A/N: Hello everyone! We're back again! This arc is going to be a little longer, so I'll be uploading 2 chaps today, 2 on Saturday, and 1 more on Sunday. For today and tomorrow, the chaps will be posted an hour apart from each other. You're welcome!
I'm going to take a small break after this arc to write down another KR Crossover Story. If you've seen my DeviantArt page then you'll know what's coming. That being said, before it begins I need to draw out the Riders so that'll take my time along with writing out a few chaps for that.
A certain someone – not pointing any fingers – lol – kept feeding my brain with ideas and now they're rattling in my head. Suffice to say, it's going to be good for Witch.
{Citizens of the Boiling Isles, this is Emperor Belos. In lieu of the recent incidents that have occurred upon our island, I would like to address your concerns.
Some of you have seen these mysterious creatures in the last few weeks. They have identified themselves as "Phantoms". From what we've been able to deduce, they are not demons that fall into either of the familiar three Bs and are to be regarded as a unique and extremely dangerous creatures. They have intelligence like that of a Biped demon, and from the recent three incidents, appear to come in various forms.
I am also aware that at least one of these Phantoms had taken the form of a young witchling. Rest assured that my Coven and the other Nine Covens are working on a way to locate and weed out these shapeshifting monsters. However, this does not mean that you should start panicking. My Coven Scouts, as well as the head of my Coven, Lilith Clawthorne, stand ready to eradicate this scourge from our society.
Now, to address another matter, that of this "Kamen Rider Witch". I am very aware that, through her actions, she has slain, not one, but three of these creatures. While her intervention in the dispatching of these monsters is appreciated, I cannot in good conscience allow such a powerful being with unknown motives to run wild and free among us. If at all possible, I would like to work with this Witch in order to fully rid ourselves of the Phantoms.
That is why, starting today, Kamen Rider Witch will be issued a bounty, for capture only. 1,500,000,000,000 snails.
Despite all this my dear citizens, you should not allow yourselves to be gripped by fear, go about your days. Be vigilant, not suspicious. The Phantoms seek to sow chaos among us, and through this topple our society. I say, we don't give in! Show these creatures that the Boiling Isles will not cower to the likes of these foreign invaders! We will preserver, and will prevail, for the Day of Unity will soon be upon us my children, and when that day comes, it will be an even more glorious celebration, for it will also be known as the day we celebrate our liberation from the Phantom menace!}
{This has been a public service announcement from the Emperor and the Emperor's Coven.}
The giant crystal ball shut off just then, the students of Hexside murmured amongst themselves as they processed what Emperor Belos had just said. Principal Bump walked to the middle of the stage and summoned a microphone into his hand, after tapping on it a few times to gain the attention of his students, he straightened up and readied to speak.
"As you just heard my students, the Emperor has this under control. It was due to this announcement that the PCA deemed it safe enough for you all to return to your studies here at Hexside. However, let me assure you that I have increased the security here at our school, and while the…unfortunate departure of one of our own is tragic. I do not want any of you to use this as a way to cast suspicion upon your classmates!" Bump stated.
Bump paused for a moment to look into the sea of youthful faces, making sure that they had gotten the point before continuing.
"That being said, please, go about your day as you would always. As the Emperor said, 'Be vigilant, not suspicious'. The monsters win if we become fearful of our friends and family, that is the last thing any of us want. With that said, you are all dismissed to your classes."
With the announcements given Principal Bump watched as the students left the auditorium. The old principal sighed sadly; he knew that saying such things was easier said than done. The truth of the matter was no one in either Hexside, Glandus, or St. Epidermis knew exactly how to truly keep their students safe. The Basilisk incident was bad enough, that creature just siphoned magic, while that was bad in and of itself, these Phantoms seemed to have a more nefarious goal in mind when it came to the people of the Boiling Isles, and it seemed not even the children would be spared from their machinations.
One of their own, Luz Noceda, had been kidnapped not too far from the school, and another was a monster in disguise and nearly did something to Willow Park. And the most recent incident had one of those monsters attacking and then kidnapping the female students.
"Principal Bump?" the Abomination teacher approached Bump.
"Yes?"
"Do you believe we'll be able to truly tell these creatures from our own students?" he asked.
"I like to believe we know our students well enough, but Zera Westwood…I spoke to the Illusion Track teachers, and none of them could tell any difference in her behavior. She acted the same way as she always did, and even interacted with her classmates the same as she always has." Bump's brow furrowed. "These Phantoms are truly diabolical."
