Skara was not that complicated a girl, she loved Bard magic, there was something beautiful about making magic from the dulcet sounds of a violin and invoking a sense of happiness and relief. However, her parents did not see music and magic the same as she did, to them, her talent was something to improve, something to make better, something that would someday make her the head of the Bard Coven. They made her friends with Amity and Boscha, knowing that someday those two might grow up to become the heads of both Abomination and Potion Covens respectively, and that associating with them was her best way to achieving that goal.

However, that was their goal for her, not her goal. Skara, deep down, wanted to become a great Bard witch, not to be the head of a Coven, but to bring joy to the people around her. Boscha wouldn't understand, her whole thing was being the best Grudgby player on the island, her magic powers were already impressive, so being the best at that was expected of her. Amity, well, before the arrival of that human, Amity was closed off, and kind of full of herself, but now it seemed that she didn't much care for her popularity, especially after that game with Boscha, that was a surprise.

Skara was putting up her instruments for the day when someone barged into the music room.

"Skara!"

The silver haired witchling turned around and saw Amity rushing towards her. The green haired witchling hunched over, trying to catch her breath. "Um, Amity, what's up?"

"I…need…you…to come…with me!" Amity panted.

"What for?" Skara asked.

"To…hang out…with me…and…Luz!"

Skara scratched at her cheek when she heard the proposal. "Gee…Amity…I don't know. What if Boscha sees us? She's already on the warpath with Willow, that Grudgby match did nothing to lower the temp."

Amity finally caught her breath and stood up straight to look Skara in the eyes. "I…I know, but please, Skara, I need this! I'll owe you one!"

Skara noticed a change in Amity Blight, normally she wouldn't ask her anything, she'd just demand it and Skara would obey. It was almost freaky how much Amity had changed in the last couple of months, did being around that human and her friends really change her this much? In all honesty, Skara liked this change in Amity, she seemed happier, at least a little. Speaking of which…

"You said you were going to hang out with that human – uh – Luz – right?" Skara asked.

"Yes…"

Skara lightly blushed as she asked, "Is it just the three of us, or are there others?"

"I think Luz said that Augustus is not going to be there, but she said she was going to see if Willow was free," said Amity.

The blush increased a bit. "Oh…well…I-I guess I could come with, or whatever."

"Really?! Thank you, Skara," said Amity. "We're going to meet up in the market, by the water fountain, go home and get changed!"

Skara quickened her pace as she made her way home, she couldn't ignore the slight fluttering in her heart at the prospect of this little outing. She arrived at her mansion, greeting her servants before heading up to her room. Skara looked through her wardrobe, trying to figure out the best outfit to wear for this little outing.

Oh jeez, what do I wear? This'll be the first time I'll be interacting with her, one-on-one, I don't want her to think I'm stuck up or something, thought Skara.

Little to the knowledge of her group of friends, Skara harbored a bit of a crush on Willow. She didn't much like how Amity put her down, but recently it seemed the two had reconciled in some way, which was great, because that meant that Skara had a chance to ask Amity to introduce them, formally anyway. Of course, hanging around Boscha did little for her own image. When she thought back to the stuff that Boscha did to Willow and her friends it made her feel mortified. But she couldn't go against Boscha, her mother and father spent all that time making connections to two of the most prominent witch families on the island, and she couldn't screw that up.

But at the same time that hurt her chances of being seen in a positive light by Willow. If Skara could at least get Willow to see that she wasn't a total witch like Boscha was, then perhaps there was a chance that the green-eyed witch might see her differently, perhaps even date worthy?

"I won't mess this up! I'll show Willow that I'm nothing like Boscha! I'll show her that I can be nice!" Skara proclaimed. "…Right after I figure out what the heck I'm going to wear?"

Luz ran out of the Owl House and made her way into Bones Borough Market, after milling around for a minute, she found the water fountain and spotted Willow waiting for her. The Latina ran up to her best friend and said, "Hey, were you waiting long?"

"Not really. So, just to clarify, you said Amity wanted to hang out? And she wanted it to be a group thing?" Willow asked.

"Yep, honestly I'm happy she asked, we haven't really all hung out around town before, so it'll nice to finally spend some time just goofing around with my friends," said Luz.

