Ch7-

Another day of school had come to a close. In an empty section of the hallway, Aqune stood facing the human version of Buguese.

"Why did you need to see me so urgently?" Buguese wondered.

"Well…" she began awkwardly. "Because I started to sense an Oracle Key." She tried to keep her voice low, because regardless of the fact that no one seemed to be around, they were still in a public place. Although on the other hand, it wasn't like any Earthens who overheard would even know what those words meant.

"Where?"

"That's the problem," she replied. "I don't know yet. I believe it can't be far from here, but… it's a faint feeling. Perhaps my powers aren't as strong in this world." She was aware Buguese would want better news than that, but sadly she couldn't provide it.

"I see." He was glad that she'd finally sensed one after all this time, but the lack of a concrete solution was frustrating. "Well be sure to let me know when you find it. The sooner we have the keys, the sooner we can be out of this disgusting human world, and save ours."

"Hey, who is Aqune talking to?" wondered Corona. She and Hunter had gone to find her, so they could actually get some studying in, but they hadn't expected her to be talking to some boy they didn't recognize.

"Let's ask," Hunter said. And before Corona could object to that, he started to run closer to her. "Hey! Aqune!"

At the sound of his voice, both Aqune and Buguese turned around. Although they worried about being overheard, being addressed directly was not something they were expecting.

"Oh, Hunter! Corona!" Aqune said, trying to act as naturally as possible. "I'm sorry. I meant to catch up with you."

"It's fine," Hunter said. "But, who's that boy?"

The "acting naturally" part was much tougher for Buguese. He was trying not to glare too intensely, but probably didn't look happy.

"Oh… this is… my friend Brandon," Aqune answered, being careful not to use his real name. The fake name didn't have any real purpose behind it, other than starting with the same letter. It was just that Buguese was informed by Mantid that his name was absolutely not an acceptable one to go by in the human world.

"He's not in our grade," continued Aqune. "Just… we had some things to discuss, and I didn't really get to see him during the day."

"Is he just a friend?" Corona wondered. She realized after speaking that maybe it was an inappropriate question, but she thought it would have been nice if Aqune had a boyfriend… who wasn't Hunter.

"Uh… yes," said Aqune. "Of course."

"Aqune, I must be going," Buguese said, annoyed. He wasn't going to stick around where the Spider Riders were any longer than necessary. "But do not forget your… assignment." He thought that was a vague enough way to put it.

"Right," she answered.

"What kind of friend reminds you to do your work?" Hunter asked. "They're supposed to keep your mind off of it."

"A practical one," Aqune said. "You know, we did want to meet so we could study today."

"Yeah, let's not forget," said Corona.

The three had since found a new empty room to study in, and had managed to do so without incident for a couple of days. Still, they would spend some of the time talking, and did poorly on that math test anyway. They wondered if it would have helped if they had someone who actually knew the material to study with them.

Grasshop was writing notes furiously in his room. There was a mountain of crumpled papers behind him.

"I've gotta come up with the best plan ever!" he said. "Now that not even Stags managed to beat the new Spider Rider, this is my chance! When I'm the one who actually succeeds, first, Mantid-sama will shower me with praise. And second, he'll promote me to the Big Four top, instead of that loser, Buguese. I can't wait!"

As his door wasn't closed all the way, a messenger bug was able to fly in through the crack. It started to chirp something to him.

"Really? Mantid-sama has a mission for me? Alright!"

Magma sat with his back pressed against a tree. As a wanderer, he was used to living anywhere he had to. He didn't need the comforts of a house, not that he would've minded them either. So to stay in the woods wasn't a problem. It was something entirely different which was bothering him.

'Those guys say people are coming to this world from the Inner World,' he thought to himself. 'Well, I'm living proof. But, could Portia really have come here? Either way, sitting here idly isn't going to help me.'

