Sasha had been training for days since Grime was away. Their plan to start a rebellion against the king of Amphibia, and establish a place where toads ruled Amphibia. Sasha was still trying to figure out what happened to her all those weeks ago, but even now it was all a blur. In any case, it did not matter. What did matter was Sasha getting Grime's coup underway, finding Marcy, getting things settled with Anne, and possibly find their way back home. That last part would come after things had been settled here in Amphibia, she was not about to leave Grime hanging after everything he did for her.
Currently, Sasha was busy riding around on her new bike. She had an altercation with a Fallen about two weeks ago, and it ended up with her needing an extra boost of speed. That boost came in the form of her bike, Machine Burner. It was, in her words, "A sick bike!", it sort of resembled a Harley Davidson bike, but more high-tech and it had flaming wheels, literally, the wheels were made of fire. Surprisingly they did not set anything on fire, which was good as she did not want to leave behind a trail of fire wherever she went, or accidentally sent a town or a forest ablaze.
For a bit the monsters had not attacked her, which was a relief since they needed to get this rebellion off the ground and getting hounded by monsters every other week was starting to get annoying. Luckily, Grime had managed to convince two of the three remaining Toad Towers to come and hear them out on their plan. They just needed one more tower to agree to the meetup and everything could start going as planned.
As Sasha rode down the dirt road, she could not help but admire her new armor. It was a stylish red color, much better looking than her raggedy old brown colored armor. Her cape was a bit of patch job and had a white eye with a scar painted on it that matched her left shoulder pauldron. Percy's little touch and homage to Captain Grime.
Currently, Sasha was on her way to join with Grime, Percy, and Braddock. Aside from training on her own, most of her time was spent drumming up rumors and spreading the word of the toads getting together. Sasha was the gossip queen, among other titles she held at Saint James Middle School, and her ability to get information spread quickly and efficiently about a possible coup was no different than spreading rumors that Cindy Wilson, another of the popular girls, was dating Patrick Lipski, the "nerd leader" of school. It did not matter if it was true or not, once it spread, it she was done.
That'll teach her to mess with my girls, thought Sasha.
Yes, the rumor was done in retaliation to Cindy Wilson messing with Anne and Marcy, mostly Marcy since she was the easier of the two to bully. Anne would stick up for Marcy, but the girl did not have the kind of…how shall we say, "tenacity" that Sasha had when it came to striking back.
Why can't you see that I'm just trying to keep us together, Anne?! Sasha sighed. Those three are lucky they're cute as hell, or I'd have found my own way home and left them here to rot!
Sasha sighed; she did not really mean that. Her frustration with coming to terms with her recent acknowledgement of he sexuality, feelings towards her friends, and the events at Toad Tower, were still fresh in her head. It was a chaotic storm in her heart and mind, mostly because she was not sure how she was going to confront Anne when this all started to go down. For sure, Anne would not approve of this rebellion plan, and more than likely, being the good girl she knew Anne was, would try to either talk Sasha out of it or stop her. But things would not go the same way they did before. Sasha had Kamen Rider powers, there was nothing Anne or anyone in Amphibia could do to stop her.
Although, I probably should start figuring out where these monsters are coming from. Even if this rebellion goes smoothly, it's not going to matter much if we get overrun by them. They've only been coming after me, one at a time, but if they decide to come out in full force, I don't know if I can take all of them on.
Sasha was aware of the common troupe of a Rider obtaining their Base Form, some mode changes, then their Super Form, followed by some possible mode changes, and then her Final Form. She knew better than to liken this whole thing to the same format as a cheesy kid's Japanese show, but at the same time she was kind of relying on that format. So far, she has obtained three different form changes, she figured her Super Form could not be far behind, and if she managed to achieve her Final Form, then it would be game over for any of those monsters, no matter how many showed up.
I may not be a total weeb like Marcy, but I've seen enough of those shows to know that once I get that form, I'll be unstoppable.
The blonde girl could not help but feel giddy at the prospect of obtaining that kind of power. Power enough that no one could deny her, power enough to do as she pleased, power enough to…Keep everyone together.
As Sasha drove, she spotted a couple of frogs in trouble. It had rained a couple of hours ago and the road had gotten muddy. Thankfully, Machine Burner released a heat aura that kept Sasha warm and dry as she rode through the storm, but it seemed the frogs were not so lucky. Their wagon's wheel seemed to be caught in the mud, and the snail they had did not seem strong enough to pull it free.
