Belos headed to the holding cells, the secret ones. The ones that only a select few of his Coven were privy to. It was in these cells that the Emperor had caged one of his elusive experiments. The scarred Emperor walked along the rows of empty cells, and stopped before one large cell, bigger than the others. He had ordered the guards for this area to leave, they dared not question him, so they did as they were told and left Belos alone with her. The weathered ruler grinned as he peered into the cell, spotting the large creature known as the Greater Basilisk.
"Hello, Number One," Belos greeted. "My, how you have grown."
The Greater Basilisk, One, growled from the far end of the cell, not bothering to come near the bars.
"You basilisks are quite an interesting species. Shapeshifting in order to get close to your witch prey so that you can feed and drain them dry of their magical power, leaving them feeble or for dead. A natural predator that went extinct long ago. If I may say, your kind left this world far too early in my opinion," said Belos.
"Are you trying to flatter me? It's disturbing coming from you," she retorted.
"Oh, I'm just simply stating a fact."
"Enough!" One slithered about until she was in the middle of the room, her eyes glowing with anger as she glared at the ruler of the Isles. "What is it that you have planned for me?! It's been months since I was captured and put in here!"
Belos nodded as he said, "Indeed it has been. I've been rather preoccupied as of late. The Day of Unity is almost upon us, and soon, utopia will be brought to all. But in order for that utopia to be achieved, sacrifices must be made for the greater good."
The Emperor moved his cloak aside and revealed his Arcane Driver, and his Alpha Creation ring. The Greater Basilisk moved back, afraid of what he would do to her.
[Alpha \A/ Creation, Now.]
Belos held out his right hand, forming a magic circle in the hallway. From that magic circle appeared a large creature that One had never seen before. It looked like an Abomination, its lower half was made entirely of the goo, which undulated and flowed as a mass of Abomination tentacles. The Phantom's arms were also made entirely of the goo, with oversized fists at the ends. Its head was solid like its torso and had a white mask that had an upside-down smile with sharp teeth, dark holes where bright green dots glowed, and a gnarled symbol of the Abomination Coven etched into the middle of its forehead.
"W-W-WHAT IS THAT THING?!" One screamed.
"A new model of my Coven Phantoms, or as I've heard the human call them, 'Super' Coven Phantoms. The previous ones had a tendency to latch onto people who had negative emotions, which made them disobey my commands and had them go on rampages. Not entirely a bad thing, but the loss of control over them when in those forms was quite vexing. But with this new batch, I'm hoping to correct that. And what better way to test it than with a test subject," Belos explained.
One growled loudly as she roared, "I'LL DRAIN YOU OF ALL YOUR MAGIC UNTIL YOU'RE NOTHING BUT A WITHERED HUSK!"
The Greater Basilisk charged for the prison bars, ready to siphon Belos and the Super Abomination Phantom's magic.
[Alpha \A/ Creation, Now.]
Belos held out his right hand, and just before One could attack, she was stopped dead in her tracks, frozen as if time itself had stopped. With a flick of his wrist, Belos made the creature shut its mouth, negating One's magic draining power.
"There's a good creature." Belos turned to his creation and gave it his order. "Now, merge with her."
The Super Abomination Phantom released a low growl as it turned itself into goo and passed through the bars. One's eyes were wide with fear as the creature approached her, her body still unable to move despite her best efforts to make it move. The Super Abomination Phantom looked into her eyes for a few seconds, as if peering deep into her soul in search of something. The Phantom seemed to have found it. The Super Abomination Phantom burst apart into goo that splashed onto the floor and began crawling up One's body. The Greater Basilisk tried to fight, tried to move any muscle, but Belos's hold on her was too great. The goo kept crawling further and further along her body until it completely covered her. Once it had, Belos released his hold and allowed the Super Abomination Phantom to do its work.
The goo, which was in the shape of the Greater Basilisk, started to glow bright purple, filling the entire cell, and made Belos turn away for a moment. When the light faded, Emperor Belos smirked when he saw his new creation.
The Hybrid Phantom was entirely made of Abomination goo, maintaining the serpentine form of its host. The creature had four eyes, each of which glowed bright, neon purple. Its arms were bulky, with long, sharp claws. The back of this creature had spines that were sharpened spikes made of hardened goo, while the end of its tail had a crescent moon sickle shape. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom looked in the direction of Belos, its surface bubbling as if out of anger.
"You obey me, understand?" he commanded.
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom blinked once, and then gave a nod.
"Come out here."
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom deconstructed itself into a stream of pure goo as it passed through the bars and appeared before Belos.
"Go and push them out of their hiding place, like a good hunting dog. And if we're lucky, we can get something out of this in more than one way. Now then, to stage an escape." Belos took off the Alpha Creation ring and replaced it with this second ring before scanning.
[Omega | Ω| Destruction, Now.]
Belos pointed his right hand towards the cell, focusing on the wall at the far end. A sphere of crimson energy formed at that spot, and then, with a clenching of his fist, Belos willed the orb to release a powerful burst of energy that blasted through several walls of the cell. The blast continued until Belos felt the energy break through the last wall. The Emperor smiled as he now saw the hole he had made, showing a clear path to the outside after destroying every wall between the cell and the interior.
"Go, now."
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom passed through the bars of the cell and rushed through the hole that Belos had created, making its escape. It was at this moment that the Coven Scouts ran inside, their bootsteps echoing through the hallway. The Emperor had his cloak envelope him, hiding his Driver and rings.
"MY EMPEROR, ARE YOU OKAY?!" a Scout asked.
"I am fine, but the creature has escaped," said Belos in a distressed tone.
"What?!" the Scouts peered into the cell and saw the massive holes that were blown through the walls. "How is this possible?!"
"Another one of those Phantoms, it must've sensed the creature and come here seeking a host…or…perhaps it was sent there?" Belos shook his head. "In any case, get a message to the Golden Guard and the rest of our Coven Scouts! Now that it's merged with a Greater Basilisk it's an even greater threat than it was before!"