Luz welcomed the slight return to normalcy in Hexside, only slight because there was that added layer of suspicion amongst her classmates, but for the most part everything seemed normal. There was a free period where students could go to their club meetings and/or do other school sanctioned activities. Luz decided to take a little walk around the school, both to gather her thoughts and to patrol. One of those thoughts pertained to how Dracula almost took control of her, and how La Lechuza protected her. That conversation afterwards was awkward.
"You protected me from getting controlled! Gracias, La Lechuza!"
"I don't need your thanks; I didn't push him out to just protect you."
"Oh…then…what was the other reason?"
"The first one: I can't stand Phantoms like that! We're supposed to consume our Gates and take control of their forms! Not merge ourselves with them! I don't care how aligned they are! I find it more disgraceful than my current situation! Two: Even I found that creature despicable."
"Yeah, glad he's gone."
"Three, and I don't think this bears repeating, but I will. If you die so do I. And I'd rather not live out the rest of my days under the control of that creature!"
"I think she's warming up to me…slowly…very, very, VERY, slowly." Luz thought aloud.
"Henshin!"
Luz stopped in her tracks, she couldn't have just heard that, right? The Latina looked around and saw an open door, she hurried to the door and peeked inside. There she saw Gus, with a makeshift mask of her Rider helmet, and a homemade version of her WizarDriver. Luz found it cute, after the Dracula incident, Gus grilled Luz for all the details about how she became a Rider, how her powers work, and how she knew how to fight. Turns out he was very interested in human superhero shows, most notably the Japanese ones.
So cute, she thought.
"HENSHIN!" multiple voices called out at once.
What?
Luz peeked into the room and gaped when she saw at least ten other students with their own masks and fake Drivers. Luz thought if she was an anime character, this is the part where she'd make one of those jaw drop surprised faces. The group of people that were assembled were Selene, Viney, Eileen, Cat, and a few others from the various classes around school.
"I hereby call this branch of the Human Appreciation Society, aka The Kamen Rider Club, officially to order!" Gus announced. "Our first topic will be about the human lore about Kamen Rider and what we can imply from it that relates to Kamen Rider Witch."
"Gus!" Luz called out.
The olive-skinned witch turned his head and waved at his friend. "Hey, Luz!"
Luz dashed into the room and grabbed Gus by the shoulders, "I just need to speak to him for one second." The Latina, with the same speed, dragged Gus out of the room and took him halfway down the hall and out of earshot from the others. "Gus, what the flippity flap are you doing?! A Kamen Rider Club?! A: that's awesome and I wish there was one back in my human school, and B: what the heck?!"
Gus raised his hands in a stopping motion. "Whoa, Luz, calm down. I haven't told them anything about you! What we talked about is top secret and not for the ears of civilians! I just thought, after hearing what the Emperor said that I should generate some positive publicity for Witch. Plus, as the former president of the H.A.S, I have the authority to create a branch club. We still talk about human related stuff, but in this case it's all Kamen Rider related."
Luz blinked. "Oh…sorry I jumped the gun…It's just with you knowing, and now King, I'm just trying to keep the circle as small as possible. The last thing I need is for a Phantom to figure out who I am and attack you guys or try to capture you because you might know my identity."
Gus puffed out his chest and smiled confidently at his friend. "No worries, if there's one thing Augustus Porter can do, it's keep a secret! Also, this can help me learn about who might know more than they should. That way I can throw them off the trail with what I do know."
Luz had to admit, that was very clever, Gus could easily control the information regarding her identity among the students, and that might then trickle down to the adults who are not that knowledgeable about human things. Granted, Gus was also limited, but he was quick to learn the things that Luz informed him about, and willing to correct his viewpoint on certain human things.
"That's actually really cool, Gus! Thanks," said Luz.
"No problem, now if you'll excuse me, I, the president of the KRC, have a meeting to preside over." Gus turned around and began walking towards the room but stopped halfway before looking over his shoulder at Luz. "You wanna join in on the first meeting? I think it would help to have an actual human who knows the source material."
Luz released a squeal of delight as she once again dashed for Gus, practically picking him up and returning to the room with him in tow. She placed him at the head of the classroom, and took an empty seat, giddy with excitement.