"C'mon, Frog Soos! Push!"
"I'm Tryin' Mr. Ponds!"
Sasha slowed her bike and pulled out her cellphone, checking her time. "Eh, I can spare some. 'Sides, I can use some good karma." Sasha rolled up on the two frogs and said, "Hey, need a hand?!"
"Oh, thank you we could–?" The one called Frog Soos was thick, with a large belly. He had a t-shirt with a question mark on it, a pair of shorts, and a hat on his head. However, when he looked at Sasha, he panicked. "Mr. Ponds! She's back!"
Mr. Ponds was an older frog, wearing a black suit, a red fez hat, and had an eyepatch over his right eye. The older frog yelled as well and whipped out his cane from the back of his wagon and took a defensive stance. "AAAH! Not again! I said I was sorry!"
"Whoa, take a chill pill. I'm not going to hurt you," said Sasha.
Frog Soos, who was hiding behind the wagon, peeked over it, and looked closer at Sasha. "Wait a minute, false alarm, she looks different."
Mr. Ponds slowly approached Sasha and looked her over. "Huh, now that you mention it, her hair's a different color, so are her eyes and skin. Didn't know there was another one of you running around Amphibia."
Sasha's eyes widened when she heard that. "Wait, 'another one of you', does that mean you've seen another human?! What did she look like?!"
"Uh, dark brown hair, brown skin, dark brown eyes, had some shirt on that had this shield with the letters, 'S', 'J', 'M', 'S'. Said her name was…uh…uh…" Mr. Ponds snapped his fingers, trying to remember the name.
"Anne?!"
"Yeah, that's her name, Anne. You know her?" Mr. Ponds asked.
Sasha was about to answer with a smile on her face, but it quickly disappeared as she replied, "Yeah…we know each other."
"Huh, doesn't sound good history there."
The blonde shook her head and retorted, "You want help or not? I have somewhere to be."
"Y-Yeah, sure! We just need to get the wagon out of the mud, and we'll be good to go," said Frog Soos.
Sasha dismounted her bike and walked over to the stuck wheel. After giving it quick look, Sasha got on one side of the wagon and grabbed it. Channeling her power, Sasha's eyes turned bright magenta as she lifted the wagon up, effortlessly getting it out of the mud and putting it back down on the ground gently. "There ya go."
Mr. Pond lifted the eyepatch, allowing both his eyes to widen with shock. "Holy Frog! Do all of you have strange powers?!"
"No…wait, are you saying you saw Anne do something similar?!" Sasha asked.
Mr. Ponds rubbed his chin as he thought for a moment. "Hey, what's say we make a deal?"
Sasha crossed her arms and gave the frog a narrow-eyed glare. "What kind of deal?"
"We got some goods in the wagon that bandits would love to get their hands, and it's pretty rough country to Bogtown. So, seein' as you have a sword, a strange metal riding thing, and are super strong, how about you be our bodyguard for the time bein', at least until we get to the next town," Mr. Ponds offered.
"And what do I get in exchange?" Sasha asked.
"Information on yer friend. I'll tell ya what I can, some here, some there, but the full story will be told once we get to there. What'd ya say?" Mr. Ponds offered his hand to shake.
Sasha's instincts were telling her to not take this deal, that something about this frog screamed "grifter". However, this was the first time she had heard anything about Anne since Toad Tower. If this frog could provide her with even a snippet of information that was useful, then it might be worth it. "Alright, I'm in. I'm heading to Bogtown anyway, so, guess we're traveling companions." Sasha took Mr. Ponds hand and shook, but then she dragged the frog closer to her as she added, "But if you try and double cross me, that eyepatch won't be just for decoration. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Good, let's get going."
Sasha was a little annoyed that she had to drive slower. She learned that snails in this world were not the slow creatures they were in hers. They could go pretty dang fast, probably not as fast her new bike, but they were pretty speedy creatures. However, that was not the case here, the muddy trail hindered both the snail and the wagon, so it was slow going. At best, Sasha estimated that they would arrive in Bogtown by nightfall. It wasn't too inconvenient, her comrades were not going to leave without her, so there was no worries that they would not be there.
"So, about Anne. How did she look when you saw her?" Sasha asked.
Mr. Ponds was taking it easy in the back of the wagon, while Frog Soos drove. The older frog hummed as he thought on Sasha's question. "Hmm, let's see. Well, she was healthy and alive if that's what you mean."
That's good at least. "Was she traveling with anyone?"
