In the world of Amphibia, evil did not rest. It had been three days since Andrias had begun rebuilding the ancient Amphibian robotic forces of old. The factories were operating at one hundred percent efficiency, and since then, Andrias had uploaded schematics for new robot models that he knew would aid in the conquest of Earth, and with the subjugation of his fellow Amphibians who did not toe the line. Currently, the huge monarch was in his bed chambers, sitting at the edge of his bed as he looked down at the floor and sighed ruefully.
The images of his deed from three days ago continued to replay in his head over and over again. He was so filled with rage and fear about losing the music box again that it forced him to do something he did not want to. He stabbed Marcy Wu with his sword. If it wasn't for her Rider powers, that blow would've killed her instantly, but her powers kept her alive just long enough to get her to a rejuvenation tank. Her life was saved, but it would take a while for her body to heal from a wound that was normally fatal.
When Andrias was alone, although he would deny it, he shed tears. He looked to one of the walls of his room where a fist sized hole stared back at him. A byproduct of his rage against himself for doing what he did. There were emotions swirling inside of him, emotions he thought he had discarded centuries ago, but his time spent with Marcy had rekindled those emotions, you might say, she warmed his cold heart. But that didn't matter anymore, now was the time to fix the mistakes of the past. Besides, the longer Marcy remained in that tank, the more time it provided Andrias to convince his master to find a different candidate.
After collecting his thoughts and steeling himself, Andrias placed his crown atop his head and walked out of his chambers. The few newts that willingly stayed in the castle would stop to bow to him, noticeably trembling. It was a stark contrast to before he reactivated the lost technology of Amphibia. Before, they would bow to him with smiles on their faces, but now, they're expressions were either neutral, or ones of repressed fear. Strangely enough, Andrias wasn't sure if he liked that. As he walked, Andrias could see the flashes of lightning as rain poured down from the clouds around the floating castle. Dozens upon dozens of Frobots stood sentry outside, some flying through the air as they patrolled the skies.
Eventually, Andrias returned to his throne room, where the music box remained. Three days reprieve was long enough, it was time to finally get down to business. Andrias stepped up to the music box and tapped on it in a specific sequence. The room hummed with power as a section of the floor rose up, and from it appeared a Frobot, but this one was different from the others. Compared to the bulkier Frobots, this was one had was slender in appearance, with long arms that dragged onto the floor, and at the ends had four long blades for claws. Its shoulder pauldrons were large, and sported five large metal studs, and tubes that were connected to its chest. The robot's head resembled that of the others, but this one sported a creepy smile, and a curved horn crest.
Andrias walked up to the robot and pressed on a panel on the robot's chest, making it open. "Time to see if we can make this work, Master."
Andrias looked to his right as a pedestal rose from the floor to his left, and on that pedestal was a crystal orb with darkness swirling inside of it. Andrias took the crystal ball and inserted it into a designated spot in the robot's chest, alongside an insurance policy. Andrias closed the robot's chest and stood back.
Once he had, the robot jerked back and forth as black lightning surged around its metal body. For a moment, Andrias thought it was going to explode like the others, but after a few seconds, the black lightning settled and vanished, and the robot came online.
"Huh, well I'll be, it seems the experiment was a success," said Andrias.
"As we suspected."
"However, we must use this sparingly until our host is ready."
"We've expanded much of our power already. Incorporating it into these robots will cut down on the expenditure of having to metamorphosize a living creature."
"The metals used for this one are quite hard to come by, we'll need to increase mining productivity, if we want to make more of them. For now, I suggest we use this sparingly," Andrias suggested.
"It is agreed."
The robot looked up at Andrias and gave a sinister snicker and said, {What do you command, my King?}
Andrias smiled as he walked over to the music box. "My plans are in motion. Our forces are growing, and soon we will be ready to invade. Only one remains who could stand between me and my conquest." Andrias pressed on one of the gemstones, funneling the power of the box through the pedestal below as a holographic screen appeared behind him, showing Anne and Sprig. "Her name is Anne Boonchuy."
{Anne Boonchuy.}
"She must be eliminated. This is your prime objective, Cloak Bot. Scan the blue gemstone, her powers are linked to it. If you find traces of it, then you'll find her."