Gus shook his head, realizing that he was back in the room and went right back into president mode. "So, everybody, we have a guest joining us! My friend, and a true expert on all things Kamen Rider, Luz Noceda!" The other students "ooohed" when they heard this, their eyes falling on the Latina made her blush from the attention. "Perhaps you could give us some pointers when it comes to Kamen Rider lore?"
Luz got up from the desk and walked to the blackboard where Gus held up a piece of chalk. "Oh…I don't know…"
"Tell us, Luz!" Viney exclaimed.
"Yeah, tell us what you know!" Eileen added.
Luz rubbed the back of her head as she said, "Well…" In a flash of movement, Luz took the chalk out of Gus' hand and immediately began to draw and write down some images on the blackboard. "In my world the first Kamen Rider series was started in 1948, the first Rider of the Showa Era in Japan, his name was Kamen Rider Alpha!"
"Okay, Amity, you can do this, just ask her!"
"You're going to bomb it just like before, and then you're going to whine about it later."
"Not helping!"
Amity was at war with herself, the words that Emira spoke to her, while harsh, did have a point. It's been a few weeks since Luz was discharged from the Healing Coven, weeks since she vowed that she would tell the human girl exactly how she felt. But all this Phantom stuff, the kidnappings, and then what happened with Emira, things have been hectic and there never really seemed to be a good time to confess to the girl of her dreams. That, and she didn't want Luz to think that she was confessing to her on some spur of the moment. However, that never seemed to stop her other self from chiming in.
"Oh please, you know that's not the reason why you haven't said anything to her. You just don't want to upset the status quo. We finally find someone who accepts us, and now you're afraid that telling her how you feel will disrupt that, or worse, the answer you really, really don't want to hear."
Look, if you don't have anything constructive or positive to say to me, then just shut up! I'll confess to Luz, in fact, we're going to ask her out on a date right now!
"Oooh, how daring. Fifty snails say you panic, you gay disaster."
I am not a "gay disaster"! Just you watch!
Spurred on by her conviction to prove her other self wrong, Amity began searching the halls for Luz. Which was easier said than done, she knew that Luz had a free period the same as her, but Luz often picked random places to spend it. Sometimes she'd just explore the school, it was honestly cute to see how excited Luz was about Hexside. To Amity and everyone else, it was just a school, but to Luz, it was a place of wonder and magic. The one time she did go on a little walk around the school with Luz, she found it refreshing to see the school through Luz's eyes, someone who dreamed of magic and wonder, and finally getting to see it. To Amity and everyone else, magic was just an everyday part of their lives, it made the young Blight child a bit more appreciative of the fact that she had the ability to wield this mysterious power.
"Now where the heck could she be?" Amity thought aloud.
"And that brings an end to the Showa Era Riders, granted the plots and fights are a bit…wonky to watch, but they're no less heartfelt and important to the history of Kamen Rider. Any questions?"
"Luz?" Amity followed the familiar excited voice and found the room where she heard Luz's voice coming from. Inside she saw her crush with a serious yet excited look on her face, she almost looked like a teacher giving a lecture to the students.
"Huh, I didn't take us for the Teacher/Student roleplay, but I can see the appeal here. Although, if I had my way, I'd be the teacher, and Luz would be the student," said Inner Amity.
Amity blushed hard, her face feeling as if it was on fire from what her other was suggesting. I do NOT have those kinds of thoughts about Luz!
"Uh-huh, do I need to remind you of that incident? Ahem, 'Me, on a team with you? Running around in cute uniforms?! Sweating?!'"
Amity turned around and began to bang her head against the wall. "Why – for the love of Titan – did I say that out loud?!"
While Amity was lamenting her past actions, she didn't hear the bell ring, nor did she hear Luz say, "Okay everyone, guess that's all I can talk about today. If you have any questions, bring them to your club president and I'll make sure to answer them as best I can! Next time we'll get into the crazy stuff, the Heisei Era!"
The students filed out of the classroom, talking excitedly about all they just learned about Kamen Rider, Gus thanked Luz for speaking and said something about the club probably growing after that info dump. Luz thanked Gus again and bid farewell to him, but as she was starting to leave, Luz noticed Amity with her head against the wall.
"Uh, Amity, are you okay?" Luz asked.
Amity's eyes snapped open as her head quickly turned to her left to see Luz standing there with a concerned look in her eyes. "Luz!" Amity hurriedly crossed her arms and leaned against the wall in a "cool" way. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine, totally fine."
"Smooth."
"Oh, okay. Hey, I have Abomination 101, do you want to walk to class with me?" Luz asked.