"SIR!" the Scouts exclaimed as they ran off to send out the warnings.
Belos followed behind them, but as he did, he made sure to keep his mask of worry on while he smiled inside.
Luz was asleep in her room, with King curled up at the foot of her sleeping bag and cuddling his bunny, Francois. Unfortunately, her sleep was interrupted as both Three and Four burst into her room, scaring King, Luz, and her little Echo Mouse pet.
"Who – wha – huh?!"
"Luz! Something's happening in town!" Three exclaimed.
"Like what?" Luz asked.
"A Phantom attack!" Four clarified.
"WHAT?!"
Luz, King, Three, and Four rushed down the stairs, spotting Eda standing in front of the crystal ball as Gus's father, Perry Porter, was reporting on the attack.
{If you're just tuning in, we're coming to you live from Bonesborough where Abominations are attacking the town! Even the Abominations of other witches are being hijacked and turned against their summoners! Local reporting has verified it is a Phantom, much similar to the ones that attacked the Bard Coven headquarters and Cagile Island.}
"A Hybrid Phantom, already?!" Luz exclaimed.
"It found someone to merge with, that's not good," King commented.
{Hold on…I'm getting another report…Oh, Oh no. All residents within Bonesborough, by order of the Emperor, you are to evacuate as soon as possible! The Phantom merged with a creature the Emperor's Coven detained a few months ago at Hexside, the Greater Basilisk is reported to be the one who transformed into this monster, and as such, is highly likely to retain its magic draining abilities! And…oh, that's not good! It's heading straight for Blight Industries!}
Luz paled a little, a Hybrid Phantom that could command Abomination goo, and it was heading straight for Blight Industries, which was nothing, but Abomination based weaponry. If that Hybrid Phantom managed to get ahold of the weapons in in that factory, well, it would be a disaster.
The Latina took out her Scroll and immediately sent a message to Amity about the attack.
{G_W_Luzura: Batata, don't know if you've heard yet, but a Hybrid Phantom is heading for your family's factory! And it's Abomination powered!}
{WITCHCHICK128: I saw, I'm heading there now!}
"Alright, I'll use Ice Owl and give the Speeder a boost," said Luz as she took out the ring in question.
"Wait!" Three exclaimed. "Let us join you!"
King, Eda, and Luz looked at the two basilisks with worry.
"Uh, no offense, but you two might not be able to do much against a Phantom," said King.
"No, we have to! It's One!" Four exclaimed.
"She's probably like this because she's out to make witches and demons pay for what they did to us, but we have to try and reach her somehow," Three implored.
Luz thought for a moment, if they were going to stand a chance at reaching out to One, and extracting her from the Hybrid Phantom, then they were going to need Three and Four to help.
"Alright, but you guys need to be careful, and do as I say, okay?"
The two basilisks nodded.
With that confirmation, Luz exited the Owl House. Once outside, she placed her right hand over the Hand Author buckle.
[Driver On, Please.]
A flash of light went off around Luz's waist, materializing the WizarDriver. Once on, she changed the Hand Author's position into its transformation mode.
[Shabadoobi touch to henshin!
Shabadoobi touch to henshin!]
"Henshin!"
[ICE OWL.]
[Hyoketsssssu~!]
A blue magic circle appeared below Luz as an ice construct owl rose from it. Three and Four watched from the door, awestruck as they witnessed the ice owl wrap its wings around Luz. A flash of blue light shined forth as the ice owl construct shattered apart, sending particles of ice cascading around as they now beheld the hero of the Boiling Isles, Kamen Rider Witch: Ice Owl Style.
"Whoa," both basilisks gaped.
"Yeah, you get used to it," Eda commented.
Witch replaced her Driver On ring with her Ride ring and scanned it.
[Ride, Please.]
The same blue magic circle appeared off to Luz's right, and when it did, the Witch Speeder arose from it, but colored blue to match Witch's current style. Once it had appeared, Witch mounted the Speeder and motioned for Three and Four to come. The two basilisks changed into their witch forms and hopped onto the floating bike.
"Good luck, kid!" Eda cried out.
"You got it, Luz!" King added.
Witch gave her little brother and owl mom a thumbs up before having the Witch Speeder rise into the air.
"Hang on you two, we're going full speed!" Witch warned.
Three and Four held on tight, and just in time as the Witch Speeder took off at great speed. Zooming through the air and making the world around them appear as a blur.
Currently, Hunter was floating in the air on his artificial witch's staff, trying to determine the best course of action to take down this monster, but that's when a crow phone flew towards him. The Golden Guard reached out and grabbed the crow and answered it.
"Hello?"
{Hello, Hunter, are you at the town?!}
"Uncle?! I just got here and I'm trying to locate the Phantom responsible," said Hunter.
{I blame myself for this. I had gone to check on the creature to interrogate it for the location of the others. But during the course of the questioning, when its ire had grown, that's when the Phantom appeared and merged with it. I wish I could've done something to stop it or at least slow it down.}
"Don't blame yourself, you need to be here to lead the people! I'll make sure and take down this monster!" Hunter promised.
{I need to make you aware, that monster also managed to take a small battalion of Abomatons, and with its unique powers, who knows how much more dangerous they will be. Stay sharp.}
"I will." Hunter released the crow phone, letting it fly off back to where it came.
The Golden Guard flew on his artificial witch's staff and managed to spot the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, leading both regular Abominations and Abomatons it procured from the holding area. The slithering creature was making a beeline straight for Blight Industries, and Hunter knew well enough that if it got into their products, it would have an arsenal of weaponry to wield against the Isles. Hunter quickly took out his Crusader ring as he positioned himself out in front of the small army and let himself fall off the staff as he scanned his ring.
[Initiate.]
[I am!]
[The sword of justice!]
[I am!]
[The warrior who paves the way!]
[I am!]
[Crusa-Crusa-CRUSADER~]
A green magic circle appeared below Hunter, and as he passed through it, the young man was donned in his armor, becoming Kamen Rider Crusader. The avian Rider flipped a few times in the air before landing on the ground in a kneeling position. Crusader rose to his feet and stared down the Hybrid Abomination Phantom and its Abominations. Crusader didn't waste time as he immediately slipped on one of his weapon rings.
