AN: I haven't posted an SR fic in years. Long story short, stuff happened that made me want nothing to do with the fandom. But then I discovered the 4th novel, and it re-sparked my love for the series. This fic here is based off the infamous original version of Spider Riders which was posted in a Teletoon Press release years ago. I always thought it sounded really interesting, so I wanted to write my own interpretation of it. I'm starting with episode 25, because the previous episodes seemed exactly the same. Normally I prefer to write romance stories. There will be some, but it's not the main point of the fic. So, please enjoy, and I'll try to get new chapters up quickly.
25- An Abducted Maiden
The Spider Riders gaped at what they saw in the brown box. It was another Oracle Key already.
"What might be the trouble in Nuuma Kingdom?" Lumen was the first to speak up, surprisingly.
The page just looked back at him, uneasy.
"It's… it's unthinkable…" he stuttered.
"Are you alright?" asked Hunter. The man was clearly very shaken up.
"No! I'm not alright! Can't you see?" he answered.
"Then it's vital that we talk, but why don't we return to Arachna Castle to do it?" Lumen suggested. "Besides, my head hurts and I want to take a nap."
"Yeah, that's a good idea," Corona replied. For some reason, she had a particularly bad feeling about this.
So the Riders accompanied the page to the castle.
"Everyone, you're back!" Sparkle was excited to see them again. "Wait, who's that?" She pointed at the page.
"He comes from Nuuma," Lumen replied.
"Nuuma?" asked Sparkle, curiously.
Soon, the group all sat down in their meeting room.
"Now please tell us. What's going on?" Igneous questioned.
"Right," replied the man. "Just now, Nuuma was attacked by the Insectors."
"No way!" Corona replied.
"Regretfully, it is true," he responded. "It was Stags' troops who attacked, and the entire castle has been seized. Although we have one last defense, that is, the castle has been lifted into the sky, I fear it is too late. The queen…"
He paused, his chest tightening.
"It's very possible that she's fallen into Stags' hands. What will become of her? It pains me, just imagining."
"Why did the Insectors attack in the first place?" Lumen asked. "Nuuma is across the sea. Wouldn't it be a waste of energy when there's plenty of land left for them to conquer in Arachna?"
"Not everyone is as lazy as you, Prince," Hunter chided.
"It wasn't about taking land," the page said. "There is yet another Oracle Key in Nuuma castle."
"Another?" asked Hunter.
"That means all of them have been accounted for, right?" questioned Shadow. "There's the one we have, the one the page bought to us, and the one in Nuuma."
"Wait, that's only three," said Hunter.
"I wasn't finished!" scolded Shadow. "It's very likely that the Insectors have the fourth. That's why they knew about the Keys in the first place."
"But what proof do you have?" asked Hunter, a snide grin on his face. "It's not like they've used it against us."
"Maybe they can't activate its power to fight," Shadow argued.
"Geez, now's not the time to be arguing," Corona interrupted.
"I agree," Venus chimed in.
"You're right," said Hunter. "Sorry, Shadow. Now, we've got bigger things to worry about."
"Please, Spider Riders," the page said. "I beg of you. You must save Nuuma, and the queen."
"Of course we will," Lumen said. "But after my nap."
"We don't have time for a nap!" Hunter yelled. "That box didn't really hurt you."
"Sure it did," said Lumen. He sighed deeply. "Well, it does take a long time to travel to Nuuma. I suppose I could sleep on the boat."
"Alright!" Hunter exclaimed. "Then let's go!"
"Me too!" Sparkle cheered. "That sounds like fun."
"Princess Sparkle!" Lily scolded. She too had been invited to the room to listen. "You may not go somewhere that dangerous!"
"But I can help," she said. "I'm a Spider Rider too."
"Sorry, Sparkle," said Lumen. "You may be a Spider Rider, but you're also my cute little sister, and I wouldn't forgive myself if something happened to you. Besides, there's more than enough of us to handle this."
"Frankly, I don't think it's a good idea for any of you to go," said Lily. "I did see a bad omen before, and now I realize why."
"But we have to!" said Hunter. "People are in danger, and we're the heroes. Who else can save them?"
"Hunter," said Igneous. "It's not just the people of Nuuma who are in danger. Buguese, Beerain, Grasshop and the other Insectors could still attack Arachna at any time. Everyone here is in danger too."
"But they're not attacking now," argued Hunter. "Now's our chance."
"I understand your feelings, Hunter," Igneous said. "I'll talk this over with the Arachnan army, but I have a feeling they'll disagree. Even they rely heavily on the Spider Riders. There's only so much normal humans can do."
"Well, in that case we won't be leaving anytime soon," said Lumen, yawning. "I'll be in my room if you need me."
"That… didn't go too well," said Magma.
Meanwhile, from outside the castle, something ominous was lurking.
In the Insector lands, Aqune was kneeling down chanting as usual. However, she stopped, as she felt something out of the ordinary.
"Portia, there's an Oracle Key in Arachna Castle." She looked over at her purple Spider, worriedly. "I must tell Buguese."
Aqune didn't realize that someone overheard her. That someone was Grasshop.
"An Oracle Key?" he smirked. "This is too good! I'll tell Mantid-sama before that slowpoke Buguese can, and get all the glory. And when Buguese gets there, Mantid-sama will be like, 'Foolish Buguese, you'll never compare to Grasshop-sama. I may as well just fire you.' It will be glorious!"
While he was gloating to himself, Aqune already got up and told Buguese.
"Good work, Aqune," Buguese said. Aqune smiled for a second, and then turned around to go back to chanting.
Lumen was sleeping, Igneous was away, and Sparkle also had gone off somewhere. Hunter, Corona and Magma went outside together to the training area, leaving the distressed page alone.
"It's not fair!" Hunter exclaimed, swinging his sword around fiercely, at imaginary targets. "That man really needs our help."
"I can see that," said Magma. "But what can we really do if the answer is no? It's not like we can cross an ocean on our spiders."
"There has to be a way!" Hunter argued. "Spider Riders never give up!"
"Well, it doesn't matter too much to me anyway," said Magma. "My mission is to find Portia. Portia is still on this side of the ocean. So I would stay here, regardless."
"Really?" Hunter looked troubled. "Corona, you agree with me, don't you?"
"Huh?" Corona replied, not expecting Hunter to ask. "Well… honestly, I don't know."
"Why is that?" asked Hunter.
"A part of me wants to go, but a part of me is very scared," Corona answered. "I'm sorry, Hunter, but the others might be right."
"But how could you say that?!" Hunter shouted, honestly a bit angry. "What kind of heroes are we if we just let this happen?"
"I also want to save everyone," said Corona. "We may be different from normal humans, but maybe even we have our limits too. I feel that even if we do go, something bad will happen. Something that might change us forever."
Hunter looked at her, confused. "What do you mean?"
Suddenly, the three Riders heard a loud crash.
"What was that?!" Magma asked, tense.
"I don't know," replied Hunter. "But we'd better find out."
Corona nodded, and the three rushed to the noise's direction.
As they approached it, Igneous came running to him.
"The castle was breached by an Insector!" Igneous exclaimed. "The attacker seems to be gone, but so is the page."
"What?!" Hunter exclaimed.