A/N: Insert song for this battle is "Fearless Hero" by Nana Mizuki.

It was noon by the time Luz woke up, the battle with Nightmarcher took a lot out of her, the only thing that seemed to save her was the sun rising. She figured the name was not just a name, it seemed that Nightmarcher could only appear at night and disappeared during the day. That thankfully worked in her favor as she was able to rest up and eat as much sweets as she could get her hands on. She was eating in an angry fashion, chomping down the sweet confections with all the manners of a starving lion.

Eda, King, and Lilith watched the human girl and were wondering what happened since it appeared she was upset. Luz chugged down some water and said, "SHE LEFT ME!"

"Who?" King asked.

"Heka!" Luz replied.

Eda's eyes widened with surprise. "Wait, wait, wait! You're saying Heka was there?!"

Luz nodded as she scarfed down a sweet bun.

"And she…left you? I'm sorry, I'm not understanding," said Lilith.

"We were fighting the Phantom, and I thought we were holding our own pretty well, but then we got surrounded in this clearing. The next thing I know she's saying, 'Witch, please forgive me, I can't stay and fight any longer!', activates her speed mode, and then takes off and leaves me there to fight the rest of the Nightmarcher clones!"

Eda clicked her tongue in disapproval. "I knew we couldn't trust that newbie! She left you to fight an army, if it wasn't for the sun, you…"

Luz sighed. "I know." The human girl looked at her cookie, disappointed by how the battle went. "I could tell she was new; however it was she got her gear; it was clear it wasn't from a veteran Rider like Mr. Haruto. I could tell in the way she was fighting that she's still a bit green. But even so, she held her own, and she used Abomination magic!"

That piqued Lilith's interest. "In the same way you use a ring?"

Luz shook her head. "No, she drew a spell circle! She's a witch from the Boiling Isles!"

"Well, I'd like to say that cuts down the number of suspects to determine Heka's true identity, but there are many Abomination witches, and this Heka could just as easily be a Wild Witch who used Abomination magic in that fight and might use a different type of magic to cover their tracks," said Lilith as she pondered aloud.

Eda smirked as she said, "Still thinking like an Emperor's Coven Head."

Lilith shrugged. "Old habits die hard."

"Anyway, we still got a boat load of selkigris that'll go bad if we sit on it too long," said Eda.

"Plus, it's kinda starting to smell," King commented.

"Since it wasn't Tibbles trying to double cross us, we'll have to figure out a way to get in contact with him. I hate relying on that little gremlin but hopefully he can convince that buyer to negotiate again."

Luz chugged down some water next and added, "They seemed open to doing so, I think they just got spooked because of the Phantom." Luz got up from the table and wiped her mouth with a napkin before heading to the backdoor. "I'm heading into town to find Tibbles."

"Hang on, let me go with you!" Eda insisted.

"Nope, like you said, if I'm going to be here long term, then I need to know how things work around here. And that includes finding a shady person to do back alley deals in the dead of night! I'll be back soon!" Luz exclaimed before leaving out the door.

Lilith gave her little sister a sideways glance. "You're slowly corrupting that child. You know that, right?"

"Pfft, puh-lease, Luz is uncorruptible! You remember our grudgby match a while back? I was fixing to use my box-a-cheats, and then I found out Luz cleaned it out. Granted she didn't know what that stuff was, but still, just before that she was practically lecturing me about playing fair and junk," said Eda. "Even still, she's a member of the Bad Girl Coven!"

Lilith blinked for a second and noticed that Eda was wearing that Titan awful t-shirt that had the aforementioned "Bad Girl Coven" printed on it. "When did you put that on?"

Amity managed to get some sleep after that debacle of a battle, although that did not stop her mind from constantly showing her images of Witch getting attacked by an army of Phantoms. The young witch rolled around in bed, berating herself for having to just leave her in the middle of the battle. It wasn't until noon on Sunday that Amity finally got out of bed, went into the kitchen, and scarfed down as many sugary products as she could find. Her siblings happened to be in the kitchen as well, watching their little sister basically stuff her face.

"Uh, you alright there, Am?" Edric asked.

"Hungry…"

"That's obvious, but you look a little peeved," said Emira.

"Reasons…"

Edric and Emira were not getting more than a word from Amity, not that she wasn't mad at them, but because she had to hide the secret of Heka, she could not talk to them about what happened last night. After scarfing down some more food, Amity said, "Basement."