"Uh-huh," said Willow in a deadpan tone. I think I know what happened.

Just then, Amity came walking up to them, wearing her black blouse, purple leggings, and violet gemstone necklace. Next to her was Skara, she wore a red blouse, with a black sash belt, and black leggings. She still had her hair done up in a ponytail, but she also seemed to have a hairpin with a musical treble cleft on it.

"Hey Amity, Skara! It's so cool we finally get to hang out, just us girls, huh," said Luz excitedly.

Amity chuckled nervously as she said, "Yeah, totally! Just us girls hanging out!"

Willow crossed her arms, raised her left eyebrow, and shot Amity and unamused deadpan look, a look that made Amity gulp.

"Willow, hey," Skara greeted.

That little greeting snapped Willow out of her look as she turned her attention to Skara. "Oh, hey, Skara. I'm glad you decided to join us."

"Of course, I mean, it's not like Boscha and I are joined at the hip or anything," said Skara in a nervous tone.

"Uh-huh…"

There was silence for a moment, but Luz decided to kill it. "Okay let's go do random stuff!" Luz proclaimed as she charged ahead.

Amity and Skara glanced between each other and then to Willow.

"Do we just follow her or…?" Amity asked.

"Just follow her, it normally leads to something fun," said Willow.

Amity smiled knowingly, as that was the case whenever Luz was involved. That was probably something she needed to learn from Luz, that you don't always have to have a plan, just go where the wind takes you and see what happens.

All three girls followed Luz, despite having been in the Boiling Isles for over a couple of months, there were still parts of the town that she hadn't been to, mostly because her time was spent helping Eda with the stand, or more recently, going to Hexside. So, this was a good opportunity to see what else the town had in store. Luz the girls decided to get ice scream. Really, it's ice cream that screams. Each of the girls got a scoop.

"Oh, I never had this before," said Luz.

'AAAAAAH! Don't eat me! AAAAHHH!' the frozen treat wailed.

Luz blinked once, twice, three times, and then licked it. "Hmm! Chocolate flavored."

'AAAAAH! You monster! AAAHHH!'

The four girls walked around while still eating their ice scream, Willow intentionally slowed down, giving Amity a look that told her do the same. The two girls were now a couple of steps behind Luz and Skara, giving them some room to talk.

"Amity, I'm just going to throw this out there. But did you try to ask Luz out and ended up making this a group activity instead?" Willow asked.

Amity blushed; she knew Willow had seen right through her. "Yes…I chickened out at the last second…I had the chance to correct Luz, but I didn't…"

Willow sighed. "I knew it. You know, you could've just made it the three of us, that way I could just say I had something else to do and you two could've been alone." Willow looked ahead at Skara. "I still can't believe you managed to wrangle Skara into this."

Amity wondered about that too. "I'm surprised, too. Actually, she didn't seem that interested until I mentioned you might be coming."

"Huh…that is odd," said Willow. "You don't think she's here to mess with me and Luz on orders from Boscha, do you?"

Amity looked back at Skara, part of her was unconvinced that that was the case. Skara wasn't intentionally mean, she could be, and she has, but that was mostly in conjunction when she or Boscha did something. Left to her own devices, Skara was a friendly person.

"No, I don't think so. I don't honestly believe she's inherently mean, same for Boscha to a degree. Boscha's parents are…kind of like mine, and so are Skara's, but Skara is different. She mostly just follows along, so she'll be fine."

'AAAHHH! I will end your lineage! AA–!

Luz licked up the last of the ice scream and munched on the cone. "That was slightly traumatizing, but delicious!"

"I know, right?" Skara asked. "Although it kinda sucks that the more you lick it, the more it gets to know you and makes its screams more personal."

"Personal?" Luz asked. "How?"

Skara raised her cone just as the mint-colored scoop said, 'AAAHHH! I'll destroy your instruments AAAHHH!'

"Uh-oh, that's not good," said Willow. 'AAAHHH! Ladybugs will eat you alive! AAAHHH!' "Shut up!"

Amity's eyes widened; she had been licking the ice scream during her conversation with Willow, which meant that…

'AAAHHH! Luz will–!'