"Yeah, some frog family, looked like a bunch of country bumpkins, though."
Sasha grimaced at the mention of the Plantar family. She attributed Anne's changes to them, whatever they did or said changed Anne. And because of that, she disliked them, especially the pink frog boy. "Any idea where they were headed?"
"Last I remember, they said somethin' about Newtopia."
That raised Sasha's eyebrow. So, she is in Newtopia. Along with Marcy, Barrel did say two people I care about were in danger there. But for what reason? And did Anne find Marcy along the way or was Marcy there the whole time?
Mr. Ponds decided to ask his own questions. "Okay, my turn missy. You're the second one of youse I've seen. Where the heck are you from?"
Sasha rolled her eyes, apparently this was a quid pro quo moment. "Alright, I'm from a place called 'Earth', which is in another dimension."
"Wow, well, that explains a lot. So, again, do all of you have weird powers or somethin'?"
"Ugh, no, what I did earlier…it's weird even by human standards. To your question, are you saying that Anne had powers?" Sasha asked.
"Whoa yeah, eyes went blue and had all this lightning comin' off her, it was crazy," said Mr. Ponds.
Sasha had to take a moment to think about this. Anne had powers, too? And if the frog was telling the truth, she could use lightning. Did that mean she was a Kamen Rider as well? There's no way…I mean, what would be the odds of both of us getting Kamen Rider powers?! That'd be crazy! T-There's just no way that's possible!
"Hey, uh…did Anne happen to change at all? Like, did she have a strange looking belt and get armor or anything?" Sasha asked.
Mr. Ponds looked at her confused as he asked, "A 'belt', 'armor'?"
Just then Sasha felt something. "Hold up."
Sasha stopped her bike, and Frog Soos stopped along with her. The teen girl dismounted her bike and drew her pink crane sword. "Okay, whoever's out there, just come out and get your lumps. I have somewhere to be, and I don't want to be late." Just then, a few newts, frogs, and toads came rushing out of the bushes of the forest and surrounded them. "Called it."
"Tch, how the heck did you know we were there?" a toad asked.
"Not really the question you should be asking." Sasha narrowed her gaze as her eyes glowed magenta again. "What you should be asking is for mercy, and if you get on your hands and knees right now, I just might show it."
The bandits laughed raucously, they did not know what the girl was, but they definitely knew that one person was not enough to take on twelve of them.
"Okay. Hey, old man, big frog. You're my witnesses, I gave them a chance to surrender," said Sasha.
"Yep," said Mr. Ponds as he cowered in the wagon.
"Totally, dude," agreed Frog Soos.
Sasha twirled her sword around and got into a ready stance. Two toad bandits attacked her from the front, the first swung with his battle ax, but Sasha planted her feet and swung her sword upwards. With the power she put into her attack she struck the ax, shattering the blade in one hit. The toad was shocked to say the least, but Sasha was not done yet. She grabbed the frog by his leather armor and tossed him into four of his fellow bandits, knocking them over like bowling pins. The second toad bandit tried to attack while Sasha's back was turned, but she merely side stepped to the left, and once he was close enough, punched him the face with her left fist.
Thanks to her increased strength, her punch sent the bandit flying into a tree, crashing right into it before knocking right out. Two down, ten to go. Sasha decided to make quick work of the lanky looking newts as she dashed straight towards them. She clotheslined the first one with her outstretched arm, making the newt gag before falling to the ground hard. Sasha spun around and struck the back of the second newt's head with the flat of her sword, instantly knocking the second newt out. Eight to go. Sasha threw her sword into the air, just above where the two frogs were, that caused them to scatter out of fear that the sword would fall and stab them.
However, that was a distraction as Sasha ran straight towards the diverging pair, and swept the frog's legs, and swiftly punched them across the face. The second frog saw this and was about to attack, but Sasha held out her right hand and grabbed her sword hilt just in time to block the sword strike of the frog. Their blades rang in the air, but Sasha was the first to recover, and knocked the sword of the frog out of their hand before spinning around and throwing a roundhouse kick to their head. Two more down, four to go.
The last four were toads, big ones. Sasha had had enough and decided to drive the point home that they were not going to win this fight in the slightest. Sasha went through her transformation motions and summoned her MetamorphRing Driver, appearing around her waist in a ring of fire. "Henshin." A dome of fire appeared around Sasha, and when it fell, she was transformed into Kamen Rider Bellona. The remaining four toads dropped their weapons out of sheer terror when they saw Bellona, even more so when they saw her pick up her crane sword and watched it transform into the Phoenix Wing. "So, are you guys ready to take this to the next level?" The four toad bandits glanced at each other, and then quickly went to work picking up their fallen comrades before running away. Bellona glanced over her shoulder and said, "This is what I meant. Did she do anything like what I did?"