Before either of the twins could ask more, Amity headed down to the workshop down in the basement, no doubt her father was down there already. And as she predicted, he was, working on the new Abomaton. The tired scientist turned to look over his shoulder and saw his youngest child approaching him. "You should rest a bit more. We were up all night and your battle no doubt fatigued you more."

"I can't sleep too well…not after that," Amity admitted.

"What do you mean?" Alador asked as he went back to tinkering.

Amity sat down on a stool and pressed her hands to her forehead. "I just left her! I left Witch to fight on her own! Now I don't even know if she's severely injured, dead, or if she got away!"

Alador tore out something from the Abomaton before saying, "Your decision was logical. You told me your time limit was almost reached, if you had stayed and fought, you would have only become a liability to Witch rather and an asset."

Amity sighed. "I know that, logically. But I still feel bad about it."

Alador hummed in acknowledgement of his daughter's plight.

"Now I only have two and a half minutes of transformation time. That battle happened after midnight, so now I definitely can't do much," said Amity dejectedly. "If she's alive, I'm going to tell her about my time limit."

Alador connected a wire inside the core of the Abomaton and said, "Hmm, that might be a mistake. I'm thrilled that you managed to confirm my theory with Witch, but we are still unsure of her true motives. So, I would say keep that information to yourself. Witch could use your time limit against you." The tired scientist glanced over his shoulder, his eyes focusing on Amity's guilt-ridden face. "But I am not the one battling the Phantoms. You have to make such decisions in the field. I can only advise you. The final decision is yours in such matters. And do not worry, I doubt highly that Witch was defeated."

Amity smiled a little, she could tell her father was trying to cheer her up. He did not often show his concern for his children, so it was warming to know that he did at least care about her enough to say that. Even if he meant it in a way a scientist would be speaking to a test subject.

The basement doors flew open from above, Amity looked in that direction and saw her mother stomping down the stairs. "What happened?! Did you manage to get the selkigris?!"

"We found a broker, and a seller. But they want ten million snails for it," said Amity.

"T-T-Ten million?!" Odalia exclaimed.

Amity fidgeted with the hem of her pajama shirt and said, "I know, it's a lot–!"

"Are you kidding me child?! That's the cheapest I've ever heard anyone sell it for!"

Amity blinked. "You're…You're joking? They want ten million snails; do we even have that kind of money?"

Odalia crossed her arms and then bit on her left thumbnail as she said, "We do, but we'd be cutting it close…We've sunk a lot of money into the Abomaton Project already, that is why we need this sale to do well, so we can recover some of the cost. Amity, I need you to find that broker again! Have them get in contact with the seller and inform them that we will buy it for that price."

Amity was not too sure about this, after hearing that they sunk a lot of money into the project, giving that much money to some shady sellers felt wrong. "What if they ask for more?"

Odalia sighed, she knew that that was a very real possibility. "The highest we will go is fifteen, and not a snail more. Any more than that then…"

Amity raised an eyebrow. "Then what, mom?"

"…Let's just say you might need to do what is necessary for this family, and our business, Amity," said Odalia as she walked out of the basement.

"Yeesh, and I thought we Phantoms were ruthless, your mother is a whole different kind of scary. I like it!"

You would.

"Dad, I'm going to get changed and head into the Day Market, see if I can find that Tibbles guy," said Amity as she walked up the stairs.

"Very well, be safe, Amity."

No sooner did he say that did the Abomaton explode into a pile of goo and machine parts. Amity sighed as she shook her head and proceeded.

Luz walked through the Day Market. She had to find Tibbles, but that was going to be a little hard to do since the pig-gremlin demon was a shopkeeper of the Night Market. They only saw him in the day just that one time when she and her friends went to the carnival. Last night was the first time she had seen Tibbles since that incident.

The Latina searched high and low through the market, looking for any trace of Tibbles. She asked around for him, but there were not that many demons and witches who knew of him, or if they did, they did not care to tell her. It was times like this that Luz wished she had Eda's tenacity for making people tell her what she wanted to know. But Luz was not like that, okay, she did use force to make Kikimora open Eda's cage, but that was a different story. And she did threaten Warden Wrath to make him tell her where Eda was being held back in the Conformatorium. But again, those were life or death circumstances, this was kinda life or death, but not so much to the point that she or any of her housemates would get killed.

As Luz walked, she passed near an alleyway, she saw something scurry about the trash cans, something that looked familiar. Luz slowly entered the alley, walking carefully as to not make any noise to alert the thing she saw. Once she was at the garbage can, she looked around it and saw the very person she was looking for.

