A/N: Yeah, decided to release this early, no point in leaving you guys hanging for 24 hrs. I ain't THAT cruel...
(1 Month after Sasha, Anne, and Marcy returned…)
Mr. X was looking over reports on his tablet. He had to report to the pentagon to go over the cleanup and coverup efforts, and how they were going to do this effectively. Honestly, to him, it was a pain in the butt. Most of the world saw Frog-vasion happen, and while the government had ways to persuade the living victims and families of the departed to not speak about the incident, getting rid of the rampant social media videos about it was not going to be easy. And of course, there was the fact that the Hollywood sign was gone, with a giant hole in the middle of said mountain where the sign used to be.
Seriously, at this point, we're better off just acknowledging that this happened. Although…if at all possible, I'd like to erase those girls' names from this incident. The last thing those three need is media attention.
Mr. X knocked on the door to the meeting room once he arrived.
"Come in."
Mr. X opened the door and had to clench his lower jaw when he saw who was inside. First, the Secretary of Defense was sitting at the head of the table. And to his left was someone that Mr. X was familiar with.
"X, take a seat," said the Secretary of Defense.
Mr. X took his seat to the right of the Secretary of Defense, which put him right across from Director Keisuke.
"And, ahem, who might this fellow be, Mr. Secretary?" Mr. X inquired.
"Let's call them a 'private contractor'. Suffice to say, this gentlemen's organization has the means to aid us in the coverup of this whole incident," he said.
"Oh, they do?" Mr. X asked, feigning ignorance.
"Indeed, we do. Foundation X has long been studying supernatural phenomena and the possibility of other worlds beyond ours. And in the pursuit of this knowledge, we've developed the means to effectively combat them."
"As it turns out," the Defense Secretary jumped in, "Mr. Keisuke's agents were responsible for holding the outer perimeter while those, uh, 'Kamen Riders' were fighting off the bulk of the invading force inside the city."
"Mmm-hmm."
Director Keisuke sat up a little straighter and said, "Now, for simplicity's sake, and for the sake of plausible deniability. I suggest you not look too deep into how we rid the internet of any mention of this invasion. We will aid in the fabrication that this was all a hoax, an over bloated Hollywood project run amok by reckless people."
Mr. X deadpanned and asked, "…You can't be serious?"
"Oh, I very much am."
"Okay, what about the girls? The two who fought and were outed during the battle? What's your plan for that?" Mr. X asked.
"We will acknowledge their presence, and it would help if you could provide us with some level of detail regarding their past so that we can more easily fabricate a cover story."
Mr. X shifted his gaze to the Secretary of Defense and said, "Sir, regarding those three girls. I would just like to make it known, for the record, they are no longer in a state where they can do any kind of combat whatsoever."
The Secretary of Defense raised an eyebrow and said, "Explain."
"According to Ms. Anne Boonchuy, there was another battle that was waged in the other world where the enemy came from. They had to use the last ounces of their powers to vanquish it, and as a result, no longer possess any kind of powers. They're just civilians now, Sir," said Mr. X.
"And you find this credible?" he asked.
"They have no reason to lie. And I find the word of Ms. Boonchuy to be credible."
Keisuke smiled and raised a dubious eyebrow.
"I see…well, continue surveillance on them."
"Sir, if I may, I think you should listen to Mr. X on this matter."
Now Mr. X was confused.
"If these children are no longer a threat, what's the point in wasting resources keeping tabs on them? Those resources would serve better helping to keep watch over other potential leakers. I'm sure there will be some people who won't go along with our coverup and will most likely look for opportunities to convince the populace otherwise," said Keisuke.
The Secretary of Defense tapped his finger against the table as he contemplated this.
"X, can you assure me with one-hundred percent certainty that these girls do not pose any possible threat to national security?"
"I can sir."
"Very well, we'll keep tabs on their social for a few more months, but no more than that, and after that we're done. I want to bury this. It's bad enough that we have to worry about terrorists and rogue states, we don't need the people worrying about threats from other dimensions as well," said the Defense Secretary.