Frog Soos and Mr. Ponds shook their heads back and forth.
Bellona sighed. Good, maybe Anne just learned some crazy magic from this world or something.
"THAT WAS AMAZIN'! I'VE NEVER SEEIN' ANYTHIN' LIKE IT!" Mr. Ponds exclaimed.
Sasha could not help but feel proud of Mr. Ponds' amazement. "It was nothing."
"Kid, you just took out eight bandits, and scared the livin' daylights out the last four with whatever it is you did! I mean – wow! Have you ever thought about goin' into show biz with that?! Let me be your partner, we'll rake in a whole heap of money," said Mr. Ponds.
Sasha smirked and remarked, "Thanks, but I got my own thing I'm doing. And the payoff will be way better."
Bogtown was just ahead, and not a moment too soon. As they got to the town gates, the tarp for the goods inside of the wagon was removed as it caught onto a nail that was sticking out of the sign and managed to pull it off completely. When the tarp was off, Sasha turned around and saw that it was some kind of machine, complete with tubes and other things.
"What the heck is that thing?" Sasha asked.
"Oh, it's just the wax machine we were goin' to use to trap Anne in wax and put her on display in wax museum. Which is gone now."
Sasha's left eye twitched. "What did you say?"
"Uh, nothin'! Nothin'! You can't really take anything he says seriously, guy licks himself and it makes him go," Mr. Ponds twirled his finger near his head.
Sasha got off her bike and pushed past Mr. Ponds, grabbed Frog Soos by the collar of his shirt, and asked him directly, "What did you two do to Anne?!" Mr. Ponds looked as if he was about to say something, but Sasha beat him to it as she shot him a death glare with her glowing eyes. "Don't you say a word! Remember what I said about your eyepatch?! You want that eye out now?!" Mr. Ponds kept his mouth shut. "Talk! Now!"
Frog Soos gulped as he spilled the beans about how their encounter with Anne really went. Luring her back the museum with the promise of information about an old skip man, drugging her with some concoction that made it so Anne could not use her powers. And the eventual destruction of the heap that was in the back of their wagon, and how Anne let them go.
"So, you drugged my friend, and tried to imprison her in wax for the rest of her life. Okay." Sasha dropped Frog Soos and drew her sword. "I have a legitimate reason now to chop you guys up! Congratulations, you'll be my first murder in this or any world!"
"Wait, wait, we're sorry, kid! We've gone straight…ish. The whole reason we're here is ta sell that thing for some spare cash!" Mr. Ponds begged.
"Oh-ho-ho, we're waaaaaaay past sorry!" Sasha threatened as she walked to Mr. Ponds, dragging her sword against the dirt.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
Sasha looked at Mr. Ponds in confusion. "I haven't even touched you, yet."
"That wasn't me, kid…oh shoot…" Mr. Ponds started to point to something behind her.
Sasha turned around and her expression dropped. "You have got to be kidding me…"
A lumbering beast of a Fallen was walking towards her, it was a black colored beetle, standing on two legs, and had four arms. It resembled the likes of an atlas beetle, with two curved horns that sprouted just above the shoulder blades and pointed towards the air. A third horn grew from the top of its head and had a forward-facing curve. Its top set of arms were bigger than the second set, so much so that it was using them to walk like a gorilla. The arms were rounded, with some kind of vents around the hand, and a piston like protrusion on each of the bigger arms. The bottom set of arms were half as big as the ones up top and sported two five-foot-long blades that grew out of its exoskeleton, and on its chest were white markings, the thirteen eyes of The Night. The Fallen's green eyes glowed when it zeroed in on Sasha, it brought up its huge arms and knocked its fists against each other in a show of intimidation.
"Oh, I so don't have time for this 'monster of the week' BS! YOU!" Sasha pointed her sword at Mr. Ponds. "You're staying right there, because after I'm done with that thing, I'm coming for you! And don't even think about running, trust me, it'll just make your end a hundred times more painful than it would've if you hadn't!"
Mr. Ponds just gulped and nodded.