Magma could never erase that fateful day from his memory. The day his village was attacked by Insectors. There was a deadly fire. Not one person survived. No one but him, that is. And it was all thanks to Brutus, who saved his life. His own little sister may have died, but Magma was going to return the favor, and help Brutus find his sister, Portia.

"Hey Brutus, do you really think Portia is in this world?" Magma asked.

"Maybe," Brutus said.

If she had come to another world, that at least would have explained why they never managed to find a trace of her in Arachna.

"Well, I guess this isn't so bad," Grasshop pondered out loud, as he headed off to his destination.

"Grasshop…" Mantid had told him. "I can see how much you want another chance to prove your worth."

"Yes sir," Grasshop said. "I will do anything."

"Anything?" Mantid echoed, smirking. "In any case, your mission is to take out the Spider Riders. The ones from the Inner World, that is. Aqune should be keeping Hunter Steele busy now, so they would be separated. If you can at least take out them, the enemy will be much weaker."

"Dealing with the other Spider Riders will be a piece of cake," he thought. "I even have a pretty perfect plan in mind."

"Hey, Magma, where are you going?" Igneous noticed their new ally was atop his spider, and seemed to be leaving.

"Don't know," Magma said. "But Portia isn't just going to pop up here."

"Yes, I understand that," Igneous said. "But it was Hunter's request for us not to let the Earthens learn we're here. If you're going around with a spider, that will definitely expose us."

"Yeah, and then you'll get experimented on," Lumen added. "At least that's what Hunter says. But he's an Earthen, so he must understand Earthens' thoughts better than we do. I'll take his word for it."

"If that's the price I have to pay, I'll take it," Magma decided. "I'm doing this for Brutus' sake, not for my own."

"Let's at least wait until Hunter gets back and talk this over with him," suggested Lumen. "It can't be much longer."

It didn't matter either way, as that was when Grasshop arrived on the scene. Three giant mechanical insects stood behind him.

"An Insector?!" Igneous shouted, frustrated.

"You're absolutely right," Grasshop said, mockingly. "And not just any Insector, but the one who will do the honor of beating you. I'd let you thank me, but you won't be able to do that when you're dead."

"Why would we thank you?!" yelled Igneous. Not that anyone ever needed to make sense of Grasshop. The knight drew out his blade. "You should leave now."

"Hold on a minute," Grasshop said. "At least let me explain the rules before you pull out weapons. See, there are three machines here, and three of you. So-"

"Four!" Sparkle interrupted, looking annoyed.

"Alright, I'll rephrase that. Three of you, plus a puny little girl."

Both Sparkle and Hotarla were glaring at him.

"Each of you fights a machine," Grasshop continued. "But if any one of you loses, then all of you have to surrender."

"That doesn't sound very fair," Lumen said.

"So you think you're going to lose?" asked Magma.

"No, I didn't say that," Lumen replied. "Just thought I'd point out the flaw in these rules. But very well. We accept."

"Oracle's Devotion!" Magma yelled.

"Oracle's Spirit!" followed Igneous.

"Oracle's Justice!" Now, they were all ready.

Igneous leapt at his target. A heavy blast of flames from his sword made contact. The machine was caught up in it. It began to melt.

Magma's mace collided with his opponent. The metal robot cracked, and it started to come apart.

A powerful blast of light came as Lumen swung his sword. The machine crashed to the ground, breaking on impact.

"We win," Magma said, smug.

"So what, you want me to cry now, right?" Grasshop asked. "Well, too bad. That was just round one."

"What?!" Igneous yelled.

Grasshop snapped his finger. The three machines started repairing themselves, and rose up from the ground.

"These are very resilient Machine-Sectors," Grasshop said. "They can even learn from their mistakes."

"Augh!" Igneous was hit by a burst of flames from his now reformed enemy.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Magma said. Then, the hand and arm of his machine foe changed shape, becoming a mace. It quickly flew down at Magma. He had no other choice but to dodge. If he countered, the weight of his own mace couldn't compare to one of that size.