Cloak Bot fixed its red robotic eyes on the blue gemstone, its sensors scanned the gemstone, copying its unique energy signature. {Energy signature acquired.}
Andrias nodded approvingly. "Excellent. Now, this mission requires the utmost discretion. Earth cannot know of the coming invasion; it is for this reason why you were built with unique capabilities. And make sure no one sees you." Andrias pressed on the gemstones again and created a portal to Earth. Just as Cloak Bot was about to walk through it, the newt king remembered something. "And one more thing."
Cloak Bot turned to its creator.
"Would you mind picking me up the latest Cynthia Coven book?" Andrias asked as he held up the book in question. "Marcy got me hooked and I'm dying to know what happens next. And maybe some of those 'potato chip' things she had."
Cloak Bot cocked its head to the side and asked, {Eliminate potato chips?}
"Too many commands I see. All right, forget the chips. Kill the girl. Get the book. That's all."
Cloak Bot nodded and stepped through the portal, disappearing in a flash of light.
Andrias sighed. The assassin was sent, now all that was left to do was to get things rolling on Amphibia and strengthen their forces. Andrias pressed down on the box once more, and the floor opened up behind him. From the wide opening, a tank rose out of the floor. This tank had green colored liquid inside and floating within that liquid was Marcy Wu. She was outfitted with a special suit once her wound finally healed and closed up. She was fitted with an oxygen mask to allow her to breathe inside the liquid, while various wires ran down from the top of the tank to the suit itself.
It was a shame, their regeneration tech was built more for Amphibians, so, unfortunately, the young Taiwanese teen would have a permanent scar in the middle of her chest and back. While the damage had been healed, the scar would remain until time made it fade away. But he doubted such a large scar would fade easily.
However, that was a minor thing. For what was in store for Marcy was going to be far worse than what he did. "Well, Marcy, your girlfriends are about to be eliminated from the equation. And as far as your concerned, my dear, your part is just beginning."
Next to the tank was a device, it was oblong and square shaped. Both ends of the device had orange eye slits, with the center having a circular orange crystal. Ancient runes flowed up and down the crystal, as if it was a computer being fed data. Andrias knew what this device was, and what it's ultimate use would be. And right now, he wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.
It took a minute for Anne to finally setup the Plantars' disguises. But in the end, Anne managed to put together something convincing, well, convincing enough anyway. Hop Pop was dressed in a trench coat and hat, with some red rimmed glasses, and some claydough that she poked two holes into to form a nose. She had Sprig and Polly form a singular person, covering themselves with a long, small trench coat. She had originally planned for Sprig to be the bottom half, while Polly would be the top, but Polly insisted on being the bottom half as she wanted to take her legs out for a spin. She couldn't blame the pollywog as she did just get them and was, at this point, looking for any excuse to use them.
Once the disguises were donned, the Boonchuy's and Plantars hopped into the van and headed to the store. Along the way, the Plantars were oohing and awing at the different stores and sights. They got to see a few things on the walk to Anne's house, but this was different. Plus, they were riding in a metal wagon that wasn't being pulled by a snail, beetle, or crab. The van pulled into the parking lot of the "99 Ranchers" store, Anne, Sprig, and Polly were very vocal in their excitement, which for Anne was a new feeling as she never thought she'd be this elated to be going to the supermarket.
Thankfully, they managed to get through the supermarket without any incident, and Anne was able to impress her parents with how responsible she was after her parents had forgotten the grocery list, but Anne remembered to take a picture of it before they left the home. There were several times she had to wrangle in her froggy family, with Sprig pointing and asking if something was a robot, Polly wanting to buy a lotto ticket, and Hop Pop sniffing a durian. That last one was funny, she admitted. Then she introduced them to the wonder food that was noodles, and all was right with the world.
Once they got back, Anne helped her parents take down the groceries, when they were in the kitchen, her parents decided to talk to her about something.
"Anne," Bee started, "your mother and I have been talking. And we think that we're going to end the lockdown."
"Really?!" Anne exclaimed.
"Yes. You handled yourself really well back at the market. You kept the Plantars safe, and out of trouble. You even helped with getting the rest of the groceries while you were at it." Oum sighed as she stood in front of her daughter. "I know we've been overprotective, and yes, it is because we've missed you so much and are worried about losing you again."