Sasha turned around and summoned her MetamorphRing Driver. Once it was on, she cried out, "Henshin!" A dome of fire appeared around the teen cheerleader captain, and once dispersed, revealed Kamen Rider Bellona. The crane sword transformed into her Phoenix Wing sword, and with a twirling flourish, Bellona readied herself. "You picked the wrong day you giant cockroach! RAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Bellona charged the Atlas Beetle Fallen as it chittered and raised its large right fist, bringing it down where Bellona was going to be, but the Rider feinted to the left, missing its attack entirely. The Phoenix Wing ignited as she slashed at the Fallen's chest, dragging her blade across it before skidding to a halt a few feet behind it. Bellona turned around to see what damage she had done, but when the Atlas Beetle Fallen turned around, it was not damaged at all, there was barely a scratch on it.
"What the…"
The Atlas Fallen cocked back its right fist, the piston part of its arm extended back as if preparing to do something. When the monster punched forward, that same piston came down like a hammer, and when it did, a burst of pressurized air came roaring towards Bellona. The Rider of fire held her ground as the air blast struck her, when it threatened to throw her back, she quickly stabbed her sword into the ground to prevent herself from getting thrown. She was still being pushed, cutting a long, ten-foot groove into the earth before stopping.
Bellona had to admit, that attack hurt a little. The buffeting power of the air pressure wracked her body even through the armor. "Okay, if that's how you want to play, I can punch hard, too!" Bellona stood up and pressed down on the left hip device, transforming her entire left arm into an armored gauntlet, and entering Cestus Form. She quickly grabbed Phoenix Wing with her right hand and ignited the boosters on gauntlet. In just a matter of seconds, Bellona rocketed towards her opponent, the monster cocked back its left fist and prepared the piston. Once the two were in striking distance, both Bellona and the Atlas Fallen threw their punches. The piston fell and fired off its pressure blast, but at the same time, the gauntlet released a burst of its own energy and fired its rocket boosters again.
A powerful shockwave exploded out from the point of contact, knocking both the Rider and Fallen back a couple of steps. But thanks to Bellona's boosters, she was able to pivot in the air and come back with another punch, however, the two lower arms of the Atlas Beetle Fallen rose and slashed her across the chest, causing sparks to fly off from her body. Bellona backed away, the Cestus Form increased her speed and attack power, but it suffered from lowering her defensive strength. The Rider of fire was about to attack again, but then the Atlas Fallen did something new.
The creature fell forward onto all six of its limbs as an exoskeletal plate slid over its face. The three horns began to spark with green energy in the form of lightning. That lightning shot out and formed a sphere of energy at the center of the three horns. That sphere grew bigger and bigger by the second, which it did not take a genius to figure out what the Fallen was about to do. Bellona was about to move out of the way, but when she looked over her shoulder, she saw several of the Bogtown citizens were still getting out of the battle zone. Plus, Grime, Braddock, and Percy were still in the town somewhere. If she let that attack go through, who knew how many people the ensuing explosion or beam would kill.
Bellona tossed the Phoenix Wing into the air, disengaged her Cestus Form, and pressed down on the right device. Her right arm completely transformed, now brandishing her Aegis in Scutum Form. Bellona planted her feet and brought Aegis up, ready to intercept the coming attack as she caught her sword with her left hand. The Atlas Beetle Fallen released the collected energy in the form of a huge sphere of crackling energy, the power of the sphere tore up the ground in its wake as it headed right for Bellona. The Rider of fire braced herself as the ball of energy impacted against her Aegis, causing her to grunt loudly and grit her teeth. The sphere released arcs of green lightning that zapped her again and again, making sparks fly off her armor with each subsequent attack. It felt as if she was trying to stop a fully loaded freight train that had an electric battering ram.
Suddenly the orb was starting to reach critical mass. Realizing this, Bellona dug her heels into the dirt and pushed with all her might, sending the sphere high into the sky. When it reached about a thousand feet, the sphere blew up, causing a huge explosion that shook the air. Bellona's eyes widened with shock, had she not deflected that attack, the entire town would've been wiped out. Unfortunately, the Atlas Fallen took advantage of her distracted state and barreled into her, shoulder first. Bellona was sent flying backwards and smashed through the wall of a building. The Atlas Beetle Fallen chased after her, smashing through the same hole and making it bigger. It spotted Bellona, picked her up, and then tossed her back out through the roof.
Bellona descended at an arching angle before landing back in the middle of town square. The Atlas Beetle Fallen jumped straight out of the building and appeared as a shadow above her. The beetle monster cocked back both of its fists and had both pistons extend.