Amity silenced the ice scream by shoving the whole thing in her mouth and downing it one gulp. While it succeeded in silencing the frozen treat, it wasn't without its painful consequence.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" Amity screamed as she held her head and dropped to the ground as a massive brain freeze hit her. "I – AAAAHHH! – REGRET – AAAHHH! – NOTHING!"

Luz looked on, a little shocked at seeing Amity writhing on the ground from her brain freeze.

"And that's the other reason why they call it 'ice scream'," said Skara.

Aside from the brain freeze episode, the rest of their time was pleasant. Amity and Skara brought Luz and Willow to a shop that had some trendy witch clothes, the girls spent some time in there trying them on, although Luz wasn't too into that kind of stuff, this was Boiling Isles fashion, so she wanted to get into it. They tried on several outfits, some were out there, others were cute, and some made Amity nearly have a nosebleed.

The girls kept on their day, all the while, Amity would shift her glance from Luz to Skara, keeping an eye on her kind-of-former-friend. Making sure that she wasn't going to try anything with Willow or Luz, but for the most part, she was being her quirky self.

"So…Willow, how are things in the Plant Track?" Skara asked.

Willow was a little surprised by the question, as she never expected Skara to talk to her directly. "Oh, um, it's great. I really love working with plants," said Willow.

"I can imagine, from what Amity told me, you kinda sucked at Abominations –!" Skara slapped her hand over her mouth the moment she finished saying that.

Willow made an annoyed expression as she turned her gaze downwards. "Yeah…I guess I did…"

"I-I-I mean, that's good right?!" Skara blurted as she tried to correct her mistake. "B-Because now you're in the Plant Track and you're really good at it! Like super good! Oh…"

Luz could tell Skara was flopping with her compliment, and that Willow, while understanding where Skara was coming from, was still annoyed about being reminded of her failures during her time in that track. The human girl glanced about the area, trying to find something that would change the subject. And that's when she spotted it.

"OH, LOOK, WHAT'S THAT?!" Luz exclaimed as she pointed off to her left.

Amity, Willow, and Skara followed the direction her finger was pointing and noticed a stage was erected. A flyer was put up that read, "Bard Competition: Show Us What You Got!"

"Huh, looks like it's being put on by the Bard Coven," said Amity.

"A music contest…?" Luz read the entry sheet and then gasped when she read the about how one could enter. "You can enter solo or as a group?!" Luz's eyes began to sparkle (figuratively) as she looked at her friends. "We have to enter!"

Skara, Amity, and Willow blinked, all three confused as to why she wanted to.

"Um, Luz, none of us – aside from Skara – know how to use Bard magic," Willow pointed out.

"Yeah, and besides, these contests are kind of boring…not to dis Bard magic, it's my thing, but it's…kind of the same old, same old, y'know?" Skara explained.

Luz thought for a moment, and then an idea struck. "Then we'll just have to introduce a new kind of sound to the Boiling Isles!"

"A 'new sound'? Like what?" Amity asked.

Luz took out her cellphone as a smirk appeared on her face. She flipped through her playlist and stopped on one of the songs. Before she played it, Luz motioned for their group to get far from eavesdroppers. Once far enough, Luz hit play and a rock n' roll Japanese song started to play.

"No! No! Satisfaction!"

The moment the song started, the three witch girls jumped back a step from the sudden techno/rock fusion song.

"Get it up! Get it up! Passion! Baby!
Get it up! Get it up! Passion! Babe!
Get it up! Get it up! Passion! Ready?

Doki doki Fashion! Baby wa naka naka happii desu
Mata mata Motion maitta ne hibi kore happii day
Kyou mo mata tanoshimou~!"

Out of the three witches, Skara was the only one to get closer, her eyes widening with awe.

"Yeah, shake it shake it shake it hand
Shinpai nai go my way! Yo!
Nayami no kaiketsu e no sakusen tate shake hand
Kido airaku mo kitto aru hazu ooru shea shite tsutsumi kakusazu
Kirari hikaru smile me wo hanasazu ni go!

Tomadoi wa inochigake kami hitoe
Kimi ga irya nayami to ka
Poi no poi no poi poi poi

Are you ready?"

Was this it? Was the kind of music she was seeking this whole time? Something new? Something that not only invigorated but inspired as well? Something that made her want to move.