Anne opened her arms and hugged her mother tightly. "Mom, I'm not going anywhere." It was a half-truth. She did intend to go back to Amphibia, but that didn't mean she was leaving in the other sense. "I'm back home, and I'm here with you guys."
Bee walked up next to Anne and ruffled her hair. "We know, it's just gonna take us some time to fully grasp that. But that's not an excuse to keep you cooped up forever."
Anne separated from her mother and hugged her father, too. Afterwards, she released him and asked them, "Hey, do you two mind if I ride my bike around the block for a bit? I promise I'll be back, say…" Anne looked at the clock. "Thirty minutes?"
Oum and Bee glanced at each other, Anne could see some reluctance in their gazes, but in the end, they nodded their okay.
"Half an hour, and you call us the moment you heading back," said Oum.
"No prob." Anne went into the living room where the Plantars were watching TV and said, "Hey, guys, lockdown's over. Mom and Dad said they'll let us out now."
"Whoo-hoo!" Sprig and Polly celebrated.
"Glad you were able to convince them, Anne. Ah can't wait to have a look around yer world," said Hop Pop.
"Yep, but in the meantime, I'm going to head out for a bit."
"Oh! Oh! Can we come with you?!" Sprig asked.
Anne rubbed the back of her head as she said, "Eh, not this time. I need to refine yours and Polly's human disguises. The trench coat thing works for both of you, but you'll need something more individualistic so you two can move around on your own. For now, I'm just going for a ride around the block, clear my head and junk."
Hop Pop nodded to his adopted granddaughter. "Go on, Anne. We'll be here when ya get back."
Anne smiled at her froggy family and headed to the garage. After donning her helmet, Anne mounted her bike and twisted the throttle…wait. Anne shook her head. "…heh, wow, Rider habits."
Remembering she was on a normal bike, Anne pedaled. She went down the driveway, made a right, and rode up the sidewalk. Anne took a deep breath of the night air of her home world. The familiar scents of the city wafted to her nostrils, as well as the sounds. She missed this so much it was not even funny. The streetlights kicked on as Anne made another right turn. As she did, Anne spotted a bus bench. She came to a stop beside the bench and decided to sit down on it.
Now that she was alone, as far as she could tell…Anne broke down. She placed her face into her hands and began crying hard. The emotions she had been keeping in check since she returned were coming out now that she knew she was alone. There was no way she could let her parents or the Plantars see her like this, she didn't want to worry any of them more than they are already. But out here, with no one around, she could finally have the crying session she needed.
The pain of Marcy's betrayal still lingered in Anne's heart, even more so when she thought about the moments they shared, the kisses, the dates, the hugs, all of it. Sasha had been planning to enact her coup from the very moment they were reunited at the Temple of Strength, and Marcy had wanted them to be taken to another world. Anne believed Marcy when she said she didn't think it would work. Marcy was a lover of all things anime and fantasy, but even she was smart enough to know that something like being transported to another world was farfetched. Still, Marcy banked on the possibility, and she was rewarded.
The problem with all of this was that the feelings they all had for each other, their confessions, it was all tainted. Marcy was hoping that Anne would be so in love with her that she'd want to stay in Amphibia and world hop for the rest of their lives. Sasha was hoping that their love for her would override their common moral code when it came to the Toad Rebellion. Anne felt used. Her emotions were swaying back and forth between love and…hate?
"I said I hated Sasha…to her face…" Anne cried. "I…I can't take that back."
It worried Anne, it worried her that if Sasha didn't manage to escape the castle, that Sasha would die with the knowledge that her best friend and (ex?)girlfriend hated her.
"No. No! I can't…I can't think that way. Sasha's not the kind of person to get captured that easily. She had to escape, just like Marcy. She's fine, she fine and…and…and probably with Sasha," Anne reasoned.
That had to be the truth, she needed it to be the truth. Otherwise…Anne wasn't sure if she could face Marcy's family when they asked what happened to her.
Her time in Amphibia made Anne aware of a lot of things wrong with their friendship, and at the same time, revealed some things about herself. Her sexuality, and how she viewed friendship. Anne felt like she aged twenty years when she took a moment to think about all she had done and accomplished.
The Thai teen stopped her crying and sighed deeply as she leaned against the back of the bench, staring up into the night sky of Los Angeles. She noticed she couldn't see the stars as vividly as she could back in Amphibia. Which was a shame, it was a sight Anne had come to enjoy.