Oh…shiiiitake mushrooms…
The Atlas Fallen punched with its left fist, firing off its pressurized air blast. The blast came down on Bellona like a hammer, smashing right into her and cracking the earth around the warrior. Bellona managed to bring the Aegis up to block most of the attack, but even her shield was having a hard time withstanding it. The Atlas Beetle Fallen cocked back its left fist and punched with the right, sending another wave forward. The second wave struck just as hard, creating a deeper depression around Bellona and hitting her body with more of the oppressive force. The Fallen kept at it, firing one punch off after the other, using the force it generated from the attack to keep it suspended in the air right above Bellona as it rained down the attacks again and again. Even with Scutum, the attacks were wearing down on her body, making it hard for her to keep Aegis raised. But she knew if she didn't, she'd be subjected to the full brunt of the attacks.
The Atlas Fallen flipped itself in midair, bringing its three horns into firing position. The green electrical energy gathered within a few seconds and created another orb, but this one was only half as big as the last one. The Fallen fired it, letting it sail all the way down to Bellona. When it hit, the hole exploded, obscuring the red warrior from view. The Atlas Fallen landed some feet away from the smoking crater and chittered curiously. It was unsure if Bellona was dead and wanted to make sure its mission was complete. Just then, a gust of wind ripped through the smoke, allowing the Fallen to see its adversary still standing, but barely. Bellona had suffered a lot of damage, her armor was blackened in some areas, scuffed in others, and that's only on the armor. Inside, her body felt as if her bones wanted to break any minute. She had been knocked out of Scutum Form, and right now, she was out of options.
Cestus has the power and speed to overwhelm him…and Scutum has the defensive strength to withstand his attacks…I know my flames can hurt him if I can get through that armor…Did these monsters send me a midboss? I'd be flattered if I wasn't getting my ass kicked…
The Atlas Fallen squinted with displeasure that Bellona was still alive, but it could tell that the warrior was nearly done for. It assumed its firing position and charged up, knowing that this next shot would be more than enough to finish her. Time seemed to slow down, and when this happened, Sasha groaned. Appearing right in front of her was the Magenta Spirit, despite not having a face, she could feel that the spirit was smirking at her.
"You look like you're in a bit of a tight spot, huh?"
No kidding, what was your first clue?!
"Feisty as ever, and in the face of your imminent demise. I like that."
Are you here to do anything helpful? If not, just disappear! I have a monster to destroy!
"You think you can still win this fight?" the spirit asked as she crossed her arms.
Sasha Waybright doesn't give up!
The Magenta Spirit sighed heavily. "Stubborn as the day is long. Fine then, I was hoping you'd mature a little more before you were ready for this next level of power. But you can't die, not here, not yet. There's still much for you to accomplish, and I do hate seeing a young flame snuffed out before its time. So, Sasha Waybright…" The Magenta Spirit held out her right hand and pointed it at Sasha. "I release your restraints!"
Magenta chains suddenly became visible around Bellona, and in that instant, all of them snapped and shattered, crumbling to pieces around her. The moment this happened, Sasha felt a surge of power coursing through her body, relieving her of the pain her body felt. Bellona stood tall and strong as she stabbed the Phoenix Wing into the ground and pressed down on both devices. At that same time, the Atlas Beetle Fallen fired its electro orb, like a cannon shot it flew through the air and was about to hit Bellona. But before it could, a dome of swirling magenta, gold, and purple light wrapped around the warrior. The sphere of energy grinded against the dome, but it was unable to break through. The swirling dome released a burst of energy that forced the orb to ascend high into the air before exploding at twice the height of the last one. The Atlas Fallen got out of its firing mode and looked down to see what had happened to Bellona.
When the dome came down, Bellona had entered the strongest state of her base form. The bracer and pauldron of Scutum had formed on her right arm, while the gauntlet and pauldron of Cestus was on her left. The markings of both forms appeared on Bellona's armor, forming intricate patterns on the chest plate and on her helmet, and lastly, the MetamorphRing crystal center was divided into the three different colors of her three base forms.
Bellona grabbed the Phoenix Wing with Cestus, and immediately the blade was engulfed in flames. "Trinity Form: Proud Fighter!"