Without realizing it, Willow and Amity found their feet tapping to the song, even while not understanding the lyrics, they found the beat and instrumentals very motivating.

"Wow wow wow
Iza mau koro da! We are nakama (te wo tore)
Wow wow wow
Mada mada mada boku wa
No! No! Satisfaction! (Again!)

Iza tobu koro da nogasanai (toki wa kitta)
Wow wow wow
Mada mada mada bokura
No! No! Satisfaction! (Again!)
Gou gou moeru Passion!

Get it up! Get it up! Passion! Baby!
Get it up! Get it up! Passion! Babe!
Get it up! Get it up! Passion! Ready?

"

After that the song ended. "It's just the TV sized version, there's a full version, but I just wanted to give you an idea. So, what do you think? I know J-Pop's not everyone's thing, but…"

"It was interesting, I couldn't understand what they were saying, but it sounded good, and it got my heart pumping. Sounds like something I can work out to," Willow commented.

Amity had to admit, that was the first time she'd heard anything like that. It was different the typical types of Bard music that was played, and she agreed with Willow, while not understanding the lyrics, she could still feel the passion behind them, as if they were compelling her to get up and do something. The human world may not have magic, this was a type of magic in and of itself. However, Amity awaited to hear what their resident Bard Track witch had to say. Skara's family was practically grooming her to be the next head of the Bard Coven, and while Skara wasn't a "music snob" she wasn't above criticizing another's work. This also made Amity scared as she did not want Skara to go off on Luz and sour this outing on accident.

Skara walked up to Luz, her expression serious and further worrying Amity, and to extent, Luz. The dark skinned witchling clasped her hands around Luz's right, the same one that held her phone. Something that caused Amity to emit a low, guttural growl from the action. However, the moment Skara clasped her hands around Luz's, Skara's serious expression shifted to sparkling happiness.

"I LOVED IT!" Skara exclaimed.

"Y-You did?" Luz asked.

"I've never heard anything like it! Yeah, Amity and Willow are right, I couldn't understand the lyrics worth a dang! But even so, I could feel the passion, the creativity! What were those instruments they were using?! It sounded so different, so cool! Tell me, what is this?" Skara demanded.

Luz chuckled nervously at the enthusiastic response that she got from Skara. "It's part techno, rap, but mostly the key part is Rock n' Roll. It's the go-to music style for some Shonen anime theme songs, and it's popular for kids in my world for when they want to express themselves."

"It's so good! So cool! You! Have! To! Show! Me! More!" Skara demanded with wide eyes. Then it hit her. "That's it! We are going to enter this contest! And we're going to do it using this!"

"Really?!" Luz asked excitedly.

"Really!" Skara replied at the same level.

Willow and Amity then said at the same time, "But we aren't Bard witches…"

"I don't know how to play single instrument," said Willow.

"Same here," Amity admitted.

Skara's pointed ears dropped a bit as she glanced over to Luz. "Do you perhaps play an instrument huma – I mean – Luz?"

A small smile crept onto the Latina's face. "Not unless you count my mad air guitar skills."

Skara tilted her head in confusion. "Um, so does that mean you do or don't know?"

"I don't, know."

"Okay, in that case you'll be on vocals!" Skara pointed to Amity and Willow. "You two can be on vocals, too, and I'll use my magic to play the other instruments!"

"You sure? That sounds like a lot to do," said Willow in a slightly worried tone. "You shouldn't overextend yourself.

Skara crossed her arms and gave Willow a confident look. "When it comes to Bard magic, you can count on me."

Willow, while worried, could feel Skara's confidence, and in the end smiled back at the girl. "If you think you can, then I'll believe in you, Skara. Let's do this."

Skara blushed upon seeing Willow's smiling face but managed to avert her gaze back to the stage. "O-O-Okay then, I-I'll go sign us up!"

As Skara made her way to the sign-up table, Luz thought she saw an ember flicker.

'Human, you should pay more attention.'

La Lechuza? Y-You're talking to me? Wow, you've never talked to me without me saying something first.

'I figured I need to since you're so inept at sensing danger.'

Luz's eyes widened. Wait, you mean you can sense Phantoms?! Since when?!

'Since forever, child.'