"One sky, one destiny…" Anne muttered.
Suddenly, Anne felt something. She quickly shot to her feet and looked around. It was a familiar sensation, but it couldn't be. A Fallen can't be here, there's no way unless…Andrias!
The feeling intensified as she felt something approaching her fast. Anne instinctually ducked just as something smashed into the light pole a few feet away. The feeling came back again, and Anne quickly summoned her powers, bolting from that spot and reappearing on the grass. It was then that Anne noticed something, a distortion in the air.
"I know you're there! I can feel you! Show yourself!" Anne ordered.
There was a sinister chuckle as the distortion cleared and revealed a robotic frog.
"You're different from the other kind of the Frobos," said Anne as she got into a fighting stance.
{My Master has ordered your termination,} said the robot.
"You know, I was really hoping I could go a week with having to deal with something trying to kill me. Clearly, I was wrong."
Cloak Bot snickered again as it retracted its arms and leaped at Anne. The Thai teen used her speed and moved out of the way, but as soon as she got behind Cloak Bot, the metal frog quicky turned around and launched its right hand at her. Before Anne could react, the arm managed to wrap itself around her, constricting body as the robot lifted her into the air. The frog bot's left arm transformed into a laser cannon, which was priming to fire.
Anne concentrated for a moment and called on the lightning, letting it surge around her body as she released it a burst of electrical power. Cloak Bot was immediately hit with the discharge, making the machine twitch for a moment before it let her go. Once Anne was on the ground, she backed up a bit and summoned her MetamorphRing.
"I don't have a lot of time to play around with you, I'm on a time limit! So, I'll make this quick! Henshin!"
Anne pressed down on the hip devices as a dome of a lightning surrounded her. The lights in the area flickered for a moment before the dome disappeared and revealed Kamen Rider Amp. Amp hurriedly pressed on the right hip port, changing the coloring of her armor so that she was now in Poison Form.
"I'm going to melt you into a puddle of goo," Amp stated.
{Detecting increased levels of energy. Transformation into "Amp" has been noted. Activating counter protocol,} said Cloak Bot.
"Wait, what?"
The node on Cloak Bot's chest began to glow for a moment before that glow was smothered with darkness. A black, tar-like substance began to ooze out from different parts of the robot, but then that same tar began to change the robot, as if remodeling it on the spot. When it was done, Cloak Bot took on a new form. It was the same height as it was earlier, but now sported the thirteen eyes of The Night on its chest, all of which were glowing bright orange. The robot's eyes glowed bright orange as well, but now were slit and menacing. The creepy smile it sported was now jagged, but in a smiling expression, like a jack-o-lantern on Halloween night. Its shoulder pauldrons were now curved and instead of rounded, and each metal stud sported a single spike coming out of it. The sides of its arms were lined with metal plates, like armor, and the claws now had a serrated edge to them.
"Okay, that's new. Let's see what you got!"
Amp charged ahead, jumped, and came down with a knife hand chop, coating her hands in the corrosive poison to melt through machine's body.
{Poison ability detected. Deploying countermeasure.}
The Fallen Assassin's arms were quickly coated in a bubbling purple ooze that glowed in the dark. As soon as Amp brought her hand down, she was stopped. The Fallen Assassin managed to block her attack. Amp pushed off the robot and attacked again, this time punching at the machine. The Fallen Assassin began blocking each of her attacks as they came, each contact made neutralized her poison the moment it touched the ooze. Amp was getting a little frustrated as she stepped back, brought her hands together, and fired a poison stream at the robot. The robotic Fallen snickered again as it extended its arm, coiled them up, and used it as a shield to block the acidic poison plasma blast.
"Fine, we'll brute force this!" Amp stated as she pressed down on her left hip device.
Amp's armor changed again, adding spikes to it and changing the color to green. She quickly pressed her hand against the crystal filament on her Driver and drew out the Sting Striker. Amp twirled her weapon around and thrust forward with it. The Fallen Assassin narrowly dodged her attack and backed away to put some distance between them.
{Spike ability detected. Deploying countermeasures.}
"Again?!"