"No, we cannot. And to that end, there is a matter of payment."
"Nothing in life is free. So, how much?"
"Oh, no. We don't want anything monetary." Director Keisuke smirked. "That being said, we'll take our payment in the form of the remains of the enemy. Anything and everything."
"Excuse me?!" Mr. X exclaimed. "That's a no!"
Keisuke leaned back in his chair and argued, "Foundation X is basically offering to do damage control and take on the cleanup operation for free. Letting us have exclusive rights to the enemy's remains seems like a small price to pay. Because, let me be frank, gentlemen, for what we'd charge, you couldn't afford us."
Mr. X could smell it, this was their real target. They made weapons, and there wasn't any doubt in his mind that Foundation X wanted to use the tech from Amphibia to create new weapons, or study that "Dark Ichor" stuff to figure out how to make more monsters.
"Very well…"
"Sir, please!"
"We need all the help we can get," said the Defense Secretary. "Cleanup of the enemy's remains will be handled by Foundation X. And so will the coverup operation. For now, you're both dismissed."
"Sir…"
"Thank you, Mr. Secretary."
Mr. X and Director Keisuke both left the meeting room together and began walking towards the exit.
"I know what you're up to."
"You do, do you?"
"You want the surveillance lifted to make it easier for you and your cronies to go after those three girls. And like I said earlier, they don't have any powers, they're not Kamen Riders anymore," said Mr. X.
"Trust but verify, Mr. X. Trust but verify. But this cleanup and coverup is going to take the bulk of Foundation X's time. So, those girls can enjoy this reprieve while they can," said Keisuke.
Once they were outside, they found both Jenny and Cassandra glaring silent daggers at each other.
"Until our next meeting, Mr. X."
Director Keisuke walked to his car, and Cassandra got in after. Both Mr. X and Jenny watched as they drove away. The FBI special agent bit his bottom lip as began to think.
"Jenners, have the GX armor moved to the secret location. I think it's time we put my other idea into motion, sooner rather than later."
(6 Months Later…Amphibia)
It had taken a long time, but fortunately not as long as some had thought. The industrial pollution caused by Andrias's and The Core's mass production of war machines was able to be undone thanks to Andrias and Polly. The little tadpole was able to repurpose the war machines with Andrias's more detailed knowledge in order to use them to help the frogs, toads, and newts clean the air and land of all the pollutants that were dumped into the waters and allowed to fester in the land. While it did make it easier, the work was still hard and required the help of everyone in Amphibia in order to get back what was lost. This had a dual benefit as the prejudices that were once among the three races were steadily eroded, since it pretty much forced everyone to work together, and learn new things in order to fix the damage that was done.
Thanks to this unifying effort, nature was restored to its former glory. In just the span of six months, Amphibia was able to fully recover from the devastation of its environment and was enjoying the start of a new golden age of peace. There was still some friction between the three races, but overall, it was far better than it used to be. A council of elected delegates was set up that would represent the toads, frogs, and newts, completely dismantling the monarchy. What was left of the robots was to be put back in the old ruins from whence they were made, but all their weapons were to be completely destroyed for fear of some rogue old believer of The Night wanting to use them for nefarious purposes.
Those that were still left in commission were still used to help farmers till the land, and the knowledge, aside from how to create another mechanical monstrosity like The Core, was cataloged and distributed to the masses, in order to inspire new innovations for future generations. And the one who helped in discerning the advanced technology, was Andrias Leviathan. The former King of Amphibia had refused to repair is damaged body back to full working condition, believing he had lived long enough and that he would use his remaining time, however long that was, atoning for his sins. The bare minimum was done to fix him, closing the chest wound was as far as he allowed, refusing to have his leg and arm repaired.