[Crow Scythe, Now!]
A purple construct crow flew around Crusader, and in the next moment transformed into a physical weapon, the Crow Scythe. Crusader caught the weapon and twirled it around in his hands as he got into a ready stance. Not wanting to let the Hybrid Abomination Phantom make the first move, Crusader charged straight ahead. The Crow Scythe glowed as his body split into ten construct clones of himself, granting him a squad of his own. All ten construct Crusaders jumped into the fray, using their Crow Scythes to slice through the Abominations and Abomatons one after the other.
Crusader aimed for the Hybrid Abomination Phantom. He jumped straight into the air, twirled the Crow Scythe around, and slashed through the Hybrid Abomination Phantom's neck. The creature's head fell off its body with a wet plop, and while this happened, the other constructs began mowing through the Abominations and Abomatons, slicing them up on the spot. However, despite decapitating the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, all the other Abominations and Abomatons did not dissolve. Crusader glanced over his shoulder, and that's when he saw the Hybrid Abomination Phantom regrowing its head, while the head he had just severed turned into pure Abomination goo and merged back with its body.
"Oh…right…Abomination goo."
It wasn't just the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, but when Crusader looked around, he noticed that the other Abominations and Abomatons were reforming. Crusader attacked again, along with the rest of the constructs, slicing and dicing, cutting out chunks of the goo monsters, but no matter how many times he cut through them, their bodies would just repair themselves from the damage he inflicted on them.
"Ugh, the Crow Scythe can bypass any defense, but this isn't exactly a defense or armor, it's just its body, and it's body is Abomination goo," Crusader groaned. "This isn't going to be easy…"
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom hissed as tentacles stretched out of its body, and in the next moment, each one had a hardened mace with spikes at the ends of each of them. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom started swinging the maces around, launching them at him in many different directions. Crusader used the Crow Scythe to parry the attacks the best he could, failing that, he slashed at the tentacle connecting to the mace to detach it, but it would quickly reform and he was back to square one.
Crusader jumped into the air and landed a few feet away from the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, thinking quickly, Crusader slipped on a different ring and scanned it.
[Falcon Shield Wing, Now!]
A blue falcon construct flew out and merged with Crusader's back, transforming and materializing into the Falcon Shield Wing. One of the maces was about to strike him, but Crusader quickly formed a half dome barrier out in front of himself. A thundering sound echoed in the air upon impact, but then it was multiplied as several more struck the shield at the same time, shattering it with sheer force. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom launched one of its tentacles at an Abomaton, and upon connecting to it, the creature dragged the sentinel back to its body.
Crusader watched as the Hybrid Abomination Phantom absorbed the Abomaton, and a moment later, the Hybrid Abomination Phantom started to form armor plating, and its upper body grew bulkier, appearing more like a naga. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom's arms transformed into two cannons and charged up dark purple energy before shooting two huge blasts at Crusader. The avian Rider hurriedly formed another barrier around himself as the two beams struck the shield, exploding powerfully against it as he was sent skidding on his heels backwards. Crusader was about to counterattack but stopped when he saw the Abominations and a few Abomatons starting to close in on him. Crusader dismissed the Crow Scythe and switched out his rings again.
[Hornbill Drill, Now!]
A hornbill bird construct, colored black and red, flew around and merged with this left arm, transforming into the Hornbill Drill. Crusader dismissed the Crow Scythe and constructs just as he raised his left arm. The drill spun out as energy gathered around it, once it was charged, Crusader struck the ground beneath him, sending a surge of power that exploded earth under his feet. The explosion sent chunks of rock and dirt flying in different directions, striking the Abominations and Abomatons. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom's body glowed as it produced a dark purple barrier around its body, blocking the dirt and rock shrapnel.
A thick dust cloud had been kicked up into the air. But from that cloud, Crusader flew out and punched with the Hornbill Drill. The drill struck the barrier of the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, causing sparks to fly as the drill bit tried to pierce through the barrier. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom snarled as it shot out a tentacle, this one was tipped with four claws. The tentacle hit Crusader in the chest, grabbing onto him as it hoisted the young Rider into the air. Crusader was about to use the drill to get free, but that's when the claw started to glow, and a moment later, the claw released a blast of energy at point blank range. Crusader was sent flying out of the claw, where he landed hard against the upturned earth.
Crusader groaned as he tried to get up, but that's when four more claws launched out from the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, each one attaching to a limb and pinning him to the ground. The Hybrid Abomination Phantoms slithered towards him, and that's when it opened its mouth to siphon the Rider's magic. But then stopped as it sensed something was wrong.
The young Rider smirked under his helmet and said, "Sorry, I'm a magicless witch! You're not making a meal out of me tonight!"
The only time I'll ever be grateful for not being born with a bile sac.
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom growled with anger at being denied a potential meal, so instead, opted to kill him. The right arm of the Hybrid Abomination Phantom transformed into a blade with the edges of the blade coated in dark purple energy. However, before it could drive the blade into him, two blasts of blue energy struck the monster's arm. Almost immediately its entire right arm started to become encased in solid ice before breaking off and falling onto the ground. More blasts of blue energy flew at them, each one hitting the four tentacles that were keeping Crusader pinned. The young Rider used his strength to shatter the frozen tentacles as he quickly took off into the air, getting out of range of the monster.
That's when Heka, in Champion Form, appeared on her Solar Chaser, and despite not being able to see through her helmet, Crusader was very sure that Heka was glaring daggers at him.
"Seems like you needed a hand, Golden Guard," Heka teased.
"Fighting Abominations is a little difficult, and it's not like you're one to talk. You use Abominations, and this thing has the power to hijack Abominations, you're just as vulnerable as I am," Crusader shot back.
"Don't put us in the same league."
"Shall we educate him as to the difference in our skill level, Kitten?"
Let's, thought Heka.