"Tibbles!" Luz exclaimed.

"AH!" Tibbles exclaimed as he jumped up and spun around, in so doing he dropped some piece of food that looked as it was from the trash. "Oh…it's just you."

Luz looked down at the piece of food and asked, "Are you…Are you living on the streets?"

Tibbles shook off his initial shock and dusted off his worn clothes. "Oh, no, no, I'm just…I just…" Tibbles sighed in defeat. "Alright, you caught me…I'm dirt poor!"

Luz crouched low to meet Tibbles at eye level. "Last night, I saw something. A monster. It was a Phantom, wasn't it?"

Tibbles bit his bottom lip. "That thing has been chasing my business away, destroying my shop and forcing me to live like this!" Small cracks started to appear on Tibbles' body. The little pig-gremlin rushed to Luz and got on his knees before her. "You still have that selkigris right?! I promise you I'll find the buyer again, we can make a deal happen, I promise!"

Luz hated seeing Tibbles like this. The guy was a jerk, but not evil. Luz has faced evil multiple times to know that. "Fine, if you can manage to find the buyer again, we'll do another meet up."

Tibbles' eyes lit with excitement and hope, making the cracks on his body disappear. "I promise you I'll find them!" Tibbles went and ate the trash food he had picked out of the garbage. "I'll find the buyer as soon as possible! Can you wait here in the market for a bit longer?"

Luz nodded her head. "Alright, I'll wait for you outside the alleyway. If you can manage to find them, bring them here and we'll talk meetup time."

Tibbles dashed out of the alley, off to find the buyer. While Luz walked the way she came in and leaned against the building to wait for Tibbles to find the buyer.

Meanwhile, Amity was walking about the Day Market, it really was a stark contrast as to what was sold here during the day as opposed to at night. Which only made the task of finding that broker, Tibbles, all the harder. Thanks to keeping their identity secret, there was no way that the demon would be able to recognize her as the client, so Tibbles might be reluctant in speaking to her.

Ugh, as if I don't have enough to deal with. I have to get this selkigris before that presentation, thought Amity.

"Little Miss Perfect, at your one o' clock."

Amity looked in that direction and saw the pig-gremlin demon running about the market. Well, that was easy. Now comes the tricky part. Amity needed a way to get him alone to speak, but without revealing who she is. An idea struck Amity as she remembered her enhanced magical power thanks to having Bast. Amity quickly ducked into a corner where no one could see her, once there, she drew a spell circle and summoned a ball of Abomination goo. This is going to get messy…

The young witch made the ball of goo expand and wrap around her body, forming a kind of suit that covered her from head to toe. Her real eyes where hidden behind six glowing green eyes, with only one set functioning as her own. Amity flexed her fingers and did some general movements to test the dexterity of the Abomination suit. It hugged her body, allowing anyone passing by to tell that it was a she under the suit, but it kept any defining features hidden from anyone. Just to add a bit of flare to it, she extended the goo on her back to give herself the appearance of a tail and some curved horns to make it look like she was demon rather than a witch.

Now in her Abomination suit, Amity took a step forward, only to realize that her new suit also seemed to enhance her own physical capabilities as she shot forward, intending to speed walk, but instead ended up dashing and crashing into a wall. The spectacle drew a crowd as they waited to see if she was okay, and she was, surprisingly. It seemed that the suit was extremely durable, too, Amity hardly felt a thing when she smashed into the wall.

Okay, wow, I only made this just to hide my appearance, I didn't think it would make me physically stronger, thought Amity.

"Your spells are stronger now because of my mana, remember? You intended to make a suit, but the Abomination goob that this is made of is infused with my mana, making it stronger, and makes you stronger as well. So, I'd be careful how you move around."

Thanks for the tip, Amity thought sarcastically.

The young witch picked herself up and glared with her six eyes at the crowd. "Nothing to see here, go on about your day." It seemed speaking through the Abomination suit also acted as a filter for her voice, distorting it so that no one could tell it was Amity's voice. Now that she had a better idea about the suit, she looked about for her target, thankfully, he did not get far. Being more careful this time, Amity made a quick walk to Tibbles, the little pig-gremlin demon was frantically running about, looking for someone. That's when he ran into Amity, falling on his rear as he stared up at her.

"Tibblet-Tibblie Grimm Hammer III," Amity spoke.

"Y-Yes…?"