He was placed in chains, at his behest, in order for him to never forget his duty, and the responsibility to fix what he had broken. Some feared that he could still turn into a Fallen, but that fear was quashed as Polly, being the only other Amphibian on the planet who knew anything about robotics and technology, checked his insides. She had noticed how some Frobots had a sphere inside of them that contained Dark Ichor. And while Andrias did have one, it was completely bone dry. From what he explained, when Andrias formed the Mastodonus Fallen, he used all of the Dark Ichor inside of him to take control of the massive monster that had formed around him. And when Anne struck through him, her power burned up whatever remnants that might've remained. So, now he was no longer a threat, being crippled, refusing to be fixed, and no longer possessing the means to become a Fallen.
Andrias continued to help with transcribing old texts that spoke of their lost technology, and continued to do this until his eyes finally gave out. Now blind, the old king decided that the next part of his atonement would be to continue helping the land he had once ravaged. It was Grime who gave him Barrel's Warhammer, but only after Andrias explained how Barrel was once his dear friend, and wanted to have something of that friend with him as he started his journey. Now using the Warhammer as a cane and wearing an old leaf pin alongside the pin that Marcy gave him, he was to be guided to different plots of land to begin planting seeds. The ones guiding him were Triple B, their complacency towards helping in the formation and organization of the robot army earned them the punishment of being Andrias's guides. They didn't complain, well, not too much, considering it beat rotting in a cell, and at least they could be out in the fresh air.
Wartwood was slowly starting to change, multiple things were going on at once as today was a special day for everyone here, well and a few others. Stumpy managed to get his restaurant up and running again, having restored it to its former glory. He kept all the improvements that Anne had made and continued the menu items she created.
Wally burst out of the doors to Stumpy's as he said, "Good day, you frogs! See you at the ceremony!"
As Wally walked on, he found himself accidentally crashing into someone that sent the local (rich boy) bum to the ground.
"Oh, pardon me, young lady," said Wally.
"Who are you callin' a 'young lady'?"
Wally took another look at the frog he ran into, who was currently spinning his missing hat around on her left index finger. The frog he ran into was purple in color, wearing a pair of overalls, with some parts of her legs and right arm bandaged, a thick work glove on her left hand, and a wrench in her back pocket. She also had bright orange hair, and a very familiar yellow bow with polka dots on it.
"I ain't no 'lady', Walls," said Polly as she handed the hat back to Wally.
"Oh. Hello, Polly!" Wally, gratefully, took his hat back and walked away as he said, "Still can't get used to you as a frog."
Polly rolled her eyes and replied, "Whatever, Wally."
That's right, Polly had hit a major growth spurt in the last six months. She was now a full frog, her tadpole tail was gone, and her flippers now had fingers, and she was no longer a talking head, but now had a full body. The youngest of the Plantar family had just finished fixing up a few machines and was heading into town.
Wartwood had been rebuilt since the attack of Terminus, and many of the old buildings and shops were back up and running, with a few additions and changes. Maddie Flour, the local witch girl, decided to go her own business route and opened a stand for herself called, "Maddie's Pan & Potions". As she said, she wanted to use magic to help people, and she was doing just that. Her triplet sisters would often help her out, only with little things here and there since they did not want to mess something up and almost explode, again. Of course, their assistance was made all the easier since they had recently grown their legs, so they were more mobile than before.
"Hey there, Maddie," said Mrs. Croaker as she walked up to Maddie's stall.
"Ah, perfect timing!" Maddie reached under the stall and took out a flask containing a potion. "Here's the potion to cure your rheumatism. Try not to drink it too…"
Mrs. Croaker, ignoring Maddie's warning, quickly popped the cork off the flask and guzzled its entire contents.
"…fast."
No sooner had Mrs. Croaker downed the whole potion did she start dancing a jig right in front of the stall.
"Whoo! Now that's what Ah'm talkin' about!" Mrs. Croaker exclaimed. "You are comin' to the unveilin', right dear?"
Maddie smiled and replied, "I wouldn't miss it for anything."
Loggle was busy pushing his latest creation towards the center of town, unfortunately, the wood craver was no longer the grand specimen he once was during the war. His buff physique had gone, returning him to the scrawny axolotl that he was before the war started. Which was also the reason why he was having such a hard time pushing the cart with his creation in it.