Heka drove towards the head of the small army of Abominations and Abomatons and brought her bike down to a hover as she dismounted it and stood before them. The golden Rider stabbed the MaguScepter into the ground as she slipped on her newest ring onto her right middle finger.
"Ready to come out and play, Bast?"
"I've been ready!"
Heka quickly inserted the ring into the right side of the Driver and turned it once.
[Bast Arise-Rise!]
A large purple magic circle appeared behind Amity, and from that circle, a large, mechanical cat appeared. Bast took one step forward, coming around to her left as she gave a loud roar into the air.
"Been a long time since we fought side by side, Kitten," said Bast.
"I know, hope you're not rusty," Heka teased.
"Heh, I'll show you 'rusty'."
Heka took up her MaguScepter, channeling her magical energy into it as at least twenty Abomination golems appeared around her, each one was a slimmed down version of their counterparts across the way. And, unlike the others, these Abominations were fitted in gold flame armor, and brandished golden, flaming swords in each hand.
"Solar Chaser: Sentinel Shift!"
The Solar Chaser acted upon her command, transforming into its mecha form, the Solar Sentinel. Heka then pointed her MaguScepter at the mecha and imbued the Solar Chaser's core with the golden flames of Bast, giving it additional power and turning the metal halo on its back into a fiery golden halo.
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom sneered as it looked upon all the Abominations that Heka had summoned, perfect for its army, and perfect additions to its power. The creature's eyes glowed as it reached out with its power to take command of Heka's Abominations, but something went wrong. The moment a dark purple aura appeared over the Abominations and Solar Sentinel the aura shattered. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom tried to do this again, but each time the result was the same.
With that established, Heka dashed towards the Hybrid Abomination Phantom and its army, with her own troops following right behind her. Bast's mighty paws thundered against the ground as she let out another roar. She jumped into the air and crashed down into the small army of Abominations. The cat Phantom lit up its claws with golden flames as she slashed through several Abominations in one swipe. Upon contact with her claws, the Abominations were set ablaze, their goo bodies melting under the magic burning flames of Bast. The Abomination Warriors joined the fight, attacking the Abominations with their flaming swords, cutting their opponents down with one swing before moving onto the next.
The Abomatons were about to attack next, but the Solar Sentinel blasted them with its rotating arm guns, shooting beams of golden flame energy at them. The few that managed to defend themselves created shields, but the ones that couldn't had chunks blasted from them as they too were set ablaze. The Solar Sentinel dropped out of the sky, swiftly transforming its arms from gun mode to blade mode as it flew at the defending Abomatons. With one slash of its flaming blade, it managed to create a gash in the barrier. After another slash, the barrier was cut wide open, allowing the Solar Sentinel to drive both blades into the Abomaton's chest, burning it up into cinders upon contact.
Crusader watched from above, stunned at how Heka's Abominations and attacks were more effective than his own.
Meanwhile, far from the battlefield, and utilizing the Sight ring on both herself and the two basilisks, Witch watched the battle, with a dopey grin hidden behind her helmet.
"How is she able to do damage to them like that?" Three asked.
"Most likely, it's her flames. Her flames have the power to burn magic, so, by coating her Abominations and her Solar Sentinel in those flames, it created an effective barrier against the Hybrid Abomination Phantom's control. Plus, they have the bonus effect of burning up the magic that allows them to keep their forms," Witch swooned. "She's so cool."
Three and Four rolled their eyes with a smile, they knew those two were in love, but dang.
Everything was working out as Heka and Witch had planned, her little strategy talk with Bast on the way over here had paid off. The golden flames were proving to be a great defensive measure against the Hybrid Abomination Phantom's ability to take over other Abominations, and at the same time, effective at destroying them.
Now, the only one to worry about is the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, thought Amity.
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom snarled as it released a loud screech into the air, and once it did, the ground rumbled and shook as fissures formed. From those fissures, Abomination goo began to flow out. The goo started to merge with the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, adding to its mass as it began to grow bigger and bigger with each passing second. Heka narrowed her gaze and dashed straight for the monster, using the wing blades at the end of the MaguScepter to slash at its body as she sped past it again and again. The flames were taking effect, but the goo was still flowing towards it, adding back what was being burned away.
"Okay, this is going to get annoying real fast."
Heka waved the MaguScepter around, as she spread the flames towards the Abomination goo that was flowing out of the ground. She coated it in her flames, regaining control over the goo as she made it flow under her in a tornado of Abomination goo. The enlarged Hybrid Abomination Phantom formed giant versions of its weapons that it had absorbed from the Abomaton and began shooting them at her. Heka pointed her MaguScepter out in front of her, creating a barrier that protected the golden Rider from the bombardment, and while it was attacking her, the Solar Sentinel appeared behind the Hybrid Abomination Phantom. It swapped out its rotating cannons for single shots and shot two huge blasts of flaming yellow and purple energy.
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom shrieked in pain as it felt its goo body getting burned. The monster created a tentacle blade and was about to cut the mecha in halve, but at that moment, a wheel made of golden flames came spinning straight for the tentacle, slashing it half before the tentacle could reach the machine. The flaming wheel dispersed its flames, revealing that it was in fact Bast, having curled herself into a ball and using the power of her flames to launch herself at the monster.
"BAST!"
"LET'S GO!"
The Solar Sentinel transformed back into its Solar Chaser mode and flew towards Heka. The golden Rider hopped onto the Solar Chaser and flew up towards Bast as she quickly activated her next ring.
[ LET'S GO, KICK STRIKE! ]
Bast transformed into her leg form just as Heka flew over her. Heka jumped off as she flipped once in the air and came down with her left leg, connecting to Bast. Heka waved the MaguScepter one more time, commanding the Abominations she created, along with the goo she had commandeered, to combine and swirl around the creature before transforming into as multiple glaives that shot towards the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, piercing into its body and keeping it pinned down. Once it was held in place, Heka and Bast descended from the sky, as a flaming, roaring panther. The fire cat flew straight down, striking the monster as it ignited a huge explosion that wiped out the remainder of the Hybrid Abomination Phantom's forces.