"We didn't get to finish our negotiations with the sellers last night."

Tibbles' eyes widened with glee. "You're the buyer?! Well, one of them anyway! This is perfect, I found the seller and they're willing to talk about a meetup for tonight!"

"Good, take me to them."

Tibbles did, he brought Amity to an alleyway, walking them about halfway down before stopping. "They're around the corner, let me go and speak to them."

Amity nodded to him to do so.

Tibbles rushed his way to the other end of the alley and saw that Luz was still there. "I found them, they're in the alley right now. But we're going to keep this private just like before, I'll relay whatever message you want to say."

Luz sighed; back-alley deals were complicated. "Okay, tell the buyer we're willing to meet up again to negotiate for the selkigris."

Tibbles ran back to Amity and told her the message.

"Good, so are we. And you'll be happy to know, we will agree to the price you set at the first meeting. Ten million snails."

Tibbles ran back to Luz and told her the message.

Luz fist pumped when she heard the news. This is great, now Eda won't have to worry about money! "Okay, we'll make the exchange tonight. Uh…Tibbles, do you have another place we can do the swap?"

Tibbles thought for a moment and said, "I know of an abandoned mansion, I'll write down the directions for both of you!"

"Great, we'll do the exchange tonight after the sun goes down."

Tibbles ran back to Amity and told her the message.

Amity flinched at the mention of the time. Her transformation time won't reset until after midnight, until then she would only have two and a half minutes of fighting time. "Sundown is not good. We need it to be later, it needs to be at midnight or as close to midnight as possible."

Tibbles ran back to Luz and told her the message.

"Why at that hour? Shouldn't we get this deal done as quickly as possible?" Luz asked.

Tibbles ran back to Amity and told her the message.

"The amount we spoke of that night with my partner was agreed to after we had time to think it over, but it will take us some time to gather that much money."

Tibbles ran back to Luz and told her the message.

Luz hummed in contemplation, she had seen things like this in movies and anime. This buyer was either setting up a trap or really did need the time to gather that money. It could also be a psychological tactic, a way for the buyer to see just how serious they were about moving the selkigris. "Eleven."

"Midnight."

"Elven-ten."

"Elven forty-eight."

"Elven-thirty."

"Eleven forty-five, take it or leave it!"

Luz thought for a moment and decided not to push it further. "Okay, elven forty-five, we'll be there with the selkigris. Make sure you bring the money."

"You needn't worry about that. A deal is a deal. Now, Mr. Grimm Hammer, the directions to the meetup location?"

Tibbles was hunched over, wheezing, he raised his hand up and held up one finger as he said, "Just…Just give…me…a moment…to catch…my breath!"

It took him a minute to finally catch his breath, but Tibbles managed to write down the directions to the where they were to meet up. Amity thanked Tibbles for his work and disappeared around the corner, at the same time, Luz went into the alley and thanked Tibbles as well before being on her way. Amity found a secluded spot and released the Abomination suit, and happily strolled out of her hiding spot, and then bumped into someone sending herself and the other person to the ground.

"Ugh, watch where you're – Luz!" Amity exclaimed.

Luz shook off the initial shock and gasped, "Amity?!"

The green haired witch hurriedly got up and offered her hand to Luz. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention!"

Luz smiled Amity and grasped her hand as she helped herself up. "No problem, just an accident."

"What…"

"No."

"Oh, no you're telling me–!"

Suddenly, Bast found herself in a dark space, and right across from her was her fellow Phantom, La Lechuza.

"You have got to be kidding me! Your host is Luz! That human girl is Kamen Rider Witch?! AHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHAAAAAAA!"

"Will you SHUT UP! If I didn't pull you into this subspace, you would've blabbed the secret!"

Bast had to catch her breath, she was rolling around on the nonexistent ground, holding her sides at this delicious development. "Oh wow, I, I just can't even right now! Little Miss Perfect's crush is the hero she ditched to fight against all those Phantoms!"

"And Amity is Heka, apparently. Great, this won't go over well."

"Oh, I beg to differ, this just got TONS more fun for me!"

"Don't you DARE say a word to Amity about this!"

Bast raised a curious brow as she asked, "Oh? Do you have a soft spot for these two?"

"Hardly, I find their little drama entertaining. It is the only entertainment I am able to enjoy. Watching Amity blush at every given moment, like now for instance, whenever Luz is around. All while Luz remains painfully oblivious to Amity's true feelings because she went and said something stupid," La Lechuza explained.