The Atlas Fallen released a screeching noise and charged straight for Bellona. The Rider of fire did the same, thrusting out with Cetus and igniting the rocket boosters. She reached the monster within seconds, cut the boosters, and slammed into the monster shield first, knocking the Fallen backwards. The Atlas Beetle Fallen stumbled for a few seconds before regaining its balance and raised its fists in preparation to strike. Bellona came down with her flaming sword, but the Atlas Fallen caught it in the middle with its two blades, forming an "X" pattern. The left fist came down, but she blocked with Aegis. The piston fell and a concussive blast of pressurized air was blasted, however, unlike last time, Bellona did not budge.
The warrior parried the two blade arms, and quickly slashed upwards, leaving a flaming streak in her wake. The Fallen screeched, it felt that. In fact, when it looked down, it saw that a large gash had been cut into its exoskeletal armor, the wound having been cauterized due to the intensity of the flames. Bellona jumped back and swung her right arm, releasing the Aegis. It cut through the air like a flying saucer and struck the Atlas Fallen right in the head, sending it reeling back again.
The big bug screeched in frustration as it started firing off its concussive punches one after the other. Bellona swiped her right hand out in front of her, and instantly summoning six of her Aegis shields. The shields floated in the air as they formed a defensive line, protecting Bellona from the attacks. The red warrior stood there as the monster kept attacking, but to no avail. The Atlas Fallen screeched in frustration again and got into its firing position, the energy built up into a huge sphere and released it without a moment's hesitation. Bellona held out her right hand had, mentally commanding the Aegis' to get into their own formation. The shields instantly surrounded the sphere of energy and held it place. The sphere soon reached critical mass and exploded, forcing the shields to expand. All six of the Aegis shields released their own energy, creating a containment zone that nullified the explosion, and even more, absorbed the power of the explosion.
Once that had been done, the shields were glowing a bright golden color. When the Atlas Beetle Fallen got out of its firing stance, Bellona charged in again, switching the Phoenix Wing to her right hand as she came in with a haymaker and struck the monster across the face with her Cestus. Bellona pivoted on her right foot and spun, slashing with her sword, and cutting the monster across its chest. Sparks flew from the attack, along with it forming another large gash. The Atlas Beetle Fallen was going to attack with its blade arms, but two of the Aegis shields flew in and blocked them, allowing Bellona to slash through both of those arms.
The monster reeled back in pain from the loss of its limbs, but it pressed on, about to come down with its left fist. However, Bellona intercepted, hitting its fist with Cestus before it could have the chance to attack. A surge of energy went through the gauntlet's spikes and fired straight into the arm of the Fallen, causing cracks to form along its arm that surged all the way to the piston, and shattered it. Stubbornly, the Atlas Fallen tried again, but was not fast enough as Bellona struck again, using the boosters to spin around and deliver another punch to the right fist of the monster. The surge went through it again, cracking the exoskeleton and shattering the piston. Bellona leaped over the monster and used her sword to cut off all three of its horns, taking away its cannon. Once she was behind it, she kicked off it, making the monster stumble forward until it was a few feet away from her and standing at the center of the crater.
Bellona jumped up into the air and commanded the shields to appear below her as steps to help her ascend higher. Once she was above the crater, the wing fins on the sides of her helmet flared open. The lines on her armor began to glow, gathering energy. Bellona hoisted the Phoenix Wing into the air with the Cestus and had the six shields set up on either side of it. The energy that they had stored transferred to the sword and the Cestus, causing the pauldrons and greave and gauntlet to fuse with the sword to take on a pure energy form that was made up of the combined powers of the Cestus, Scutum, and Fire Forms. Bellona took hold of the wild energy, and once she did, the energy took the shape of a tri-colored, nine-foot-long sword. The symbol of Bellona appeared in front of her, and then swirled until it had gathered into both of her arms.
"Choke on this!"
Bellona slashed towards the monster, and from the blade fired a huge beam of tri-colored light that roared towards the Fallen, engulfing it in a beam of pure power and completely obliterating any traces of it from this plain of existence. The resulting explosion was huge, causing the crater to expand a few more inches, just barely close to where Mr. Ponds and Frog Soos were. When it was over, Bellona landed on the opposite side of the crater, not too far away from where her other engagement was. The red warrior huffed and panted, dropping to one knee as her Trinity Form released itself, returning to her civilian form.
Sasha managed to pick herself up and headed towards the two frogs she had threatened earlier. "Okay…now that that's done with…where…were…we…" Sasha got in a few more steps before the exhaustion finally got to her. However, before she could faceplant, someone caught her. Sasha weakly glanced to her right and saw that it was Grime. "Hey…Grimesy."
"You fought hard, Sasha, take a moment to rest," said Grime.
