw that it was glowing with energy.
Takeshi and Hunter had dropped their disguises and were now carrying Luz and Amity on their backs. They were just making their way towards the exit, when five Hooded Followers surrounded them, blades drawn.
"You really thought you could steal from The Shocker Coven?" one of them asked.
"You two just earned a one-way trip to hell!" another remarked.
Hunter and Takeshi were in a bind with Luz and Amity still unconscious and slung over their shoulders. The Followers crept closer, ready to kill the intruders. However, there was sound echoing within the caves, a dull thudding noise that was getting closer and closer. One of the Followers turned around to see what it was that was making that sound, and yelped when they saw two glowing golden eyes piercing the darkness as Eda wrapped her wings around herself and spun like a drill bit as she launched herself towards the Followers. The impact sent three of the Followers flying in different directions. Eda used the shock and awe to speed towards the fourth Follower, grabbing them by the neck, and tossing them like a ragdoll towards the fifth Follower and against the wall with a hard impact. When it was over, all five of the Followers were effectively taken down in less than a minute.
"Clawthorne-san? What are you doing here?!" Takeshi exclaimed.
"Wait a minute!" Hunter looked at Takeshi. "You said that only dark magic could work in here!" The Golden Guard turned his gaze back on Eda. "So how did you?!"
"I guess it's because this is a curse, so technically dark magic." Eda explained, "Anyway, what do you think I'm doing here?! I'm here to save my kid and her girlfriend! Although, I have no idea why you're here."
Eda pointed her claw at Hunter, making the young man gulp.
"You know he's a Rider, same as them. We need all of our strength if we're going to defeat the Shocker Coven, Clawthorne-san," said Takeshi.
Just then, more Hooded Followers appeared in the corridor.
"Get these two to safety!" Takeshi stated as he handed Luz over to Eda, "I'll hold them off!"
"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Eda asked.
"Don't worry about me," Takeshi assured, "Just get outside the barrier!"
Takeshi then ran towards the Hooded Followers, one of them took a swing at him with their left fist, but he easily ducked under it and countered with a right hook to the face. Keeping up this pace, he ran up on a second Follower, grabbed him by the arm, and tossed him into an incoming group, knocking them down like bowling pins. Some of the Followers started to rise, but it granted him time. Takeshi threw his right arm at a diagonal to his left then rotated it clockwise until it was diagonal to his right.
"Rider…Henshin!"
He then retracted his right arm to his waist and thrusted his left arm at a diagonal to his right. A Driver materialized around his waist. The Driver buckle was silver in color, mounted on red leather. From the sides of that leather the belt formed, which was black and sported two silver devices on the hips. At the center of the buckle was a circle with a turbine fan within it that began to spin. Takeshi then leapt into the air as the fan spun faster, gathering energy as it released a bright flash of light. A cyclonic wind made up of red, yellow, and green swirled around Takeshi, obscuring him from view. The swirling energy cyclone then dispersed. What was left was not a man, not a regular one. For he was donned in a black suit, with silver gloves, a green, insect-like chest plate, silver boots, and had a short red scarf around his neck. Takeshi's head was encased in a helmet, with the top half of it colored turquoise green. It had red compound eyes, and two small silver antennae coming out from the middle of the forehead area. The bottom half was silver and had a jagged design, like that of an insect's mouth. This was the very first Kamen Rider to ever exist, the legendary Rider who created a legacy of heroes. This was Kamen Rider Ichigo (#1).
The Rider flipped through the air and charged at the Hooded Followers again. Using his enhanced speed, Ichigo reached out and grabbed a Follower by the face and slammed them to the ground, instantly knocking them out. While he was still down there, Ichigo threw out his right leg and swept the legs out from another one, and while he was on the ground, Ichigo struck them in the face, knocking them out as well. Ichigo sprang back to his feet and grabbed another one, kneeing him in the gut and throwing him into two other Followers. Ichigo sped towards two others, and struck both of them in the sides with a knife hand chop, sending them flying against the walls and leaving body sized impressions. One other tried to attack him from behind, but before he could do anything, Ichigo performed a spinning roundhouse kick. The blow sent the Follower spinning in the air before faceplanting on the ground.
"Hurry and run!" Ichigo yelled as he struck down two more, then threw a strong punch into the gut of another that sent them flying halfway down the corridor. "Go!"
That was enough for Eda and Hunter to continue running with Luz and Amity, still unconscious, in their arms. As they ran, they could still hear Ichigo battling the Followers behind them, but after seeing what he could do, they weren't afraid for him, if anything, they were more worried for the Followers who were getting a sound thrashing by the Legendary Kamen Rider.
Eda and Hunter had just made it outside and were making their way in the direction of Takeshi's motorcycle that marked the edge of the barrier. They were just on the edge of the barrier when the Priest of Shocker landed in front of them surrounded by Hooded Followers.
"Anyone who defies The Shocker Coven will be executed!" he said as he removed his gold robe, transforming into Cat Samurai. Eda and Hunter could see that Luz's Hand Author buckle, along with both of their ring sets, were attached to his belt.