Luz furrowed her brow and shot back at the Inner Phantom. Then why didn't you warn me Dracula was in that mansion when we went there?!

'Because I thought you could handle yourself better. My mistake for trusting the instincts of a pequeño polluelo (little chick) like you.'

Luz had some words for La Lechuza, but she decided to keep them to herself, right now she needed to take care of the Phantom. If it was here, then it meant someone here was a Gate. The Latina shuffled a little closer to Willow and gently tugged at her shirt to get Willow's attention.

"Phantom Alert," Luz whispered to Willow.

"Here?!" Willow asked in the same hushed tone.

Luz only nodded.

Willow looked around and spotted a cart filled with cabbages. Sorry, Mister. The bespectacled witch drew a small spell circle behind her back, and immediately the cabbages of in the man's cart came to life, sprouting legs and gnashing teeth as they jumped out of the cart.

"My cabbages!"

"Why does that sound familiar?"

"Luz!"

"Right! I'll help wrangle them up!" Luz proclaimed as she chased some down an alley.

"Luz, wait up!" Amity called out.

Willow hurriedly directed the cabbage creatures to start messing up things close to herself and Amity, blocking their path to Luz.

"Ugh!" Amity grunted in annoyance.

Luz chased the cabbages, but after a few seconds the cabbages' legs and teeth disappeared. With that done, Luz ducked into another alley that was a dead end. Once she was sure that there was no one around, she activated the WizarDriver.

[Driver On, Please.]

[Shabadoobi touch to henshin! Shabadoobi touch to henshin!]

"Henshin!"

[Light, Please.]

[Hi~Ka~Ri!]

A yellow magic circle appeared in front of Luz and passed over her, transforming Luz into Kamen Rider Witch. With her transformation complete, Witch jumped straight up and landed on the rooftop. She ran across them until she got to the one that was closest to where they were at. Witch hurriedly detached her Sight Spell ring off the chain link and cast it.

[Sight, Please.]

The crystal part of Witch's helmet had two glowing eyes where the frames were. With the enhanced vision of the Sight Spell, she could see something moving around. Flickers of embers were dancing around the entire area, above the stage, however, Witch spotted the outline of something canine-like. She couldn't tell who it was looking at, but it was there.

Thought you could play hide and seek? Unfortunately for you, I'm the queen of this game!

[Connect, Please.]

Witch pulled out the WizarSwordGun and pointed the weapon where the Phantom was perched. The hero of hope fired three rounds at the silhouette, the silver bullets weaved through the air and struck the Phantom in three different spots, sending the creature falling from its perch and onto the stage. Several of the embers that were floating around the area all rapidly rushed towards the downed Phantom, sitting it ablaze. Witch jumped off the roof, flipped in the air, and landed on the ground about two feet away from the stage.

"Found you," said Witch. "Now why don't you show us who you are, Phantom?!"

The Phantom rose to all fours and then its body began to shift into a humanoid shape. The flames disappeared and revealed an anthropomorphic creature. It had cream colored fur, with red, ornate lines painted onto its arms, legs, and face. The creature had a pure white dress that covered her chest, with a "V" cut down the middle, and a crimson sash that wrapped around her waist, the dress had two slits on either side of her hips, showing off her long, lupine legs, while the cloth reached low enough that it was just about three inches off the ground. Her hands were slender, with long, pearl white claws. Her face was framed by long, silky black hair, she had yellow eyes, and a short muzzle, and behind her were nine bushy tails.

Needless to say, a good number of the witches that were nearby had their jaws drop at the sight of her. And so did Luz, it was a nine-tailed fox, and an anthro nine-tailed fox at that. Okay, I might have some issues about destroying her…

"Well, you are quite the nuisance, aren't you, Witch? And here I thought I was doing a good job of hiding," said the Phantom.

Witch shook her head and got serious. "So, what do I call you?"

"Kitsune, the nine-tails." Kitsune's tails flared out and at each of the tips a red fireball ignited. "But let's take this elsewhere." The flames wrapped around Kitsune, and when they dispersed, she had taken on a feral fox form that stood at the same height at Witch. "Try to keep up, hero!"