"This is really annoying," Lumen complained, as he did his best to avoid the barrage of his own attack. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite dodge all of them.

"Now this is entertaining," said Grasshop.

"Hotarla, this is terrible," Sparkle said. "There has to be something we can do." However, she felt that even if she transformed, she still wouldn't be able to take down three giant machines. However, she did have one idea.

"Hunter! Corona!"

Both Riders heard a voice echo through their manacles. It would have been a problematic situation, had they been with anyone else but Aqune.

"That's Princess Sparkle!" Corona exclaimed. "Sparkle, what's wrong?"

"We're all in danger," she said. "Please, you have to come and help."

"We'll get there as fast as we can," Hunter assured.

"Another attack?" Aqune questioned. This one, she definitely hadn't heard about beforehand.

"Sounds like it," answered Corona.

"Sorry, Aqune," Hunter said. "We'd better go. It could take a while, so you might not want to wait around for us."

"Yes, I understand," she said. "Good luck."

"We never get a break," Hunter sighed. "Corona, are Insectors always this persistent?"

"Yeah, kind of," she replied.

True, Sparkle had called for help. But she didn't know how long it would take to arrive. Watching her teammates struggle wasn't helping to ease her worry either. The girl's eyes shifted to where Grasshop stood. He was still watching on with amusement.

"Hotarla," she said. "Try catching him with your web while he's not looking."

"Kyu!"

Of course, Grasshop wasn't expecting this assault. He was pulled to the floor suddenly, as tight threads encircled his body.

"Ahh! What are you doing?!" he yelled.

"You were wrong!" Sparkle declared. "This isn't three against three. Now it's four against four. You forgot to count yourself too."

"I… I didn't forget," he said. "It was just a convenient exclusion. It's no good getting your hands dirty."

"Sparkle!" Lumen was shocked, seeing what his sister had done. Of course, he was worried about her. But at the same time, he felt rather inspired.

"Justeen!" Lumen fired his attack once more. It collided with the incoming enemy blasts, at least protecting them from hitting him. That was his chance. The prince fired one more attack. This one hit, finally silencing the Machine-Sector. "I hope it's not coming back again," he sighed.

"No! That's impossible!" yelled Grasshop. "Well, fine! I still have two more chances to win. That's plenty."

"No, just one more!" Igneous corrected. His sword pierced the Machine-Sector, which finally burst.

Grasshop stuttered, but couldn't even come up with words to say, he was so annoyed. Instead, the Insector began struggling with the threads around him, hoping to undo them. Maybe he could escape at the very least.

"I'm not going to lose either!" Magma declared.

With an attack more intense than ever, he swung his mace right at the machine's. And only the Machine-Sector's weapon cracked. This time, it didn't reform afterwards.

Grasshop was scowling. He really lost?

It was at that moment when Hunter and Corona finally arrived.

"You needed help?" Hunter asked. But looking around, it didn't seem that way. All he could see were some very badly damaged machines.

"Guess not," said Corona, who looked at Hunter and shrugged.

"Any more tricks, Insector?" Magma asked. He approached Grasshop threateningly.

"Oh man… how am I gonna explain this to Mantid-sama?" muttered Grasshop.

"Tell him that you lost," Magma said. "Now that you're at our mercy, answer this. You've been in this world longer than me, so do you know anything about a purple spider?"

"Huh?" it was an odd question, but Grasshop could definitely recall one. The one partnered with Aqune. "Oh, that spider? Yeah, I've seen it. But it's Insector property, sorry to say."

"You have Portia?!" Magma exclaimed, incredulous.

"Not me. Buguese. Beat him up instead." Then Grasshop finally burst out of the webbing. He quickly started hopping away.

Magma thought of pursuing him, but decided it wasn't worth it.

"Buguese has the spider you're looking for?" Hunter wondered. "But… why?" It was kind of strange to him, because what use could a spider be to Insectors anyway?

"I have no idea," Magma said. "But that's the clue I needed. I'm going to get her back."