When the smoke cleared, the Heka and Bast were standing in the middle of the crater. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the Hybrid Abomination Phantom.
"They should be dealing with it right about now," said Bast.
"Just like La Lechuza thought. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom would probably save itself if we backed it into a corner, forcing it to retreat."
"And the closest place to retreat to is…" Bast glanced off into the distance, towards the forest. "Let's go and find them before something else happens."
"Bast, don't jinx it."
"What?"
Just then a bright flash of red light went off in the forest, followed by a small explosion that made Heka and Bast turn their heads in the direction of the blast.
"What did I say!"
"Get on, Kitten!"
Heka jumped onto Bast's back, and together they rushed towards the forest.
(A few minutes earlier…)
The Hybrid Abomination Phantom had created a duplicate of itself when Heka joined the fight, not certain as to what the Rider would do. From here, it was going to observe the fight, and determine its next course of action. However, that's where its plan fell apart. The Hybrid Abomination Phantom was suddenly assailed by multiple blue energy blasts from the sky, and when they hit, ice formed. The blasts hit it in a circle around the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, effectively locking it into place as Witch flew down from the sky on her Speeder. She brought the Speeder to a hover just a few inches off the ground as all three passengers dismounted it. Witch dismissed her Speeder, and quickly switched out rings.
"One! It's us! Don't you recognize us?!" Four cried out.
The struggling Hybrid Abomination Phantom stopped and looked at the two witches. A moment after laying eyes on them, the two witches changed and revealed their true forms.
"We know you're angry, that you want to get back at the witches, but this doesn't help us or you!" Three argued.
"That's it, keep it up!" Witch encouraged as she switched the position of her Hand Author and scanned her ring.
[Shabadoobi touch to henshin!
Shabadoobi touch to henshin!]
[LIGHT!]
[ICE!]
[PLANT!]
[FIRE!]
[ELEMENTS OF THIS WORLD NOW UNITE~!]
[BRING US HOPE!]
[LIGHT OF WONDER SHINE ON~!]
[PLEASE.]
A bright flash of pink light went off behind the two basilisks, when it faded, the Witch had changed into her Final Form, Wonder Style. With Tizona in hand, Witch summoned her magic circle, which appeared below the Hybrid Abomination Phantom as she concentrated her magic.
I can feel it, it's like One is screaming to be freed!
"I can sense it too, this is much different from the previous possessions," La Lechuza noted.
Different, yes, but it also means this will be a lot easier!
"Keep talking to her! I sense she's trying to free herself!"
"One! We're here with you!" Three cried out.
"Keep fighting! Let Witch help you!" Four exclaimed.
Witch slowly walked towards the circle as the two basilisks continued to encourage their fellow basilisk to fight on. Once Witch was standing at the edge of the circle, she quickly raised her left palm, pointed it at the creature's chest, and sent a wave of her magic rippling through it. A pink crack formed in the center of the Hybrid Abomination Phantom's chest, and once it formed, Witch's circle glowed brighter as ribbons of sparkling pink light shot towards the crack, like a lifeline. Witch focused, believing that she can separate this monster from its host. And her belief was rewarded as her power magnified to reflect her state of mind. The crack grew larger as an arm emerged, and with one strong tug of the ribbons, One was ripped out of the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, throwing her towards the other basilisks where she landed.
"Let's end this!"
Witch made a circle over the glyph orbs in a clockwise motion four times. When she did, the four orbs glowed brightly with their respective colors.
}} WONDER GLYPH SHINING BLAST! {{
All four glyph symbols appeared before Witch in a diamond formation. Witch thrusted Tizona towards the middle of the formation, making the four glyphs merge into one as she fired a beam of sparkling pink and white light that roared towards Hybrid Abomination Phantom. The beam completely engulfed the Hybrid Abomination Phantom, burning it away along with the ground it was sitting on until not even ashes were left.
Once Witch ended her attack, she sighed, thankful that their efforts to save one of Vee's kind was successful. The hero of hope turned around and saw that the Greater Basilisk was just as big as it was before, but unlike last time, she was more than prepared should the Greater Basilisk try anything.
One began to stir, holding her head which throbbed from her ordeal. She blinked her eyes a couple of times before realizing who was in front of her.
"Four…Three?" One asked.
"Yes, it's us!" Three exclaimed.
"I…I can't believe it, I thought I would not see either of you again," said One.
"I know, but it's okay, Witch helped you," said Four.
The Greater Basilisk turned her head to look at the Rider as her form shifted back to the default form.
"Hola! You can't tell because of the suit and all, but I'm the human girl who…uh…who stopped you back at Hexside," Witch informed.
"YOU! Wait…Why did you help me? I was going to drain the magic of everyone at your school."
Witch shrugged and answered, "Because, thanks to your friends, I get why you did it. I don't like that you did it, but I can understand wanting to hurt someone because they hurt you. But right here and now, you have a chance to put that behind you."
One looked at her fellow basilisks, as if to ask if what she said was true.
"It's true, One. Witch, Luz, is going to help us find someplace safe where we don't have to worry about the Emperor's Coven, or the Emperor," said Three.
"She even showed us how to use a different type of magic we can feed off of instead of taking it from witches and other demons," Four added.
One shifted her eyes from Witch and to her fellow basilisks, thinking carefully about her situation, and whether or not the human could be trusted. Well, considering Three and Four seemed to trust Witch, perhaps there was some merit to the offer. Then again, there was something else she could offer to Witch, something she remembered about how she became that monster earlier.
"Before that, I have to tell you something, something concerning–!"
"Looks like you were successful." Witch, One, Three, and Four looked up into the air and saw Crusader hovering just above them. "Well, half successful. The – What the heck?!"
Crusader paused when he saw three of the four escaped basilisks right there. The Greater Basilisk was one thing, but the other two were unexpected.
"How did…You found the other two?! Of course, you did, you always seem to have crazy luck like that, human," said Crusader. "In either case, this just made things a lot easier."