"I…UGH…should've never…UGH…taken that…UGH…cheat day!" Loggle lamented as he kept pushing the cart.
Many of the townsfolk had gathered at the center of Wartwood for the big celebration. And for this some special guests were called in. From the skies above, Joe Sparrow flew down and landed in town square. From the giant avian's back hopped off Grime, now dressed in fine white and gold clothes, and upon his back was Sasha's teal colored heron sword. He had grown out his beard, yet again, and had it braided. Along with him was Yunan and Olivia. The newt general had a single pauldron on her right shoulder but was otherwise dressed in formal clothes. The same could be said of her wife as she helped Olivia down.
"Hello, delegates." Grime, Olivia, and Yunan turned towards the voice and saw Toadie walking up to them. Who was wearing a monocle on his left eye and had a sash that read "Mayor" on it. "You're just in time for the ceremony."
"Toadie! You won the election?" Grime asked.
The small, former butler frog, chuckled and replied, "Well, I did have some help."
"Constituents don't bribe themselves," Toadstool joked, or probably joked.
While this conversation was going on, Joe Sparrow saw Bessie. Joe picked up a flower and placed it on Bessie's head as the two nuzzled each other lovingly. There was another snail shell on Bessie's, and a moment later, what popped out was a bird…a snird…Wartwood just didn't ask and didn't question it.
Olivia watched as the children were playing around, burning off their anxious energy as they waited along with the adults. The newt woman couldn't help but smile as she watched them play and laugh.
"You know, I wouldn't mind settling down in a quiet swamp like this. It's slow, the people are friendly…"
"And it's far away from the countless enemies I made when I was GENERAL YUNAN!" Yunan exclaimed. "SCOURGE OF THE SAND WARS! DEFEATER OF RAGNAR THE WRETCHED–!"
"Ahem." Yunan was snapped out her little monologue as Olivia patted her wife's side. "I know sweetheart. We all know. Let's look into some locations while we're here."
Polly made it into town and saw the large crowd starting to gather. That's where she also saw her grandfather. In the six months since the end of the war, Hop Pop decided not to waste any time and proposed to his longtime crush, Sylvia Sundew, well, now it was Sylvia Plantar. The two frogs were standing together, with their hands interlocked as Sylvia rested her head on his shoulder.
"S'up, HP! Where's Sprig? It's almost time for the ceremony," said Polly.
"Heh, in his usual spot," Hop Pop answered.
"Ugh, seriously?" Polly groaned.
"You know your brother. He can be a little fixated," said Sylvia.
"What's going on?"
Polly looked over her shoulder and saw Maddie there, normally this would cause a little jump scare, but Polly was so used to her presence that it didn't even faze her anymore.
"Your boyfriend, my brother, is stuck in the basement working on his journal," said Polly.
Maddie sighed as she crossed her arms.
"Well, we better go get him before it starts, or he'll be sad that he did," said Maddie. "We'll take the express way."
Polly stepped back as she watched Maddie's eyes glow bright purple as she clapped her hands together and formed a circle of light out in front of her. The circle opened to reveal an image of the Plantar home, and once formed, Maddie and Polly jumped through it.
Sprig had felt sad for a couple of months since Anne returned home, but thankfully, with the help of his family, along with Maddie and Ivy, he was able to regain his vigor and spark. Polly made a phone charger for him, so that Anne's phone wouldn't lose power and lose access to all the memories that were stored on it. The young frog decided to catalog all their adventures into different tomes, aspiring to be an adventurer, and explore the unknown around him. Amphibia still had a few mysteries here and there, and Sprig was determined to jot them all down, and discover them.
Currently, the pink frog boy was drawing a depiction of the Mossman. The plant creatures were nowhere to be seen after the war ended, some believed that they spread out through the continent, and were helping to restore nature behind the scenes. But that wasn't ever verified. There were other things he added to his tomes, the things he learned about on Earth, the feats of Kamen Rider Amp, and the adventures he had with Anne.