"Ugh, I know, right? 'I like boys'. Pfft! What a load! She wussed out at the last second! It was as much frustrating as it was hilarious to watch."

"Then we are agreed, neither one of us will divulge the other's identity?"

"Like hell I will! Like you said, this is entertaining! I can't wait to see their faces when they figure it out!"

The two Phantoms returned from the mental subspace and went back to watching their respective hosts. The two teenagers decided to walk side by side, the air was a bit awkward. Luz was developing a crush on Amity, much to her dismay, as Luz did not want to ruin the friendship she managed to cultivate with the cool witch girl. On the flipside, Amity was trying to keep her composure, somehow, she managed to keep from blushing like a schoolgirl, of which she is, but that is beside the point.

"How are things at the Owl House? Sorry I haven't been by to check in since last time," said Amity.

"Oh, uh, nothing much. Just doing the usual work out and bounty hunting thing," Luz replied.

Amity had to fight her mind from flashing back to her seeing Luz sweat drenched. "O-O-Oh, good! Good…"

"I do have some good news."

"Oh?"

"I might be coming back to Hexside soon!" Luz exclaimed.

Amity stopped walking as a wide grin split across her face. "Really?! You are?!"

"Yeah!" Luz jumped happily. "There's a job that Eda and I are doing together, if it works out, we won't have to worry about money anymore!"

Amity's grin fell. "I…I didn't know things were that bad…"

Luz rubbed the back of her head as she chuckled softly. "Yeah, we've kinda been scraping by. The bounty hunting wasn't paying up as much as we would've hoped. But this next job we have is sure to give us all the money we need, so no worries."

The green haired witch rubbed her right arm as she said, "I wish I could do something to help you. I do get an allowance from my parents, and it's a lot, but I know it wouldn't be enough for all of you to live on." Maybe enough just for Luz, but I know she would never accept that if it meant Ms. Eda and King couldn't eat.

Luz patted Amity's shoulder and replied, "You don't have to worry. I don't want to put you in a position like that, we're close to being okay. So, fingers crossed I'll see you in school soon! I am going to need help, though. I'm sure I've missed a lot of assignments; would you mind helping me out with the Abomination course work?"

"O-Of course!" Amity stated immediately. "By the time I'm done, you'll be an expert in Abomination magic!"

Luz smiled and remarked, "That sounds good to me!"

The two girls continued to walk along, and as they did, Amity decided to test the waters about a certain subject. "So, did you see that there's a new Kamen Rider in Bones Borough?"

Luz's smile faded a little. "Oh, Heka?"

"Yeah, what do you think about her?! I know she had a rough start, but I think she has potential. Since you're an expert in all things Kamen Rider, I wanted to hear your opinion on her."

Luz had an opinion all right, but she really could not say it the way she wanted to. No one aside from Witch and Heka knew what went down, and if Luz brought it up, then she would have to explain why she was out in the woods that late at night. Luz crossed her arms as she thought hard about what she was going to say. "I don't know what to think right now. I will say that she's really green, especially after what I saw of her first fight with a Phantom."

Amity winced.

"Her second fight was better, but I can tell she still has room for improvement."

Fair point, thought Amity.

"Right now, I just don't know what to think about her, really. I want to trust her; I want to believe that she'll be a good partner for Witch. But I'm hoping that she'll continue to show that same determination I saw in her second fight. A lot of Secondary Riders aren't always necessarily ace fighters off the bat, but I would like it if she can be a dependable person," said Luz.

The battle with Nightmarcher was still fresh in both teenagers' minds. Amity for her abandonment of Witch, and Luz for being abandoned in the middle of the fight.

"I'm sure she'll be the kind of hero that Witch can depend on."

Night finally fell upon the town of Bones Borough, and it was time for the second round of negotiations. Luz and Eda were making their way to the meeting spot, as they did, Luz informed Eda about what she found out about Tibbles, and the possibility that he was in fact a Gate.

"Ugh, great, why doesn't it surprise me that that little monster has a monster inside of him," said Eda.

"I know, I know, but if push comes to shove, I'll have to get rid of the Phantom inside of him."

"Can't you just go into him and take it out before it gets that far?" Eda asked.

"I asked Mr. Haruto that before we came here, and he said that diving into a person's Underworld, and forcefully breaching it to allow a Phantom to come through is even more dangerous than if they just fell into despair. I hate to say it, but I kind of need it to happen, at least until I find a way to keep a person's Underworld from being breached," Luz explained.