Amp hurriedly went to attack the Fallen Assassin before it could do something else, but the robot was quicker. The ooze coating disappeared as the metal plates on Fallen Assassin's body multiplied to cover its chest, arms, and legs. Amp's Sting Striker hit the metal plates and bounced off it, making her stumble backwards. The Fallen Assassin took this opening and lashed out with its left arm, grabbing Amp's ankle. The robot whipped its arm up, taking Amp along with it before slamming her back down into the middle of the street. Amp heard the sounds of tires screeching, which made her look to the left where she got a face full of headlights.
Oh shoot! I forgot I'm not surrounded by forests anymore! There are a lot of homes here! And people!
However, upon spotting the car, the Fallen Assassin quickly released her and vanished from sight. Amp managed to get back up as she looked around for the robotic monster, she could sense it, but she couldn't quite pinpoint its location.
I have to take this battle someplace else, or I'll end up hurting a lot of people, Amp thought.
Amp disengaged her Spike Form and returned to her default Lightning Form. Channeling her lightning power into her legs, Amp dashed away, leaving the people in the car stunned at the sight. Amp wasn't sure of the time, but she needed to make this quick. That thing could counter her Spike and Poison Forms, which meant it probably had a counter for Trinity.
"That leaves only one option."
Amp arrived at the parking lot of a strip mall, there weren't that many people out at this time on a weeknight, so it was pretty empty aside from a few cars. Apparently, the Fallen Assassin decided to make itself known as it landed atop a car, crushing it under its feet. Amp cancelled her transformation and resummoned the MetamorphRing, but as the MetamorphRing TRI.
"Henshin!"
Anne pressed on the hip devices, shrouding herself in lightning as a bright blue light shined from the center. When the light faded, the dome fell, and now Kamen Rider Amp Raging Heart: Vengeance Mode stood before the robotic Fallen.
"Let's see you have an out for this one!" Amp dared.
{Upgraded form detected. Deploying countermeasures.}
"OH C'MON!"
The machine's body bulked up as the tar created muscles. Red nodes popped up from under the tar substance creating one on each arm, one on each leg, and two pylons jutted out of its back, making it appear as if it had wings. The Fallen Assassin snickered again, as it readied itself for combat. Amp didn't care, she had to take this thing down now before it got any later. Amp dashed towards the metal monster and threw right hook at it. The Fallen Assassin raised its left arm and blocked the punch, which created a small shockwave upon contact.
Amp growled as she jumped forward with her left knee. Before it could hit, the robotic Fallen lowered its right claw and blocked her knee attack, holding her there. Amp growled in frustration as she broke off from the monster. The blades on her bracers extended and buzzed with electrical energy, and once they were ready, Amp reengaged with the Fallen Assassin. She came at it from the front and readied herself to slash at it, but before the monster could counter, Amp feinted to the right and got behind the robot. She then came down with a double slash, cutting at the pylons on the Fallen Assassin's back.
However, when she made contact with them, although her blades seemed to cut into it, the electrical energy from the blades was taken away. The lightning surged along the pylons and to the nodes on the Fallen Assassin's body, and within a few seconds the lightning changed from blue to black as the assassin twisted around and delivered a punch to her stomach. The black lightning discharged at the same time, releasing a burst of power that hit Amp hard and sent her flying into the side of a car.
"Did that thing just hit me with my own lightning? It felt different, though…HOLY CRUD!" Amp exclaimed as she tore herself out of the car and bolted away from it. The Fallen Assassin blasted the car with a lightning ray cannon from its left hand, still using the lightning stolen from Amp. "Okay, it's like that wolverine and snake Fallen when they absorbed my lightning. So, in that case!"
Amp pressed her right hand against the crystal filament and drew out her signature weapon, Saipha. Now armed with her sword, Amp charged forward, the Fallen Assassin fired more bolts of lightning, but Amp was able to use her sword to deflect the blasts into the air or to the asphalt. Once she was in range, Amp slashed at its armored hide, managing to create a gash with her hit.
"You may be strong, but you're not invincible!" Amp stated as she swung again.
The second slash caught it in the stomach region, creating another gash as sparks flew from the assassin's body. The metal fiend's eyes glowed for a moment and then fired twin laser beams at Amp, hitting her in the chest and sending sparks spewing from her armor. Her metal foe slashed at her with its claws, sending sparks into the air, and another swipe of the claws sent even more. Amp managed to dodge the third swipe and came at it with an upper cut with her left hand, pushing the Fallen Assassin back. The Rider of lightning twirled her sword around and dashed forward, attacking with a flurry of slashes. The Fallen Assassin counterattacked by swiping with its claws, creating a ringing echo that filled the night air.