Witch got on edge as she slowly repositioned herself so that she as in front of the three basilisks.
"What do you mean, Hunter?"
"I mean, I'm on a mission to eliminate the Greater Basilisk, and my other mission was to find and bring in the other three escaped basilisks. Two out of three isn't too bad, it's better than I was hoping for anyway. Now…" Crusader raised his left arm as the Hornbill Drill began to spin. "Move so I can take that thing out and capture the others."
Witch furrowed her brow as she stated, "I'm not going to let you hurt them, Hunter!"
"What?! That thing attacked several different magic schools and drained the magic out of every student, faculty member, and Coven Scout that came near it, and those two are no better, if you let them roam free, they'll drain everyone's magic, including your friend's magic," Crusader argued.
"No, they won't! Besides, One only did what she did because of what Emperor Belos did to them! I know that they were brought back to life, they were extinct for a long time, but Belos brought them back, experimented on them, practically torturing them! And for what reason?!"
Crusader opened his mouth to answer, but that's when he realized he didn't know. His uncle had told him about the resurrected basilisks, and how he was doing experiments with them. But in all that time, he never recalled why Emperor Belos was experimenting on them, or why he had created them in the first place. Crusader shook his head, dislodging the intrusive thoughts of suspicion.
"I'm sure the Emperor has his reasons. Even if we can't make sense of them right now, in the end, what he does is for the good of the Isles and the people! And as such, I'm going to fulfill my mission, by ending that monster, and taking in those other two!"
Witch took a ready stance as she shouted, "Then you'll have to go through me!"
"How 'bout not?"
Crusader pointed his right hand towards Witch, a moment later, her entire body was trapped inside of a blue spherical barrier. With wave of his hand, Crusader flung the barrier away towards some trees, and after she was gone, he formed another one around Three and Four, leaving One exposed.
"Alright, monster, time finish you once and for all!"
The Hornbill Drill spun rapidly as energy gathered around it. Crusader flew towards the Greater Basilisk, cocking back his left fist in preparation to kill One.
}{ ¡LUZ EN LA OSCURIDAD! }{
(Light in the Darkness!)
}{ ¡OSCURIDAD EN LA LUZ! }{
(Darkness in the Light!)
}{ ¡PODER MÁGICO! }{
(Magical Might!)
}{ TWI~AH~AH~AH~LIGHT~~~! }{
}{ Now, Please! }{
Yellow, violet, and magenta light shined forth from the sphere that contained Witch.
}\/{ ZEAL SPEED! NOW, PLEASE! }\/{
The barrier shattered apart like fragile glass, and upon its destruction, a being flew out at incredible speed towards One, and in the next moment, Crusader found his Hornbill Drill striking up against three metallic white wings.
The white wings pushed forward, forcing Crusader back. That's when the wings moved aside and revealed, Kamen Rider Witch: Twilight Style.
"Hunter, I'm being serious right now. Back off, I don't want to hurt you," Witch warned.
"Cocky, aren't you, but you know what, this has been a long time coming." Crusader began scanning and replacing his rings one after the other.
[Eagle Lightning Wing, Now!]
[Crow Scythe, Now!]
[Raven Talons, Now!]
Crusader was now donned all his weapons, ready to fight Witch head on.
"You do know that there's a chance that footage of you and Blight was probably their doing. Other than illusion magic, a couple of shapeshifting basilisks would fit the bill, right?" Crusader proposed.
"I have a good idea who's behind that. Unfortunately, I don't have any solid proof, yet. But I do know that these two are innocent! And you won't be taking them back," Witch retorted.
"Don't you mean 'I won't let you take them back'?"
"That would mean I'm giving you a choice. I'm stating a fact, Hunter. You can't beat me, so, just give up now and go back to the palace."
Crusader growled at how cocky Witch sounded, yeah, she stopped the one responsible for the Phantoms, and she defeated Nuckelavee, but so what? He was a Kamen Rider. He was powerful too. So, what if he couldn't change forms like the human and Blight, he was still strong.
"Get out of here, I'll find you later," said Witch.
The Greater Basilisk began slithering away into the trees, making Crusader look in her direction and fly at her. Witch jumped into the air, putting herself in front of Crusader as she spun around and slashed him with her black and white wings. Sparks flew from his armor as Crusader tumbled in the air for a few seconds before he managed to stop himself. Witch glanced at Three and Four were still inside their own spherical barrier, which was a good thing for the time being, it meant they were safe.
Witch flew toward Crusader, but then rose into the air sharply before spinning around and coming down with an ax kick. Crusader formed a barrier around himself, blocking the attack, but the impact sent him plummeting back towards the ground. Thankfully, the barrier absorbed the impact.
Witch saw the barrier and focused as a flash of green light went off around her right hand, summoning one of her Sin Rings before she scanned it.
}|{ ENVIOUS REPLICA! NOW, PLEASE! }|{
The Sin Ring shined as something started to form around Witch's left arm. That's when Crusader gasped, watching as a complete copy of his Hornbill Drill was now on Witch's arm.
"What?! How did you do that?!" Crusader shouted.
"Envious Replica, it allows me to recreate any weapon or item I've seen before. In this case, one of your weapons." Witch raised the drill up and looked at it for a moment. "To be honest, I actually wanted to use this. It looked like fun. Now…Mega…!"
Witch cocked back her left arm.
"…Drill…!"
The copied Hornbill Drill spun rapidly as yellow, violet, and magenta energy swirled around it.
"BREAKER!"
Witch flew down as a spiral cone of energy formed when she thrusted her left arm forward. The spiral cone struck against Crusader's barrier, causing a horrible screeching sound to echo in the woods as sparks flew off from the surface of the barrier. Cracks immediately formed on Crusader's barrier, and in the next moment, the barrier shattered apart. Witch dismissed her weapon, and spun in the air once, and struck Crusader in the chest with a left hook, sending him crashing through a tree.