Eda hoped that Luz would find a way to do that, it would solve a lot of problems for everyone if she could find a way to keep people who are Gates from having their Underworlds destroyed. The mansion that Tibbles had given them directions to was coming up, and the time was already eleven fifty-eight.

"We're a whole ten minutes plus late thanks to Hooty," Eda complained.

"How can he get so filthy when he's attached to the house all day?!" Luz asked.

"Let's just hope the buyer hasn't–"

Suddenly half the mansion collapsed, sending out a wave of dust that struck Eda and Luz and threw them on their rears. The Owl Lady and human coughed and rubbed their eyes from the sticking particles that were now laced in the air. Something had happened, something bad. Eda looked at Luz and nodded at her, Luz understood the signal and ducked into the forest.

[Driver On, Please.]

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

"Henshin!"

[Light, Please.]

[HI~KA~RI!]

A yellow magic circle passed over Luz and transformed her into Kamen Rider Witch. The hero of hope dashed straight for the collapsed mansion, frantically searching for any sign of Tibbles or the buyers. She managed to find the pig-gremlin demon, on his knees before the collapsed part of the structure. "What happened?!"

"It…It collapsed…I-I don't know how! That…That was my only shot…why…why can't I just have something go right for me!" Tibbles bemoaned.

*Crack*

Tibbles suddenly started to wail in pain as cracks formed all over his body, releasing violet ethereal light. Witch knelt next to the pig-gremlin demon and readied to enter his Underworld, however, that is when the drums started to sound. In a matter of seconds, the Nightmarcher Phantoms started to appear out of nowhere, the tribal creatures readied their weapons to attack Witch. This was not the first time she had to fight a Phantom while someone was undergoing Phantomization, but this was the first time she had to try and stop it with a small army in her way. If it was only the one Phantom then it might not have been a problem, but if she started fighting, they would just push her further away from Tibbles and then it would be too late.

I can't let this happen, I won't fail you, or anyone!

[Call to Arms: Scarab Saber!]

Suddenly, a streak of gold sliced through several of the Phantoms at once, that same golden streak carved itself a path right towards the center were Witch was. When the streak finally arrived, it revealed itself as Heka.

"Witch, I'm here to help!" Heka stated.

"Heka, you have a lot of nerve coming here after what happened last night," said Witch.

"I know. I promise you, I had my reasons, and I will tell you when this is over. We don't have a lot of time, go in there and do what you need to do, I'll stay here and keep these guys off Tibbles," Heka remarked.

Witch was having a bit of trust issues with Heka, but right now she needed to help Tibbles before it was too late. "Don't leave him alone."

"I promise you; I won't leave this time!"

Witch sighed; she would have to see Heka back that up with action. "Okay, Tibbles, you haven't exactly been the nicest of demons, but not even you deserve to become a literal monster. So, I will restore your hope!"

[Engage, Please.]

Witch's magic circle appeared over Tibbles, and once it had, she jumped straight into the portal, leaving Heka to fend for herself against the dozens upon dozens of Nightmarcher Phantoms.

"One way or another, you and Witch will fall this night."

"Not on your life!"

~(TIBBLES' UNDERWORLD)~

It was no surprise that once Witch entered his Underworld, the one thing he valued the most was money, because that's what she saw. A whole lot of snails as far as the eye could see. "I know I shouldn't be surprised, but, c'mon, this guy doesn't have one cherished memory other than money?"

The cracks started to form on the surface of the Underworld, and within a matter of seconds a large gash opened. Witch got on guard, ready to fight the behemoth of a Phantom. However, there was no Phantom. Witch raised a confused eyebrow, she was sure the Inner Phantom would appear from that gash, they always do. Maybe it's a fake out? Maybe they're already out?

"No, I definitely sense a Phantom has emerged from the rift…but I can't see it either – wait, no, there it is."

"Where?!"

"Look down."

Witch lowered her gaze and that is when she saw a small, child sized monster walking towards her. The Inner Phantom looked like a gremlin, but woodsier looking. It had antlers made of tree branches, with a pointed nose, and strong arms and legs. It was colored black, and forest green, with yellow eyes that glowed as they looked at Witch. The masked hero could not help but burst out laughing when she saw the pint-sized Phantom.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! Y-You gotta be kidding me?! All the Inner Phantoms I've fought up until now were big behemoth monsters, and you're telling me, little Tibbles, has a little Inner Phantom? He actually looks kind of cute," said Witch.