The metal monster was becoming aware that there were some human bystanders about to exit some of the facilities due to their battle. So, to stop this, the Fallen Assassin broke off its attack and released the electrical energy in its body, creating a short wave EMP burst that knocked out the lights, cameras, and cellphones in the immediate area. Now it was dark, the only thing one could see were Amp's glowing armor, and the few parts on the assassin that were glowing as well. It wasn't as if she couldn't see it, the enhanced vision of her helmet allowed her to see just as well in the dark.
The Fallen Assassin attacked again, this time utilizing its limber body as it extended its arms. Amp raised Saipha, ready to cut them, but at the last second, the two arms diverged, looped around, and caught Amp by her arms. The metal monster pulled outwards, forcing Amp to extend her arms to the point that she thought they'd pop out of their sockets. The Fallen Assassin retracted its arms, bringing Amp with them. It reared back its head and once she was in range, the assassin struck Amp with a headbutt against her helmet, forcing the Rider to hit the pavement as it let go. The Fallen Assassin kicked Amp in the gut while she was down, sending her flying into the sky. The assassin jumped straight up in hot pursuit, and once it had caught up with her, the robot whipped its arms forward and slammed them onto her back.
Amp was sent flying back down to terra firma, impacting hard against the asphalt and creating a body sized crater. The landing made her lose her grip on Saipha as it rested a couple of feet away. Amp managed to prop herself up by her forearms and tried to get up, but the Fallen Assassin landed in front of her, and stamped its metal foot against Saipha, denying Amp her weapon. The Fallen Assassin readied its lightning ray cannon as its eyes glowed bright.
{Death to Anne Boonchuy. Glory to The Night. Hail King Andrias.}
"Andrias…" Amp's mind flashed back to Amphibia, as the scenes of Andrias tossing Sprig out the window and stabbing Marcy repeated in her mind. "Andrias…!" Amp's body began glow as cracks formed along the armor. "NO!"
Amp's voice became distorted as her body released a powerful burst of energy that forced the robotic monster to stumble backwards. When the light faded, Amp had entered Justice Mode, her Final Form. "If you think I'm just going to let you kill me, then you're wrong. If Andrias and The Night want get to Earth and hurt the people I love, then you'll have to go through me!"
{Unknown power detected…Unable to counter. Conclusion: Remain in current state at maximum output.}
Amp's hand trembled, and this new power she had obtained was hard to maintain. Honestly, she barely understood how she did it to begin with, but it was fleeting due to her inexperience. It was like a raging, flickering flame, as much as an oxymoron as that was, but it was the truth. Amp felt so much power coursing through her body, she didn't feel confident in her ability to maintain his form for long, which meant she had to get in a decisive blow now while she had it. Amp widened her stance as she cocked back her right fist. Blue energy flared around her that fist as lightning arced off it.
The Fallen Assassin readied itself to counterattack, but it was far too slow. With a thunderclap, Amp had disappeared and reappeared right in front of the robot, faster than its computer brain could process. Amp channeled the power she had gathered and threw an uppercut at the metal monster. A powerful explosion of blue energy was released that rose up into the air in the form of a pillar of light that seared and tore apart most of the assassin's chassis. The attack sent the robotic monster flying out of the pillar and into some cars, showing the damage to its front half that revealed the inner metal skeleton and various wirings.
{New power…Threat level: Extreme. Commencing tactical retreat.}
The Fallen Assassin engaged its cloaking ability and quickly escaped, although its cloaking capability seemed to be damaged a bit as its body flickered in and out of sight as it retreated.
Amp huffed and panted, but after a few seconds, the armor that had been shed reappeared over her, and the white coloring of her mesh returned to its black color. "I…I gotta head back before it's too late."
The Rider of lightning took off into the sky and hurried over to where her bike still rested. She grabbed the bike and whisked it and herself back into the air before finally landing in the driveway and cancelling her transformation. Once she had, Anne walked her bike into the garage. She stumbled in doing so and leaned up against the van to stabilize herself.
Pull yourself together Boonchuy, you can't go in there looking like you just got through going ten rounds in the ring with Godzilla, Anne thought.