"I always wanted to do that…" Witch sighed. "Just wish it was under better circumstances…"
The trees that fell on top of Crusader exploded as streaks of lightning blasted through them. Crusader took aim and launched several lightning feathers at Witch. A flash of yellow light went off around Witch's right hand and scanned it.
}\/{ HUMBLING GUARD! NOW, PLEASE! }\/{
A large hexagonal shield appeared around Witch as the lightning feathers struck and exploded against its surface. Crusader dashed towards the barrier, powered up his drill, and slammed it against the barrier. Unfortunately, it was not the same result as when Witch used a copy of his weapon. The drill barely made a dent, or even a small crack in Witch's shield.
"Just stop now, Hunter. Like I said, you can't beat me," Witch implored.
"I'm not done yet!"
Crusader raised his right arm, energizing the Crow Scythe that was mounted onto his right arm and slashed the barrier. To his shock, the defense bypassing weapon didn't pierce through Witch's shield at all. Crusader summoned forth his ten copies, and had all of them, including himself, attack the barrier at the same time. But no matter how many times the copies or Crusader struck the barrier nothing cracked it. The avian Rider dismissed his copies and flew away from Witch, putting some distance between them as the Crow Scythe and Hornbill Drill deconstructed for a moment to allow Crusader to grab his next ring and scan it.
[ ENDING STRIKE! RIGHT NOW! ]
Witch furrowed her brow but resolved to stop Crusader. The barrier fell as red light flashed over Witch's right hand, summoning another of her Virtue Rings.
}\/{ KIND STRENGTH! NOW, PLEASE! }\/{
A bright red aura flared around Witch as she widened her stance and got her hands into a ready position. All of Crusader's weapons began glowing, and within moments his entire body was wrapped in an aurora aura. The avian Rider zoomed towards Witch, and halfway through, his entire body disappeared into the aurora as it took on the form of a large bird. The aurora bird screeched as it closed in on Witch, but the hero of hope did not budge an inch. Instead, once the attack drew near, Witch struck the incoming attack head on with a left palm heel strike. Aurora and bright red light exploded around them for a moment, their energies clashing as Crusader tried to overpower Witch. But that was not going to happen, as Witch employed the power of the Kind Strength Virtue Ring. While it did give her a boost to her overall physical strength, its true power lay in using her opponent's power against them.
Witch began making a circular motion with her left hand, mixing her own energy with that of Crusaders. The two energies began to merge in a circle before them, like a witch about to cast a spell. Then, with her right hand, Witch struck again with another palm heel strike, but the moment she made contact with the construct aurora bird, the circlet of light shot towards her right hand and released a burst of power. The energy that was released created a shockwave the blasted the aurora bird away, stripping the construct of its form and revealing Crusader before he, too, was thrown back. All of his weapons disappeared as the young Rider rolled along the ground while his armor released a few sparks. Thankfully, Witch managed to hold back, her goal wasn't to hurt or end Crusader, she just wanted to stop him.
Crusader groaned as he got to a kneeling position, panting heavily as he grunted trying to get back to his feet. How could Witch be this powerful? How could a mere human be this powerful at all? These were the questions that Crusader was asking himself, but after fighting Witch, the answer was not coming to him anytime soon.
"Hunter, that's enough, I can keep this up all night if I have to, but the outcome isn't going to change," said Witch.
"Grrrr! I don't get it! How are you so much more powerful than me?! My Driver, my powers, they were given to me by the Emperor! We should be at the same level!" Hunter complained.
"That's because you haven't discovered your true strength. All Riders figure out, eventually, where their true power lies."
Crusader glared at Witch and asked, "Oh, yeah?! And where does my supposed 'true power' lie?!"
"That's something you'll have to discover for yourself." Witch walked over to the barrier bubble still containing Three and Four, and using her current ring power, smashed her palm into the barrier, shattering it apart and free the basilisks. "But something tells me that serving Belos is not going to help you find it."
Crusader growled again as he quickly scanned another ring and ran towards Witch.
[ KICK STRIKE, RIGHT NOW! ]
Three and Four were about to yell for Witch to look out, but Witch felt that coming.
}|{ SLOWING SLOTH! NOW, PLEASE! }|{
Time stopped around them, everything frozen in place. Witch could hear the ticking of a clock, telling her that her that in this state of frozen time would not last long. The Rider of Light turned around and saw that Crusader's right foot was just inches away from hitting her, the energy that it was surrounded in paused mid flare. Witch picked up Three and Four, carrying them away from where Crusader's kick would land, and placing them about ten feet away from where he was. Once that was done, Witch walked back to him. She looked down and quickly dropped to the ground as she threw a sweeping kick, knocking his leg from under him. Her next attack had her spin around into a thrust kick, nailing him in the chest.
The ticking suddenly stopped, and the moment it did, time resumed its normal course. The energy around Crusader's foot disappeared as he was suddenly swept off his feet, and then kicked, sending him flying into a boulder which fragmented upon impact.
"It's over, Hunter. Enough is enough," said Witch.
"You–!"
}\/{ ZEAL SPEED! NOW, PLEASE! }\/{
Before he could get back up, Witch was already on him, her metallic wings flared as she pointed one of them at his face. Crusader looked up at Witch, realizing now that this human wasn't taking him seriously. She could have taken him out multiple times by now, but she was deliberately keeping herself from delivering a killing blow.
"Are you trying to make fun of me or something?! Trying to humiliate me?!" Crusader barked.
"Wha – No, Hunter, that's not what I'm–"
Suddenly, an explosion went off far into the woods. A red glow indicated the location and for some reason, Witch got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"We're done here!" Witch dashed across the way to Three and Four. "You two, hold onto me! We need to find One!"
The two basilisks didn't argue as they resumed their witch forms, allowing Witch to hold onto them much easier as she took off into the air and flew towards where the explosion went off. She flew over the canopy of tree branches for a minute but stopped when she saw a small crater below. The hero of hope descended from the sky and gasped in shock and horror. In the center of the crater lay the charred body of the Greater Basilisk. Witch touched down inside the crater and released Three and Four. The two basilisks reverted to their true forms as tears streamed down their faces.