"Careful, Niña, don't be fooled by his size, that one's–!"

The tiny Inner Phantom jumped at Witch, cocked back its right fist, and punched her in the chest. The blow was several times stronger than it had any reason to be as it sent Witch flying backwards, skipping on the coin ridden land like a stone on water before hitting a mound of snails that effectively stopped her from going any further. Witch groaned in pain as she stumbled forward, and asked, "WHAT WAS THAT?! He hits like a fright train hauling anvils and hundred-ton girders!"

"I tried to warn you, that one is called Spriggan. He's an annoying little bugger, mostly because, despite his small size, he has the strength of a giant."

"Okay, we learned something today. Don't judge a Phantom by its cover." Witch was in serious mode now as she got into her fighting stance and charged for Spriggan.

The little Inner Phantom got on guard and readied himself for a fight. Witch came in with a low kick, trying to hit the little guy in the head, but Spriggan managed to jump up and away from the kick. That brought him into alignment with the Witch's palm strikes as she threw a left and then right, swiping her hands through the air in a cutting motion to try and smack him down into the ground. However, Spriggan was proving to be more annoying than he seemed, as the little Inner Phantom managed to bounce off Witch's palms. Spriggan used said palm to push himself forward and deliver a double kick to Witch's chest. She dug her heels into the snail covered ground in order to prevent her from flying off again.

Spriggan was hopping around Witch, striking her from the back, the front, the sides, and in general being a complete nuisance. The little creature would chuckle mockingly at her, knowing that the hero had no real way of pinning down this nimble Inner Phantom.

Witch backed away for a moment to better assess how she was going to fight him. She was too big to get a good blow in, and Spriggan was too small to properly hit him. That's when a thought entered her mind. "Okay, little guy, why don't you pick on someone your own size."

[Owl Rise, Please.]

The portal for La Lechuza opened in the sky and allowed the mechanical Owl Phantom to emerge into the Underworld. The wizened Phantom was not sure what Witch's plan was, she was far bigger than Spriggan, it was going to be even harder for her to land a blow on him. However, that's when Witch switched out the Owl Rise ring for a different ring.

[Small, Please.]

A magic circle appeared over the hovering La Lechuza, and passed over, shrinking her down until she was about the size of a bald eagle. "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?!" she exclaimed in a squeaky voice.

"We're evening the playing field!" Witch stated.

[Small, Please.]

A circle appeared over Witch and shrunk her as well. She kept funneling mana into the spell to make her shrinking continue until she was smaller than Spriggan, making him seem like a behemoth of a Phantom like the rest, of course, all of this confused Spriggan to no end. "Alright, now that's better! Time to take out a giant monster"

[Ride, Please.]

The Witch Speeder appeared next to Witch, she mounted the small hover bike and took off, flying around Spriggan as she fired the forward mounted magic bolt blasters. Despite being shrunken down, the power of Witch's attacks did not lose their potency as each hit from the blasters caused sparks to fly from Spriggan's body, making the tiny Phantom go on the defensive. La Lechuza sighed, as this was yet another one of her hosts strange battle tactics. The Owl Phantom flared its wings and dove straight for Spring, slashing at him with her talons. Spriggan jumped back to try and avoid La Lechuza, but Witch came in and fired a barrage at his back, making Spriggan topple down to one knee.

"Lala, let's finish this and get back to the fight topside!"

"Indeed, I've had enough of this annoying thing!"

Witch brought the Speeder in alignment with La Lechuza's back and combined with her. Once that had been done, Witch swapped out her previous ring with the finisher ring.

[ VERY NICE, KICK STRIKE! FABULOUS! ]

La Lechuza morphed into a giant taloned foot as Witch jumped up and connected her Rider Kick with the transformed Owl Phantom. Witch and La Lechuza's attack came down quickly as the kick landed in the middle of Spriggan's chest, sending a burst of light magic into him and causing the Inner Phantom to explode. But since this was all happening on a tiny scale, the explosion looked like a small firecracker going off. But no sooner had that happened did Tibbles' Underworld begin to mend itself.

Witch canceled the spell and returned and La Lechuza back to normal size. Once she done, a portal opened to allow La Lechuza to return to Witch's Underworld, and another opened to let Witch return to the Overworld.

~(OVERWORLD)~

Witch jumped out of the magic circle and back onto solid ground, but when she returned, she saw that Heka was on one knee, panting as she held her Scarab Saber aloft, daring any of the Nightmarcher Phantoms to get near her or Tibbles. Something seemed off about her, the golden gleam of her armor had dulled, she could even sense that her magic was fading.