So, after mustering all her willpower and strength, Anne walked through the door and into the house. "Hey, I'm home!"
Oum was in the kitchen and sighed with relief. "Welcome home, Anne. You didn't call, everything okay?
"Oh, sorry. I was just enjoying the ride so much that I forgot.
Oum couldn't blame her daughter. After being away for so long, she probably just got lost in the moment of riding. But she was home before the thirty minutes were up, so that was good at least. "Well, I'm glad you enjoyed your ride."
"Oh, yeah. Super chill. Exactly what I needed," said Anne. "But I'm a bit tired now, I haven't ridden that thing for so long that I tired myself out a bit. Mind if I take a nap?"
Oum shook her head. "No, Anne, you go up and rest. Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, but I'll bring some up to you."
"Thanks, oh, and where are the Plantars?" she asked.
"Oh, right, I think they're up in your room."
"No worries."
Anne headed to the stairs; the moment she laid eyes on them she was already dreading the ascent. Regardless, she had to get up there and into her room before she collapsed. Anne began the arduous task of climbing the stairs, using the railing for support as she somehow managed to make it to the top, but she collapsed to her knees when she did. She managed to crawl on all fours to her room and knocked on the door.
"Yes?" Hop Pop answered. "Great Frog! Anne, what happened to ya?!"
"SHH!" Anne hissed. "Just help me into my room before Mom and Dad see me…"
"Sprig, Polly, give me a hand!" Hop Pop ordered.
Sprig and Polly rushed to Anne's side and helped their adopted family member make her way to the bed. Once she was able to lie on it, Sprig frantically asked, "What happened to you, Anne?!"
"…Andrias sent a robot assassin after me…."
"What?!" They exclaimed.
"And to make matters worse, it has Fallen powers and can counter most of my forms. I somehow entered my Final Form and managed to make it run away," Anne explained. "But I'm exhausted now…and my body aches."
"Is that normal?" Polly asked.
Anne made a small shrugging gesture. "I think it's just like when I got all my other forms, there's an adjustment period. But this might take some time to get used to. It's way more powerful than any of my other forms, and it feels really unstable right now…I could only stay in it for a few seconds, and all I could do was force that robot to retreat. There's something else about this power…I don't know how to describe it, but using it feels wrong for some reason."
Hop Pop sighed as he said, "And here Ah thought we'd be able to search for a way back home in peace."
"Doesn't look like that bozo's going to give us any kind of peace," said Polly.
Sprig carefully took Anne's left hand into both of his and said, "Don't worry, Anne, we'll help you out in any way we can."
"Thanks you guys. Do you mind heading downstairs for now, I need to rest up after all that."
Hop Pop nodded his head and ushered his grandchildren out of Anne's room. Once alone, Anne closed her eyes and sleep found her quickly.
"Did you get the readouts from that battle."
"We did, sir, but target two released an EMP where the drone was hovering, and we lost some of the data."
"Ugh…incompetence. I do recall specifically requesting drones with anti-EMP shielding for just this sort of thing."
"I'm sorry sir!"
"One more misstep and you're fired, from life."
*gulp*
"Now, how about target one?"
"Yes, Director Keisuke. Uh…let's see. Yes, it's confirmed, that Rider has similar energy readings to the ones you were able to scan in the park. The same as the Pillar of Light phenomenon."
Keisuke chuckled. "Excellent. It seems sticking around this city and messing with those twins was worth it after all. We'll have a few more sensors up around the city, I want to get as much information from that Rider as possible."
"Yes sir, and actually, what information I was able to retrieve from Target 2 was interesting, it seems anomalous."
"Yes, Cassandra, not unusual given our line of work, it hardly be worth studying if it wasn't."
"True, Director, but well, here look."
Keisuke glanced at the laptop that Cassandra had and raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you're right, that is unusual. Well, I have feeling we'll see that monster soon. The energy of that Rider is our goal, but that machine might end up being our constellation prize." Keisuke took out a pair of high-tech binoculars as he looked through the window of the car, peering up at a skyscraper as the rain began to fall, and lightning and thunder rumbled through the sky. "What delightful secrets do you have in store for me?"
Upon the skyscraper, Cloak Bot was leaning against the wall. Its right hand was switched out into a welding torch that it used to begin repairs on its body.
{Upgrades and repairs in progress. Target will be destroyed. At all costs.}