"ONE!" Four cried out.
"NO, ONE, PLEASE WAKE UP! ONE!" Three screamed.
Just then, Bast and Heka appeared from the trees, the cat Phantom remained at the edge of the crater while Heka jumped off her back and stood with Witch.
"Luz…what happened?"
"I…I don't know…I told One to run while I fought Hunter…but…I don't…how did this…" Witch shook her head as she rushed towards One's body and got down on one knee before her. "I'm not letting her die!"
A blue light flashed from Luz's right hand, revealing the Healing ring. Another flash of light went off, but this time, the silver casing around the magic crystal had changed to a gold color and was given a magenta-colored stone. Witch immediately scanned the ring and held her right hand over One's body.
}{ Healing BURST, Now Please! }{
Blue and magenta particles of light radiated from Witch's hand, she continued to pour her magic into the spell ring, determined to save the basilisk's life.
"C'mon! C'mon!" Witch pleaded.
But for some reason, when she tried to exert her healing magic, something stopped her. Red energy wafted off the body, like a miasma of death that refused to let go of its kill. Witch started to cry as she realized her power was not going to bring back One. Three and Four wept as they hugged the body of their fallen sister. Heka teared up as well, kneeling next to Witch as she held her girlfriend close.
Crusader appeared from the tree line and paused when he saw the scene before him. That wasn't his doing, and from the looks of the others, they were just in as much shock, if not more so. Although, this was his chance, he could easily–
"Think better of your next course of action, little bird."
The avian Rider paused when he glanced over his shoulder and just now realized that the giant mechanical cat creature was standing behind him.
How did that thing get behind me without me noticing it?!
"You've done more than enough. Leave them to grieve. Or I will do what Laly's ward has not done yet." Bast lowered her head as she stared directly into the Rider's eyes. "And that's kill you without any hesitation."
Crusader knew he was not in a position to argue with the mecha cat monster, so, he released his transformation. Hunter took out his artificial witch's staff, mounted it, and flew off into the air, leaving the area.
(The following day…)
Luz, King, Eda, Three, Four, and Amity all gathered in the forest as they left flowers at the makeshift grave of the basilisk, One. During the night they brought the basilisk's body to a familiar alcove of the forest, the Bat Queen's Forest. After contacting Eda, she flew there with King, and together they explained the situation to the Bat Queen. The giant Palisman took pity on the basilisks and allowed them to bury their fallen near her home, so that no one would disturb it.
After the goodbyes were said, Luz walked up to the Bat Queen and said, "Thank you, for letting us bury her here."
"It is least I can do for you, Luz. I am sorry that a life was lost," Bat Queen replied.
Luz turned around to the approaching basilisks, her head hung low in shame.
"I'm sorry. I promised to save her, to protect you…and I failed…"
Four rubbed her eyes free of tears as she told Luz, "It wasn't your fault. We may not know what happened, but you did save One from being trapped in that monstrous form."
Three slithered up to Luz and took the Latina's hands into hers.
"And you did keep us safe, we're still alive thanks to you. We're grateful for that, Luz."
"Still, I don't understand what killed her…"
Amity stood next to her girlfriend and answered, "Unfortunately, I don't think we'll ever find out. Whatever killed her left as quick as it appeared, and it left no traces of who or what it was."
Eda patted Luz's shoulder comfortingly.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. You did all you could do, and then some. And you managed to save these two in the process, take your wins, kiddo."
King patted Luz's leg as he looked up at her. The Latina bent down and picked him up as she hugged King close to her. Most times King would complain, but after what happened, he was content to let Luz hug his furry body if it meant giving her some kind of comfort.
The young teen turned around to face the Bat Queen and asked, "BQ, I have one more favor to ask. Is it okay if Three and Four stay here with you? If they stay at the Owl House, eventually, the Emperor's Coven will find them. But here, deep in the forest, they won't find them. A-And you don't have to worry about them draining magic from anyone! I taught them glyph magic, so they can make their food now!"
The Bat Queen looked down at the two basilisks, who then bowed to her. After a moment, the Bat Queen nodded.
"Very well, they may stay."
"Thank you, Bat Queen," Three and Four spoke in unison.
"C'mon, it's been a long night. I think we can all use some sleep," Eda suggested.
Amity contemplated leaving, but then inquired, "Do you mind if I come with you?"
Luz sniffled and replied, "Sure."
Neither girl wanted to be alone after what happened, and Amity figured that her being there with Luz would help her girlfriend sleep better. And if she was being honest, it would help her as well.
(Emperor's Palace…)
"So, Hunter, not only did you fail to pacify the creature, but you also failed to capture the two escaped specimens?"
Hunter was currently kneeling before Emperor Belos, the young man could feel his uncle's gaze boring into him as the man sat upon his throne.
"I-I'm sorry, Uncle, I tried to but…Witch…the human…she's grown far stronger than we thought. Her powers have evolved more…I don't…I don't think I'm a match for her," Hunter bitterly admitted.
Belos sighed as he leaned back and knitted his fingers together.
"I expected as much, but I had hoped you would've grown strong enough repel her. Obviously, I was mistaken. I'll have to rethink our approach when it comes to dealing with her. But in any case, this might also mean that that footage is not entirely meritless. For now, return to your quarters."
"Yes…sir."
Hunter rose from his kneeling stance, turned around, and began walking out of the throne room.
Once gone, Belos said aloud, "Reveal yourselves."
Just as he said that the Super Illusion Phantom and the Super Oracle Phantom both appeared on his left and right respectively.
"Show me what you have."
The Super Illusion and Oracle Phantoms combined their power to recreate the battle between Witch and Crusader, and how she defended the basilisks. There was no audio, which was good, as it gave the impression that it was filmed from far away. Which would make it much easier to spin the story how he liked.
"A good thing I had you two keeping an eye on that creature, otherwise she would've told our little false witch too much. The pieces are falling into place, how will you fair when the masses are no longer on your side, Luz? I can't wait to see."