Hunter handed the unconscious Amity to Eda and engaged the enemy. The young Rider didn't know what he could do without his staff or Driver in this magic canceling barrier, but he had to try something. The Hooded Followers readied themselves to attack Hunter, but Cat Samurai shook his head at them, as if telling them not to bother. Cat Samurai stepped forward and stood there waiting for Hunter. The young man jumped into the air and threw a flying kick at the monster. His kick landed against the armored chest of Cat Samurai, but the monster didn't move an inch. Hunter growled and tried another kick, this time to his knee to try and buckle it, but yet again, the Kaijin didn't budge. Out of desperation, Hunter jumped up and threw a punch right into Cat Samurai's face. And, again, no movement. Hunter landed on the ground and took a step back as he got into a defensive stance, trying to think of a way to take this monster down without the use of his powers or magic staff.
"Wasted effort." Cat Samurai muttered as he prepared to attack.
"Hold it!" a voice yelled. Everyone looked up to see Kamen Rider Ichigo standing on a nearby ledge. "Come at me, Cat Samurai!"
Cat Samurai sneered at the Rider as waved his hand and gave the order, "Do not let them get away! Do everything you can to prevent this!"
Ichigo jumped high into the air, flipped around, and landed on the snow covered ground right in the middle of the Hooded Followers. Some of the Followers produced swords and attacked Ichigo. The first Kamen Rider dodged each of the slashes, which was limited on their part as, in their haste, they hadn't completely dispersed to allow for more freedom of movement in their attacks. Ichigo raised his left forearm, blocking a sword swing at the wrist of one of the Followers, and in the same motion, struck in the stomach with a punch. The Follower dropped his sword, allowing Ichigo to grab him by the arm and toss him away like a ragdoll. Ichigo looked down at the sword still on the ground, grabbed it, jumped into the air, and tossed it towards Hunter.
The blade spun in the air before landing a foot away from Hunter's right. Once that was done, Ichigo went back to the fight. One of the Followers brazenly tried to perform a lariat attack on him, but the experienced Rider ducked under the attack and threw a roundhouse kick to the Followers back where he impacted against a tree. A Follower tried to cut down Ichigo from behind, but the attack was easily dodged. Allowing Ichigo to wrap his left arm around their neck as he grabbed ahold of that same Follower's right arm. A second Follower tried to slash at him again, but Ichigo used the man's arm, which was still holding onto the sword, to block the sword strike of the other. Ichigo used the Follower like a makeshift sword dummy, and for some reason, the Follower he had still held onto their sword. Sparks danced in the air as their blades clashed for a few strikes before the attacking Follower raised his weapon up with both hands for an overhead strike, but that's when Ichigo gripped the Follower's forearm hard, making them drop their sword. Afterwards, he pushed that same Follower into the attacking one before jumping up and kicking them into a pile of snow.
Three Hooded Followers attacked Hunter, but the young man managed to block the first one's haymaker before throwing a right uppercut to his lower jaw. A couple of teeth flew out as the Follower was sent flying onto his back. A second tried to attack from the left, but Hunter ducked under their punch, and threw a kick right for their left knee, making the Follower cry out in pain as he fell to one knee, bringing him within knee striking distance, which Hunter did as he grabbed the Follower's head and drove his knee into their face, knocking them out immediately. The third created a sword and was about to cut him, but Hunter quickly grabbed the sword that Ichigo threw his way, parried the blade, and flung it out of the Follower's hand. The Follower was stunned by his swordplay, but they didn't have time to appreciate it as Hunter drove his left fist into their stomach and made them double over in pain before passing out.
Cat Samurai entered the fray as he jumped into the air and landed before Ichigio, the feline Kaijin drew his sword and slashed at him. Ichigo narrowly avoided the blade, but the power behind it managed to kick up a whirlwind that blew some of the other followers away and cleared the ground of snow. The first Rider capitalized on this opening threw a strong punch to the armored midsection of Cat Samurai, creating a small shockwave that made the Kaijin back up a little. That allowed Ichigo to throw a spinning kick to the creature's chest, sending sparks flying from the point of impact. The feline Kaijin let out an angry yowl as he charged for the Legendary Rider and managed to land a blow on his armored chest. Sparks flew from Ichigo's armor, but Cat Samurai wasn't done as he threw his own roundhouse kick, sending Ichigo straight to the ground. Cat Samurai moved in to stab his blade down on Ichigo, but the first Rider was faster as he lunged upwards with a kick right into the monster's chest. The hit managed to make Cat Samurai skid backwards on his heels before coming to a stop.
Cat Samurai growled, but then noticed that his minions were getting bested by the witch and third magical Rider. Wasting little time, Cat Samurai dashed towards them. Ichigo was going to intercept, but the remaining Followers that weren't leveled by Cat Samurai's powerful sword swing got in his way and began engaging him.