Sprig stopped for a moment when he remembered her, his thoughts drifting to their last hug before she stepped through that portal with Sasha and Marcy. He missed her dearly, but he hoped things were alright for her back home. Although now that he had thought about it, he felt like he was forgetting something important that was Anne related.
"Sprig!" The cellar door opened, and Maddie and Polly popped their heads in.
"The ceremony's about to start, Sprig," said Maddie.
"Yeah! Get your butt up here before we're late!" Polly remarked.
"Oh, shoot! I almost forgot!" Sprig exclaimed as he pocketed Anne's phone and hopped up the stairs to the living room. "Sorry, I–"
"Was fixated on your work," said Polly and Maddie at the same time.
"Heh," he chuckled, nervously.
Maddie sighed, walked up to Sprig, and kissed him on the cheek.
"Don't get too wrapped up in that, especially not today."
"Right. Man, I can't wait to see how it turned out!"
Maddie, Polly, and Sprig went outside, and waved to Frobo who was watering the plants. Hop Pop had been able to set up his avocado empire like he wanted, and thanks to the booming success of selling avocados that weren't covered in spines that caused blindness allowed him to make a ton of money, really quickly. Especially when he managed to corner the market with a variety of avocado based foods and other products.
"Warp us there, girl," said Polly.
Maddie's eyes glowed again as she opened another passage to back to the ceremony grounds.
Sprig was impressed by how much Maddie's magical powers had gotten stronger. Apparently, they got way stronger when she and Ivy were fighting, and since then, his girlfriend had been training to control them, and even learned how to create portals. Although, at her current level, she could only create portals that warped people a short distance, and only to places she had been or to people with whom she shared a strong emotional connection with, but if they were too far away, she couldn't do it. Maddie figured with more practice and time; she would be able to increase the distance.
Once the portal was formed, all three frogs jumped through, and were immediately brought to the ceremony grounds.
They were just in time as Loggle managed to get his project to the center of the town. The axolotl walked up a huge latter, and once up there, he pulled off the tarp that was covering it, and everyone gasped, awestruck.
It was a huge stone statue of Anne, holding up her sword and pointing it outwards in front of her, while holding the music box in her left. Around her waist was the MetamorphRing Driver, and standing next to her, also posing heroically, was her alter ego, Kamen Rider Amp, with her scarf frozen mid flap. There was a metal plaque at the base of the statue that read, "Anne Boonchuy, Kamen Rider Amp, Savior of Amphibia, and proud citizen of Wartwood! We miss you girl!"
It was a beautiful pair of statues, dedicated to their world's savior, the one who gave her life and was miraculously returned to them. The girl who changed all the lives of those who lived in Wartwood, and some beyond its borders. This girl who didn't set out to be hero but became one in their eyes and the eyes of many in Amphibia. She would be missed.
"AMBUSH!"
Suddenly, Sprig and Maddie were tackled from behind, sending the two rolling onto the ground before they came to a stop with someone on top of them.
"Ugh, Ivy, I told you I don't like ambushes," Maddie complained.
"Yeah, but Sprig does." Ivy, who was wearing a cloak, pulled back on the hood, revealing her mess of auburn hair, and a trimmed physique. "And your face is cute when you get all angry."
Maddie grumbled as she turned red, and Sprig and Ivy chuckled.
The yellow frog girl got off her partners and helped them to their feet as she said, "Listen you two. Grime just told me that they found a whole new continent! Unexplored by frog, newt, or toad! What do ya say? Up for an adventure?"
Maddie sighed as she crossed her arms, but she smiled nonetheless, giddy at the prospects.
"Might find some new potion and curse making ingredients. Exclusive rights, baby. I'm in," said Maddie. "Sprig?"
Sprig glanced up at the statue, feeling his heart swell as he remembered Anne. She fought to give them this future, and now, he was going to grasp this new it with his family and his girlfriends.