"No, I gotta deal with those two first," said Sasha as she pointed to the two frogs.
Just then, she spotted Braddock and Percy on either side of the frogs, detaining them.
"We got them, not to worry. Now, pass out already, that's an order."
"Will…do…"
Sasha passed out.
Sasha felt achy all over, but there was also a deep sense of satisfaction that came with it. She had finally gotten stronger, but now that those, apparent, chains were broken, Sasha felt that she could get much stronger now. Currently the blonde was resting in a room that Grime had secured for them, her armor was stripped and placed on a chair in the corner of the room, and she was not alone. Leaning against the nightstand was the Magenta Spirit.
"So, it was you who was keeping me from getting stronger," said Sasha.
"Partially, yes. I was only one of the things holding back your true potential." The Magenta Spirit waved her hand over Sasha. "These other chains are of your making."
Sasha's looked down at herself as she pulled back the blankets, and indeed, there were other chains on her. "How long have they been there?!"
"Since day one. You've shattered a couple of them when you gained your other two forms. I had to release the next set myself or else you would've died."
Sasha glanced at the spirit and asked, "So, what, you want me to thank you?"
"I never asked for one. Nor do I expect one, at least, not in the near future, anyway." The Magenta Spirit waved her hand again and made the chains disappear. "Your growth has been slow, Sasha Waybright. Slow, but not stalled."
Sasha swung her legs over the edge and sat up. "Ugh, I don't know what you want from me?! Is this about not admitting that I like Anne?! Fine, I do! There I said it! I like how annoyingly optimistic she can be, I like how she can be a dork in her own right, I like how hot she looks when she's out there doing something sportsy, and I like how much family means to her!" Sasha panted from letting all that out. "…and maybe I have a crush on Marcy, too."
The Magenta Spirit smiled, in the metaphorical sense. "Well, I do think that is a step in the right direction. And I can't give you the answer, Sasha Waybright, only you can discover that yourself. For now, this will be the last time we speak. When next we meet, I hope you will have become the best version of yourself."
Sasha watched as the Magenta Spirit vanished from her sight. The cheerleading captain clicked her tongue as she crossed her arms. "Tch, 'best version of yourself'. I already am the best version of myself." Sasha got up from the bed slowly and made her way to the door.
Once she had opened it, she found Percy and Braddock still guarding the two frogs, while Grime was sitting on a backwards facing chair. The trio noticed her arrival and smiled at her in relief.
"How ya feeling, Sash?" Percy asked.
"I'm alright, got a power upgrade out of it, at least," Sasha replied.
"Good to hear, Lieutenant. While you were sleeping, I've had a talk with your traveling companions. I wanted to know what drew your ire, and after hearing them, it wasn't hard to figure out," said Grime.
Mr. Ponds was on his knees and clasped his hands together as if he was going to pray. "Please, spare us! I'm a great uncle, I got a niece and a nephew waitin' for me and Frog Soos back home!"
"Silence!" Grime ordered. Mr. Ponds shut right up. "Far be it from me to tell you how to handle your business. But I'd consider what you want to do. You know that soon you'll have to put Anne in a difficult position, a position that will make her choose a side. Do you really want to spill their blood over something you might have to do yourself?"
Sasha tightened her right fist. "It may come to me having to imprison Anne, but if I do, I'm not going to encase her in wax like this guy did!"
"I swear, I don't do that no more!"
"He really doesn't, dude!" Frog Soos added.
"SHUT IT!" Sasha barked as she reached into her ponytail and pulled out a dagger.
"AAAH!" Mr. Ponds yelped, and in so doing allowed his wallet to come flying out of his coat pocket.
The wallet skittered across the floor until it hit Sasha's foot. The human girl picked it up and opened it, and inside she found photos of the niece and nephew Mr. Ponds spoke about. Some of the events in the pictures were questionable since some depicted them making counterfeit money and running away from some constables. There were others that were more along the lines of typical family time, fishing out on a lake, doing silly things, or pulling a prank on someone.
As Sasha looked at these photos, she was reminded of times before…times when things were happier for her. After a minute, Sasha tossed the wallet back at Mr. Ponds. "I've decided to spare your lives." Mr. Ponds and Frog Soos were elated. "But, in exchange for one thing."
"You got it! Name it and it's yours!" Mr. Ponds exclaimed.
Sasha stepped closer and looked the old frog in the eyes. "Tell me what it is you used to make Anne unable to use her powers, and how exactly you made it."