Kitsune quickly bound away and headed towards the forest, Witch immediately called upon the Witch Speeder, mounted it, and chased after the Phantom. Once they cleared the residential area, Witch began firing the Speeder's mana blasters. Bolts of magical energy rained down on Kitsune, but she was nimble and quick, evading each shot as it was fired. Witch grunted in annoyance as she prepared to intercept her.

[Ice, Please.]

[Kkkkkkori~! Kkkkkkori~!]

A blue magic circle appeared in front of the Speeder, passing over it and Witch, changing her into Ice Style, and changing the emblem color on the Speeder to blue. The Speeder got a significant boost in speed as Witch was propelled forward. "Whoa! Okay! We learned something new today!"

Witch aimed the front of the Speeder to where Kitsune was going to go and fired the mana beams. The speed of the beams was increased as well, allowing Luz to strafe the rapid shots. The moment the beams hit the ground; it created several jagged spikes of ice that formed a giant wall in Kitsune's path. The fire fox came to an abrupt halt, skidding to a stop before the ice wall.

"Well, this is inconvenient," said Kitsune.

"Not as much as this will be!"

Kitsune looked up just in time to get rained on by dozens of ice mana bolts. The bolts themselves did not have as much destructive impact, but the immediate ice formation made it hard for the fox to break out of it. Once the Phantom had been completely coated, Witch jumped off the Speeder and landed gracefully on the ground. However, the moment she did, an intense blast of flames erupted from the inside the iceberg and freed the fire fox Phantom. Kitsune was now back in her humanoid form, and it didn't look as if she wasn't particularly hindered by the earlier barrage.

"Now that was annoying," said Kitsune as she released a volley of fox fire from her tails.

Witch immediately slipped on a spell ring and activated it.

[Defend, Please.]

A wall of ice rose from the ground, a blue aura outlining its form. The fireballs impacted against the wall, each strike shaking the ground. Witch removed the Defend Spell ring and replaced it with another.

[Freeze, Please.]

Both of Luz's hands shined with blue energy as she waved them in Kitsune's direction. Ice glaives rose from the ground and surged along it in a curving path straight for the Phantom. Kitsune saw this and immediately wrapped herself in a ball of crimson fire just as the two ice waves hit, evaporating them instantly. Witch pointed her hand upwards and created an ice ramp, which she slid along while using her left hand to fire beams of frost magic at the fireball. The fireball was effectively blocking her attack, but she knew that the Phantom couldn't hide in there forever, also, this was a bit tougher.

"What's going on? The last fire-based Phantom I fought was weakened by my ice!"

"Don't compare me to Wil-O'-The-Wisp! Her fire is nothing compared to mine! Because my flames are laced with magic! Allow me to demonstrate!" Kitsune made a few hand signs and then exclaimed, "Honō ga Baizō (Flame Doubles)!"

Two fireballs shot from the larger one, those two fireballs quickly morphed into exact clones of Kitsune. The clones turned into their feral forms, one spun around rapidly, transforming into a flaming wheel that launched itself straight for Witch. The hero managed to dodge it, but the attack slashed through her ice ramp and made her fall to the ground. The second clone growled as it readied to bite her, but Witch slammed both of her hands onto the ground, causing a pillar of ice to rise underneath Kitsune 2 and throw her backwards.

Witch rolled onto her back and jumped back to her feet. "You're not the only one who can do that!" she proclaimed as she switched to another ring.

[Copy, Please.]

After activating the ring, a magic circle appeared to Witch's left, and from it appeared a clone of Witch. Witch reset the Hand Author and activated the spell again.

[Copy, Please.]

A second clone was created of Witch, now standing next to the first clone. Without a word spoken, all three Witches knew what needed to be done as they broke away and began their attack. Witch 1 called on the WizarSwordGun, switching it into sword mode as she engaged with Kitsune 1. The clone Kitsune changed into humanoid form and forged a flame katana. The two clones began dueling each other as the rings of blades clashing echoed in the forest. Witch 2 was in a fire fight with Kitsune 2, using her WizarSwordGun in gun mode and sniping at the feral Kitsune 2, while at the same time, Kitsune 2 was launching crimson fireballs from her tails.

Witch Prime waved her left hand, commanding the Witch Speeder to attack. The vehicle fired its ice laced mana bolts at the fireball, while Witch unleashed a blast of icy energy at the fireball. However, the moment she did this, Witch noticed something odd. The ice stream seemed less potent than it was earlier. Witch glanced to her clones and noticed that they were having a hard time against Kitsune's clones.