"Of course! I mean…uh, sure, I am in the Abomination Track, so it's completely okay for me to walk with you to class!"
Luz chuckled at Amity's reaction and said, "Alright then, let's go learn about Abominations!"
"Real smooth."
Amity growled under her breath and began walking side by side with Luz. The youngest Blight child kept her hands behind her back, twiddling her thumbs and every so often glancing at Luz's left hand, suppressing the urge to reach out and hold it. Ever since Grom Night when they danced, Amity couldn't forget the feeling of her crush's hands in her own, even now if she thought hard enough, her palms would tingle with that very sensation. How she longed to recapture that sensation anew.
"You're going to get to class before you say a word. I thought you were going to prove me wrong?"
"Hey, Luz!"
Luz jumped a little but then smiled and asked, "Yes?"
"Um…I-I was wondering, i-if you're not busy after school, d-do you want hang out?" Amity asked.
Luz stopped in her tracks and looked at Amity with slight shock. "You want to hang out after school?"
"Y-Yeah, why, are you busy? Because it's totally okay if you are! I'm not forcing you or anything, I'm just asking!" Amity quickly threw out.
Luz thought about it for a moment, she really did seem to be contemplating something, but for the life of her, Amity couldn't tell what it was. Her crush did express that she was working hard to become a proper witch, especially since she was limited to using the Glyphs, but considering how she handled herself when that plant monster raged out of control, perhaps Luz had stepped up her training at the Owl House in light of her recent kidnapping? If that was the case, then Amity's proposal might be interrupting a vital part of her training? As much as she wanted to be around Luz, she didn't want to stop her from learning something that could help her if another situation like that arose.
"Y-You know what, f-for–!"
"That sounds like fun, Amity! Sorry for not answering right away, I was thinking about something. But I think I'm due a break, so, yeah, let's hang out!" Luz interrupted.
Amity let the rest of what she was going to say die on her tongue as her lips curled into a smile. "Really? That's great!"
"So, will it be just us or are we bringing plus ones?" Luz asked.
She froze.
"Oh c'mon, you can't be serious? Just say it's going to be the two of you!"
Amity began to sweat, her other self was right, she just had to say yes it was just them and Amity could make this into a pseudo first date, but…
"Oh, uh, plus ones! You know, with all the Phantom stuff going on, it's better to go in a group! Safety in numbers and all that!" Amity stated with a swing of her arm.
Why did I say that?
"Why did you say that?!"
"Cool, I think Gus will be busy, but I think Willow's free. Were you going to invite your brother and sister?" Luz asked.
Amity was panicking, she could invite Emira or Edrick, they knew about her crush, so did Willow, and the three of them might work together to isolate the two of them so Amity could have her pseudo date with Luz. But there was something slightly humiliating about Luz suggesting that her twin siblings were the only people she associated with and could call upon to hang out. So, in an effort to keep her pride, Amity blurted out the first name that came to mind.
"Skara!"
Luz blinked. "Skara?"
Amity blinked as well. "Um, yes, Skara!"
There was a long pause, one that made Amity feel like crawling under a rock.
Luz's smile broadened a bit as she said, "That sounds great! I kind of wanted to get to know her since she didn't seem all that bad compared to Boscha."
"Oh, yeah, no, Skara is…well…she has her moments, but really she's a sweet girl once you get to know her," Amity confessed.
"Cool, why don't we meet up in the market, we can go home and change out of our uniforms?"
Amity nodded her affirmation. "Sounds like a plan."
The two girls continued their walk to the classroom, all the while Amity was mentally kicking herself in the rear.
Great! Now I have to convince Skara to come with us! This is a–!"
"Gay disaster?"
…I will find a way to end you, mark my words.
"Whatever you say, Little Miss Perfect."
"Just who the hell are you, Witch?"
Eda, the infamous Owl Lady, the most powerful witch on the Boiling Isles, and the woman with the 1,000,000,000,000 snail bounty on her head, was staring at the newly printed wanted poster of Kamen Rider Witch. Ever since Luz's kidnapping it was no secret that the Owl Lady had become more of a protective bird mom over the past few weeks. Sure, they had gotten into their fair share of scrapes, but they managed to get out of them with just a few bruises and slight mental trauma.