"What're we waiting for? Let's go!"
(…5 Months Ago, after the Trio left Amphibia…)
Dawnblood Island was a place few if any Amphibians bothered to go to, and for good reason. The island looked terrifying. The rocks that made up the island were naturally blood red, which gave off an eerie feeling that deterred most seafaring folk away. Not only that, but there was another reason. Atop the highest point of this island was a gothic castle. No one knew who it once belonged to, perhaps a baron from a long-forgotten era? Or perhaps it was a fortress? A kind of outpost from war that had long since ended.
Either way, all could agree that Dawnblood Island was cursed, for not many sailors who braved to set foot on the island ever came back alive. Some dismissed this as just tall tales, scary stories that sailors told each other to drum up some excitement when out at sea for long periods of time. But then again, if that was all they were, stories, then why did anyone rarely – if at all – dare to get close to it? Perhaps there was some truth to those stories.
Well, the truth was, it was a fortress, but not for some war or army that was lost to the annuls of time. No, this place was more of a research center that was framed by a gothic style castle. For deep underground, something stirred. A month since the final battle ended between the Riders and The Core. And now Dawnblood Island had finally sprung back to life. Within the darkened underground, lights began to flicker on, with lines appearing on the ceiling and walls that took the form of circuit board patterns. Computer screens lit up large portions of different walls, stations were opened, showing off various concoctions and tools for crafting any mechanical creation.
The computer screen started to show code flowing up and down in the ancient runic text of Amphibia. Diagrams began to show up on the screen, strangely, they depicted a human body.
[Beginning Restoration Process.]
A section of the wall opened and from that wall was released a tank. In this tank floated a body, a female body. But this body was not completely flesh and blood. It was synthetic, a kind of android. There were wrappings around its more private areas, with parts of its body showing faint lines that indicated the plate sections of its body. But what was most concerning about this android was the fact that it looked exactly like Marcy Wu.
The top of the tank opened and a crane with lifting straps dropped into the tank. The straps wrapped around the android and slowly brought it out of the tank. A robot walked in, rolling a table along that was the perfect length for the body. The crane slowly brought the body down, where the robot carefully laid it down. After this was done, the robot wheeled the table over to another section of the large room. And it was here that the main component for this android was being housed. Inside a glass container was the Memory Memory, the Gaia Memory that was given to Darcy as a sort of peace offering from Foundation X. Although she declined the offer with her counteroffer, she was allowed to keep the Memory Memory as a gift.
The Memory Memory's insert plug was hooked up to a station that hummed, as if supplying it with power. The robot took the glass off the container and detached the Gaia Memory from the station, causing it to shut down. Once this was done, the robot walked to the other end of the table, where the android's head rested. The mechanized servant's eyes shined, and when they did, the android's head opened slightly. There was a slot that was perfectly sized to house the Gaia Memory, and it was here that it would find its home as the robot pressed the button.
MEMORY!
The Gaia Memory began to release sparks of teal colored electricity. The electricity continued to rage as the surges traveled up the arm of the robot and began to fry it from the inside out. Despite the damage it was taking, the robot made sure to perform its final duty as it inserted the Memory Memory into the slot before it fell over, completely damaged. Now inserted, the mechanism for the slot drew the Memory Mermory into the android's head and closed behind it. As soon as this occurred, the same teal colored electricity began surging all over the android's body.
The human-like creation suddenly released a scream into the air as her back arched and her eyes opened, showing them filled with the same teal colored energy. The grooves in the android's body began to glow with this light, as if its entire body was being filled with it. The android began to scream and writhe, but soon clenched its fists and gritted its teeth as it released – not a cry of pain – but a cry of defiance as the power surge came to a stop with a small shockwave that blasted out in all directions, throwing the remains of the robot servant against the opposite wall.
The android sat up, panting as she finally managed to get her bearings. The android looked at her hands, flexing each finger before clenching her fists and then opening them. She rotated her shoulders and gave her arms a few bends. Once this was done, she slowly swung her legs off the table and carefully placed her feet onto the stone floor. She could feel the cold stone under feet, in fact, her whole body was cold from being taken out of the tank.