The fireball containing Kitsune Prime burst apart as she lunged for Witch, using her claws to swipe at the Rider's chest plate. Her flaming claws raked across Witch's chest, causing sparks to fly from contact, Witch was thrown back, but recovered as she released another ice surge. But just like before, the potency of the attack was lessened. What's going on?! She thought. Why are my attacks weaker now?! What changed?! That's when it hit her. The clones!

"Ah, I see, that's a pity." Kitsune mocked as she advanced on Witch. "Unlike me, your clones divide your magical power with each one you create!" Kitsune turned into a fire wheel and slammed herself against Witch, causing the hero to bounce on the ground. "That's a shame!"

Kitsune grabbed Witch by the label and tossed her into a boulder, slamming her into it back first which nearly knocked the wind out of Witch's lungs. Witch hurriedly peeled herself off the rock and immediately dismissed her clones. She is stronger than Wil-O'-The-Wisp, and she's a good fighter, too. In that case, my speed isn't going to cut it here. I can't overwhelm her power, so I'll endure it!

Witch removed her Ice Style ring and replaced it with another.

[Plant, Please.]

[Kooooooooo~jo~!]

A green magic circle passed over Witch, changing her into Plant Style. The clones gathered alongside their creator, and with a silent nod, the three Kitsune attacked. Witch crossed her arms, forming an "X" pattern as the three Phantoms blitzed her from different angles, blasting her with flames and striking her with their claws and fire construct weapons. While Plant Style had a great amount of endurance and defense, and physical strength, it was slower. However, she just needed to weather this onslaught, she just needed one opening.

"What's the matter, Witch?! I thought you were better than this!" The Kitsunes spoke.

Witch glanced upwards and saw the Witch Speeder getting into position. "It's a little thing called 'patience', and sometimes it pays off!"

With a snap of her right fingers, the Witch Speeder fired two plant mana bolts down in Witch's direction. Kitsune Prime saw this at the last second and nimbly dodged, leaving her clones to take the brunt of the two attacks. The blasts were more concussive than destructive as the impact was strong enough to throw them into a couple of trees and make them disappear, while the bolts continued forward and hit the ground in front of Witch.

"Nice shot, but you missed me!"

"I did with the first time, but maybe not with the second."

The ground beneath Kitsune began to shake violently, the fox Phantom swiftly jumped backwards just as two large vines breached the surface. The two vines began lashing at her like a pair of whips, keeping the fire fox moving as she readied to torch the plants.

[Big, Please.]

"HAPPY LANDINGS!" Witch shouted.

"Happy wha–!"

A magic circle appeared behind the two vines, and from that circle appeared a huge fist that slammed itself straight into Kitsune, sending the Phantom flying into the distance. Witch went down on one knee as she panted from the effort of weathering all those attacks. Her HUD was displaying the damage and warning her that she had sustained too much and was at risk of shifting back.

"If I go after her now, I'll just end up losing. Guess it's a draw for now…" Witch waved her hand towards the Speeder, commanding it to lower itself. "I should head back before the others get worried."

"Sorry, 'Witch', but you're not going anywhere."

Witch immediately went on guard, she didn't understand, her helmet didn't alert her to any threats nearby, but then again, when Witch took a moment to calm down, she realized that that voice was not related to anyone whom she deemed a threat.

"No…"Witch whispered under her breath.

A familiar witch jumped out from the bushes, brandishing her staff with an owl Palisman atop of it.

"EDA?!"

"Huh, guess my reputation presides me, but considering it's you, I'm not entirely sure I like it," said Eda.

Witch was panicking, grateful that her helmet was hiding her face so that Eda couldn't see it. "W-W-What are YOU doing out here?!"

Eda chuckled as she said, "In case you didn't know, Emperor Belos has put a big, fat bounty on your head. Higher than mine, actually, which is kind of annoying." The Owl Lady drew a spell circle in the air with her staff, charging it with magical power. "And I'm here to collect!"

A/N: "No! No! Satisfaction!" lyrics from the anime "Mairimashita! Iruma-kun"