4- Surprises

Hunter tried to concentrate for a moment, to come up with the best plan of action for taking the shadow out.

"I need to try more power," he decided. He pulled out one of the four Oracle Keys.

"My thoughts exactly," Shadow responded.

"Oracle Key!"

Lights flashed around the Rider and spider pair, and they soon re-emerged in their second level transformation.

"Woah…" the blue-haired girl gazed at the pair in fascination.

"Take this, you illusion!" Hunter shouted. A blue aura emerged around him and Shadow, and he fired off a powerful, spiral blast. The tremendous release of energy made contact with its target, which disappeared, as expected.

"Alright!" Hunter exclaimed. "We did it."

"Yeah, you really did!" The girl shouted, as she finally opened the door cautiously.

"Mhm," Hunter said. "Hopefully you don't need to worry anymore."

"I'm not so sure about that," came Richter's voice.

"Huh?" Hunter responded, as he glanced around.

"Well, something else is coming," the boy answered, nonchalantly.

"Hunter!" Corona shouted, as she saw yet another shadowy figure charge in behind Hunter. Without a second thought, she fired a barrage of arrows at it. Luckily, this was enough to put a quick stop to it.

"Thanks, Corona," Hunter said. "You saved me."

"It was nothing," replied Corona, smiling.

Though, Corona's gaze soon turned to where Richter had been standing the whole time.

'How did he know it was coming, before any of us could see it? Could Igneous be right about Richter? Yet, on the other hand, if he were right here in our sight, how could he have made the attacks?'

"Corona, are you okay?" Hunter asked, noticing her troubled expression.

"Uh… yeah," she answered, nervously. "Maybe I'm over-thinking."

"Hey, don't worry about her!" spoke the blue-haired girl, excitedly. She was now standing right next to Hunter and Shadow. "Hunter, I wanted to tell you that I'm a big fan of you! Well, I'm a big fan of all the Spider Riders. But especially you. You just saved my life!"

"Uh… thanks," said Hunter. "We're heroes, of course. That's what we do."

"By the way, my name's Glint. Thought you should know. And… uh, this may be sudden, but I have a really big favor to ask of you."

"What kind of favor?" Hunter asked, confusion showing in his voice.

"I want to live with you Spider Riders in Arachna castle!"

Both Hunter and Corona did double-takes upon hearing that.

"Umm… don't you have a house here?" Corona questioned. "It looks like it wasn't badly damaged. Perhaps the Prince can help pay for repairs, if that's what you're worried about."

"Oh… the house is no big deal," she answered. "It's not much of a home anyway."

The girl was staring down at her feet. "My parents… they're never around. I don't think anyone would notice if I left. Besides…" she quickly rebounded. "I've always dreamed of living with the Spider Riders!"

'Hmm…' Richter had barely cared about the presence of Glint, but suddenly, her words became interesting to him.

"Uh… If you want to stay for a while, I don't really mind," Hunter said. "The castle is big and all."

Corona looked surprised.

"Hunter, are you sure?"

"Yeah, why not?" he said. "It might be a little dangerous for her, but we do have a new Spider Rider too!"

"Hmm… well, alright," Corona said. Though, honestly, this girl somehow bothered her a little more than Richter.

"Oh, thank you!" Glint exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

Then, all of a sudden, the swift sound of motion could be heard.

"What's that?" Hunter questioned.

A spider, mostly black in color, leapt onto the scene.

"Oh no!" screamed Glint, who latched onto Hunter's arm. Seeing this, Corona couldn't help but feel annoyed.

"Wait, let go!" said Hunter. "I can't do anything if you're holding me."

"Uh… sure," she said, embarrassed, and quickly complied.

"Who are you?!" Hunter asked to the spider, who had now stopped charging. He held out his pike, prepared to strike, and Corona readied her bow and arrows.

"Wait!" Richter shouted. "That's Wave!"

"What?" Corona exclaimed.

"Wave, you shouldn't run away like that," Richter said, though he didn't sound angry in the slightest from his tone. "You're my spider, you know?"

"Sir, what are you saying?" Wave asked.

"Oh, forget it," Richter responded.

"Too weird," Glint commented. "That guy is a Spider Rider too?"

"Yes," Hunter said. "His spider was missing, but now he's back, it seems."

"I'm not going to pretend to understand," Corona mumbled to herself.

"Agreed," said Venus.

"Well, Spider Rider team! Let's go home!" Glint declared. "I can't wait to meet the rest of you! They sound so cool!"

"Eh… they're not really that cool," replied Hunter. "The prince is just lazy. Igneous is way too uptight, and he's scared of ghosts. Magma is a giant Brade fanboy. Well, you'll learn eventually."

"Sounds cool enough to me," she protested. Without even asking permission, she hopped onto Shadow's back.

Buguese knocked on the door of Aqune's room. She had been cooped up in there almost the whole time since they'd gotten back, except for to cook meals. The Insector thought she might come out if he didn't bother her, but now it had been over a day.

As the girl didn't respond to his knocking, he called to her instead. "Aqune, listen to me. You can't stay in there forever."

"Buguese…" finally, she replied. "You can come in, if you'd like."

"Good," he replied, and did so.

"I'm sorry…" said Aqune, who was sitting up in her bed, staring at Buguese. Portia was on the floor beside her.

"You don't need to apologize," Buguese responded. "I told you that you don't need to fight, Spider Rider or not. I can't take back what's already happened, but I can do everything in my power to make sure of your happiness now."

"I know," she said, smiling to him. "Yet, I can't do nothing either. I want to protect the future of everyone in the Inner World."

"Perhaps you can find another way," Buguese suggested. "You are also a handmaiden. The most special of all handmaidens. I'm sure the power of your prayers could make a difference."

"Maybe," Aqune replied. "Thank you, really."

"I will also be fighting," Buguese answered. "I promised Prince Lumen that I would help, if it becomes necessary. Although I hope it will not."

"I just hope the Spider Riders are okay," Aqune said. "I sense that there's more trouble ahead."

"We're back!" Hunter declared, as he entered the castle with the others following behind. "And, we brought back some new friends."

"Now what?" Igneous wondered. Though, he was surprised to see a rather cute young girl. Lumen too, who had awakened from his nap, took note of this.

"Who are you, young lady?" he asked, as he quickly took her hands in his.

"My name is Glint," she replied, blushing slightly. "And you must be the prince, right?"

"Indeed," said Lumen. "You're attracted to me, aren't you?"

Igneous sighed, hoping this wasn't the case.

"Hmm… well you're pretty cool," she said. However, she quickly pulled away from his grip, approaching Igneous and Magma. "A brave, chivalrous looking one, and ooh… nice muscles," she commented. "Well, you two don't quite have the cute charm of Hunter, but I could get used to that."

Both Igneous and Magma were amazed by the almost-compliments, as it was pretty rare for girls to pay them any notice. Though, Magma didn't mind that as much as his friend, because to him, no girl could compare to the Hero Brade.

"Oh yeah," Magma said, looking to Hunter and the rather disgruntled Corona. "You said 'friends?' I don't see anyone else besides Glint."

"He means my spider," said Ricther. "Wave, Spider Out!"

The dark-colored spider was released into the castle.

"Can't have a Spider Rider without a Spider," Richter commented, grinning. He stared down at his partner. 'And you've been an excellent one.'

AN: Well, I wonder if Glint is too annoying, though that was kind of the point. Of course, her name came from Battle Spirits, I fully admit (though it also fits with the Earth/sun related naming theme of the original series). To anyone who knows Battle Spirits well, you'll probably see through this story that I'm a fan of it.