"I'll be damned…it actually worked! AHAHAHAHAHA! Darcy's back, baby!" she proclaimed.
Darcy looked at herself and hummed for a moment.
"I feel cold, but that's all. Not like it's a detriment to my body." Darcy's teal-colored eyes lit up as she now saw a HUD screen appear in front of her eyes. "Yep, just as I thought. My body is not affected. Good, I should probably reduce certain sensations, don't want to be distracted by them. But at the same time, they do make me feel more alive. Now then, time to get caught up on current events."
Darcy waved her hand, and a mechanical chair immediately descended from the ceiling above. She sat down in the chair as it brought her to the massive computer that adorned most of the north side of the room. She placed her hands on the keyboard and began typing.
Unbeknownst to The Core, Darcy had set a plan in motion. She wasn't about to take any chances when it came to that collection of old minds. The dark persona was well aware that her existence in Marcy's body was on a trial bases, so long as the hivemind saw her as "useful" she would be allowed to live. But she knew that The Core might still betray her at the drop of a hat, especially when she petitioned it to keep Anne and Sasha alive. She was not about to lose the one she loved that easily. So, she had The Core keep itself occupied with maintaining the illusionary world that Darcy had constructed for Marcy. And using her own skills, managed to create blind spots in the visual data The Core was getting, so that these little trips to Dawnblood Island were kept secret.
Truth is I was planning on betraying that collection of old fogies. Once Marcy had been assimilated, I would have everything of her as well. And once that happened, I was going to download my mind into the Memory Memory and come back to end it all. Although…I didn't predict that little Mar-Mar would break free of the fantasy or fight back from the inside.
"But it was totally predictable that they would dispose of me after the fact. Which they did. I didn't think they'd use the Omega Protocol, but considering that I'm here, it must mean something went terribly wrong. At least wrong for them, but good for me," said Darcy. "Luckily I managed to initiate the download while they were 'deleting' me. Heh, you can't keep a bad girl down. Now, let's get caught up, shall we?"
Her fingers flew like a blur as her eyes scanned over the data and found what she was looking for.
"Ah-ha! Now, let's see what happened."
Darcy watched the screen as the events after her "deletion" unfolded. She watched as the moon began to fall from the sky, just as The Core said they would do. The moment where the leader of the olms, Mother Olm, spoke of the prophecy and of how Anne, Sasha, and Marcy could stop The Core by tapping into the full power of the gems.
{"HOLD UP, ANNE. ONE MORE THING," said Mother Olm.
Sasha and Marcy stopped, but Anne waved to them on, silently telling them she would be there. The two girls nodded and ran ahead to the throne room. Mother Olm opened her hand and laid it out for Anne to stand on. The Thai teen hopped onto the open palm of Mother Olm as she brought her up to her level.
"THE STONES ARE STORNG, BUT THEY MAY NOT BE ENOUGH TO DEFEAT THE CORE," said Mother Olm. "IF THINGS LOOK BAD OUT THERE, DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE SECRET SPELL."
"Wait. The secret what now?" Anne asked.
Mother Olm raised her brow and replied, "DIDN'T I TELL YOU ABOUT THAT?"
"No!"
The elderly olm sighed.
"WELL, THE STONES ARE RUMORED TO HOLD A HIDDEN POWER, ENOUGH TO VANQUISH ANY FOE AND BRING ABOUT THE IMPOSSIBLE. BUT SUMMONING SUCH POWER COMES AT A PRICE…THE LIFE OF THE USER."}
"WHAT?!" Darcy exclaimed as she bolted upright out of her chair. "No…No, Anne, you better not have done that!"
Darcy continued to watch as Anne, Sasha, and Marcy obtained the great power of their gems, achieving a Final Form that paled in comparison to all their previous forms. Her little spy drones followed the girls into space, and that's when Darcy witnessed the – admittedly – epic battle that occurred between the The Core's robotic Fallen monsters, and the three Riders of Calamity. The battle raged, and that's when Darcy saw The Core turn the mechanized moon into a giant monster.