Hunter kept his grip on the sword as he stood before the other Hooded Followers, with Eda at his back. Eda thought about flying out of there, but after seeing what the cat monster could do with a swing of his sword, she doubted she'd get that far. Plus, despite how much of a jerk this kid has been to Luz and them in the past, Eda knew that Luz wouldn't forgive Eda if she left him to die.
Hunter's eyes shifted back and forth between the four remaining Followers, he had to take them down and get past the barrier while Ichigo was keeping that monster distracted. The Golden Guard tossed his sword towards one of the Followers, making them immediately duck to avoid getting skewered. The sword lodged itself in the ground behind the Follower, but it served its purpose. Hunter ran towards the distracted Follower, jumped into the air, and drop kicked the Follower in the face. The young man scrambled to his feet as he backflipped away from two others who tried to jump to him. Hunter ran towards them full speed as he punched one in the stomach and across the face. The third tried to grab him, but Hunter avoided the grab and delivered a backhand punch to the back of their head. He then made a grab for the sword and squared off against the last Follower. However, his stomach dropped when Cat Samurai appeared, sword in hand, and with a look of death in his slit eyes.
After Ichigo punched out the last of his opponents, he turned his attention back to Eda and Hunter, and realized that the Kaijin was already upon him. "Hunter!" he yelled as he flipped through the air.
The first Rider threw a flying kick as soon as he was in range of Cat Samurai, nailing him in the side of the head and sending him tumbling off to the left where he rolled in the snow for a few seconds before managing to jump back to his feet. Ichigo looked at Hunter, and the young man nodded to Ichigo, as if saying, "I got this! Go!" Ichigo nodded back and dashed straight for Cat Samurai. The first Rider threw a right punch, forcing Cat Samurai to point the flat of his sword to intercept. Ichigo's punch struck against the flat of the feline Kaijin's sword, once again creating a shockwave that blew the snow away from under them.
Hunter smirked at the remaining Follower and tossed the sword into the air as high as it would go. The weapon flipped blade over hilt, making the Follower look up at it out of sheer fear that it would fall on them. Which was what Hunter wanted as he dashed straight for the Follower threw two punches to his midsection, the sword finally let gravity take hold of it as it fell, and just before it could hit either of them, Hunter grabbed it by the hilt and struck the Follower in the back of the head with the flat of sword, knocking them out cold.
Cat Samurai was determined to take down this Kamen Rider. They were so close to their goal, he could not let them get away now. Ichigo dodged as many of the swings as he could, but Cat Samurai was fast, and furious, which made for a difficult situation. Right now, they needed to get away fast, and the only way to do so rested on this monster's belt. He had to get them back before he destroyed Cat Samurai, but with that monster's sword keeping him at distance, that task was going to prove difficult.
"TAKESHI!" Hunter yelled.
Ichigo glanced over his shoulder and watched as he tossed the sword towards him. The Legendary Rider smirked under his helmet and grabbed the sword out of the air with his right hand and blocked one of Cat Samurai's sword strikes. Their blades rang in the air as the impact made Cat Samurai lose his stance. Ichigo took this chance and dashed straight for the monster. With a single swipe of his sword, Ichigo cut the belt off of Cat Samurai, sending the rings and buckle flying into the air along with the belt. Ichigo managed to grab the severed belt that still had the rings and buckle on it, and kicked Cat Samurai.
Ichigo threw down the sword and yelled, "HUNTER, CATCH!"
Hunter ran and managed to catch the belt before it got lost in the snow. Now with that objective complete, Ichigo it was time to put an end to this fight. Ichigo widened his stance and jumped straight into the air, making the turbine in the belt spin rapidly as cyclonic energy gathered to him. Ichigo flipped once in the air before extending his foot as bright red energy engulfed it.
"Rider Kick!"
Cat Samurai saw the attack coming, channeled his own energy into his sword blade. The two attacks fought against each other as ripples of energy were released through the air. Ichigo released a one more battle cry as he thrust forward with his right leg, and shattered Cat Samurai's sword, allowing Ichigo to strike the Kaijin right in the chest, sending the feline Kaijin flying outside the barrier. Cat Samurai staggered back to his feet as the energy that was released into him was starting to cause a chain reaction.
"Y-Y-Your Holiness," he struggled to say, "Avenge me! G-G-Glory to the Shocker Coven!" He then fell backwards and exploded in a fiery destruction.
Eda and Hunter made it outside the barrier and to Ichigo's motorcycle, followed by Ichigo himself.
"Let's get back to the Owl House. Hunter, will you do the honors?"
Hunter took Luz's Connect ring off the belt and slipped it on his right hand. He then scanned it
[Connect, now]
A portal opened up as Hunter and Eda passed through it with Luz and Amity still in their arms. While Ichigo mounted his motorcycle and drove through the portal.
Back in the main ceremonial chamber, Agatha walked up to the mural on the wall, and placed the orb into the eagle's eye.
"Though it wasn't all their mana, it might still be enough." she said. She then started her mystical chanting again as the orb started to turn red.
Notes:
A big thanks to Micheal Ravencroft for helping me with the chapter.