However, the day that Eda found out that Luz was taken away, and subjected to some kind of ancient ritual, it drove it all home for Eda. Luz was fragile, she acted tough, and to a degree was tough, but she wasn't a strongly built as the witches of this realm. Things that would be a minor inconvenience to a witch could be serious to Luz, and the lack of a bile sack meant that she couldn't perform magic on the fly like others could, she was limited to just the Glyphs, and they were only useful if they were drawn on something. A piece of paper, a wall, the ground, anything, but that took time, and what demon, witch, or Phantom was going to give her the time to draw a circle? If they knew what they were doing, none of them.
But now these Phantoms appeared, they were more dangerous than any demon or witch on the island, partially immune to their magic, and only this Kamen Rider Witch had the power to destroy them. It was too convenient for Eda's liking. First Luz was kidnapped, the ritual, then that black robed masked "wizard" shows up with Luz, and then right after the Phantoms appear. And shortly after that Witch appears. It was all connected, and Eda felt that perhaps the Phantoms worked for the wizard, perhaps the ritual went wrong, and he was trying to dispose of Luz until she and Lilith found him. And now the Phantoms appear, possibly byproducts of the failed ritual, or perhaps the intended product?
Perhaps Witch is a lacky of the wizard and had her stay behind to get rid of the evidence, which would be the Phantoms. However, who was to say that the Phantoms were the only thing that Witch had planned to take out. If Eda's theory of Witch was right, then she could be plotting to take out Luz because she survived, there might even be a possibility that Luz might remember something about that night, their faces, the purpose of the ritual? Whatever it is, it could be important enough to want her disposed of or captured again.
"I won't let that happen, I'll find out who you are, Witch, if it's the last thing I do," Eda proclaimed.
"Hello! Hoot!"
Hooty slithered into Eda's room, pressing his face up against her right cheek and invading her personal space.
"Not now, Hooty. I'm trying to figure out who Witch is," said Eda.
"Oh, you are? Well, I have some theories about that, but I know for a fact that it's–!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't care," said Eda.
"But–"
The sound of the door opening caught Eda's attention. "Ah, she's back."
"But Eda, I think you should–"
"Hooty, not now, later!" Eda stated.
There was a moment of silence, Hooty tilted his head to the side, and then stated cheerfully, "Okay! Hoot!"
Eda opened the door, only to see Luz enter her room and close the door. Geez, kid, I hope you don't need to take care of business that soon after getting back from school. Although, I'm not one to talk. The Owl Lady walked to Luz's room and knocked on the door. "Hey, kiddo, you okay? You ran in there pretty quick."
"Oh, sorry, Eda! I just needed to get changed so I can meet up with Amity and Willow," said Luz through the door.
Eda raised an eyebrow. "Seriously, you're going to go out right now?"
"Well yeah, why not?"
Eda sighed as she said, "Because of the Phantoms, Luz, c'mon! We were attacked in the market, your friend was attacked at school, and some of your classmates – the girls mind you – were attacked at night by some vampire wannabe!"
"Yeah, and each time Witch defeated them. We're safe so long as she's around, Eda."
Eda was thankful that she was behind the door, Luz had a thing when it came to worshiping heroes. That "Good Witch Azura" from those sugary books she read were one thing, they kind of tainted her view of what a witch was in this world. But now there was another witch, one that was acting like a hero, and for someone like Luz, that was dangerous. That kind of naïveté was dangerous, and if she wasn't careful Witch would snatch her up before Luz even knew what was happening.
The door finally opened, and Luz was dressed in her regular attire. "Don't worry, I'll be okay. We're going to be in a group, so we'll be able to look out for each other."
Granted, Eda wanted to protect Luz, but she didn't want to be restrictive either. Eda was an agent of chaos, and one to flaunt the rules when it was convenient for her, but that was before she had someone that she was willing to protect aside from King. Eda believed if she ever did have a kid, she'd be the fun mom, letting her own kid do whatever the heck she wanted while her father played the role of the strict rule maker. However, Eda was at war with herself, shifting between both as the moment called for it.
"Okay, but don't be out too late. I want you back here before the sun sets, or else I'm having Hooty come out and get you, and you know how that'll go," said Eda.
Luz cringed at the thought. "Okay, before the sun sets! See you later, Eda!"
Eda watched as Luz ran down the stairs and called out, "See you later, King!"
"I'm napping!"
"Awww!"
"WEH! Let me go! The King of Demons did not request hugs!"
Eda chuckled, Luz was definitely a ray of light in both hers and King's lives. A ray of light that Eda was not going to let anyone snuff out. "Alright, Witch, it's time we see who the most powerful is."