"Holy crap, they turned the moon into some kind of Lovecraftian, planet sized kaiju?!"
She watched in terror when she saw all three of them struggling against that monster, which was bad, because if she knew Anne, and she did, then this situation would leave her with no choice. That's when the worst happened. Darcy watched as Marcy and Sasha gave Anne their Calamity gems, and how Anne sent them back to the planet below.
"No…"
Darcy bit her bottom lip when she saw Anne become infused with the power of the three gems and ascend into a goddess Kamen Rider. She couldn't even be excited about the epic beatdown she was giving The Core, because she could see the cracks forming along her armor. She gave the monster one last Rider Kick, and that's when the drone knocked out. Darcy hurriedly switched the drones, trying to see if she could find her. She saw a shooting star heading towards the planet and switched the footage to the drone that had been keeping an eye on everyone else near Newtopia.
"Dammit, Anne…why did you have to do that…?" Darcy whimpered as she watched on.
She saw how Anne was surrounded by everyone, and all of them crying upon seeing her disappear into particles of light and leaves.
Darcy fell to her knees and wailed as well. Her love was gone, the girl she cared about was gone forever, The Core managed to take away the one thing she loved most. If it wasn't already dead, she would go out and kill it herself.
"No, screw that! I'll go to the depths of hell myself, drag it back, and then kill it all over again!" Darcy shouted.
However, something else happened that caught Darcy off guard. One moment, Anne was gone, and a minute later, she was walking up to everyone. At first, Darcy thought she was hallucinating this, her grief-stricken mind playing tricks on her. That wasn't the case as everyone acknowledged Anne's existence and hugged her. Relief filled Darcy, knowing that her beloved was not dead. She had no idea what brought about this miracle, but she was happy about it all the same.
What she saw after saddened her and annoyed her. She saw Anne, Sasha, and Marcy say their final goodbyes as the portal closed behind them. And that's when Darcy saw the Calamity Box completely break down into nothing but ashes.
"So, Earth and Amphibia are no longer connected…this is annoying. But I will find a way to get back to you, but first…I'd like to have you here now."
Darcy got back in the chair and pressed a few buttons on one of the panels. The armrest opened and brought up a vial. And in this vial were a few strands of brown hair.
"Good thing I managed to collect a little sample from you, my love."
Darcy walked over to another wall. With a wave of her hand, she commanded the wall to open, and within a few seconds a tank similar to the one she was in appeared. There was a console next to it and Darcy walked to it as she began typing away on its keyboard.
[Cloning Tank is ready.
Please insert genetic material.]
Darcy popped the cork of the vial as a slot popped up to her right. She inserted the vial, and watched as it disappeared inside the machine.
[DNA accepted.
Accelerated aging parameters have been set.
Time to full growth:
730 : 43,800 : 00]
"It may only be a copy, but it'll be a good stand in until I have the real thing." Darcy smiled wickedly as a third eye appeared in the middle of her forehead, glowing a pure teal color. "I will find a way to get back to you, Anne, and you will be mine. And once I have you, the rest of the multiverse will be our kingdom to rule! Ahaha…AhAHAhA….AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Another robot servant appeared, this time with a tray of cupcakes.
{Your red velvet cupcakes with ube frosting my lord.}
"Ooooh! Yes! I am craaaaaving something sweet!"
Darcy will return…
A/N: ...or am I? AHAHAHAHAHAA
But in all seriousness, thank you all for reading this story and sticking with it for the long haul. I'm glad this story and some of my other works have inspired you to make your own stories and gotten you interested in Amphibia (if you weren't a fan already) and Kamen Rider (again, if you weren't already a fan).
I look forward to writing more stories in this Toku-verse thing I'm doing, and I hope you continue to enjoy them.
For now, it's break time! Have a good weekend.