"Heka, what happened to you?!" Witch asked in concern.

"It's okay, the problem should resolve itself in three…two…one! Midnight."

The hourglass symbol at the center of the MagiDriver, which showed the top half was nearly empty, now went back to full. The golden gleam of Heka's armor returned, and Witch was able to sense that Heka's magic had returned. "Okay, now I'm back! And, Witch, I'm sorry I ran out on you yesterday. I'm truly sorry, it's my fault for not telling you why I couldn't continue before we engaged in combat–!"

Witch raised her right hand in a stopping motion, cutting off Heka. "You protected Tibbles and gave me enough time to get rid of his Inner Phantom. I'll hear out your reasons when we smoke this Phantom."

The Nightmarcher Phantoms were not pleased with the way they were speaking, as if they had decided that the fight was over. "You will die tonight, both of you! I may have failed in bringing forth another of our kind, but I will take your heads!"

"I've heard something similar to that from other Phantoms before, and it never ended the way they wanted it to! We'll take on as many of you as we need to until we find your real body!" Witch declared.

Heka smiled under helmet as she stood up and said, "We won't have to. Because I know where the main body is now."

The other Nightmarcher Phantoms flinched when they heard Heka say that.

"You know where he is?" Witch asked.

"While you were in the Tibbles' Underworld, I was slashing through a few of these guys. Trying to see who among them in the real Nightmarcher. And I found him on one of my last attacks. When I slashed him, my special burning effect was activated. It didn't take affect last time because the copies all dispersed after we defeated them, but one of them didn't, and is currently feeling the burn." Heka pointed her sword straight at one of the Nightmarchers that was clutching its right side. "And there you are."

"Nice work, partner."

Heka's eyes widened as she turned to look at Witch. "You…You called me partner."

"I did, didn't I. Now, let's do this! I am the guardian of all things good! The Light of Hope, Kamen Rider Witch!" Witch struck a pose, and then she nodded to Heka. "C'mon, Heka, do a pose with me!"

"Oh, uh, yeah, right!" Heka cleared her throat and did a more elegant pose as she said, "The sun's wrath incarnate! Kamen Rider Heka!"

"Now it's showtime!"
"Let the show begin!"

A horde of the Nightmarchers came rushing towards them, but Heka switched out her rings.

[Call to Arms: Griffon Ax!]

The Scarab Saber switched out as the Griffon Ax appeared in Heka's hands. The golden Rider hefted the huge weapon up and slammed it against the ground, creating a cutting energy shockwave that smashed through several of the monsters and sent them flying in different directions.

[LIGHT OWL.]

[KAGA~YA~KUUUUU~!]

A light construct of La Lechuza appeared and wrapped around Witch, changing her into her Super Form, Light Owl Style.

[Connect, Please.]

[Copy, Please.]

Witch pulled out the WizarSwordGun and created a double of the weapon. With the dual weapons she began firing a barrage of super light infused silver bullets. Witch jumped and spun in the air, pulling the trigger at the same time as she rained down light bullets upon them. When she landed, a few of the monsters tried to surround her, but Witch switched hers to sword mode and spun in place, slashing in every direction and making them, back off. This provided Heka with an opening to swing the Griffon Ax in a wide arch as Witch ducked down and let the battle ax swing overhead, releasing another energy wave that blasted them all away.

[Call to Arms: Sphinx Shield!]

The ax switched out for the Sphinx Shield. "Follow me!"

"Right behind you!"

Witch switched the WizarSwordGuns back to gun mode as she ran behind Heka, the golden armored Rider was bashing her way through the hordes, her shield ringing out like a bell tolling with each successive hit. Witch brought up the rear as she blasted any of the Phantoms that tried to get near them. Nightmarcher Prime was starting to sweat, both Riders were making short work of his clone army, it was easier when they did not know which was the true him, but now they did and there wasn't a thing he could do but keep generating more of himself to try and wear them down. Nightmarcher Prime glowed as his body started to rapidly replicate more and more of himself, trying to flood the zone.

"Oh, heck no, you're not going to stop us that easily! Witch, punch my shield, HARD!" Heka demanded.

"You got it!" Witch replied.

Witch dumped her weapons back into the portal as she jumped into the air, spun once, and then struck Heka's shield as she brought it up. The impact resonated in the shield as it built up the necessary kinetic charge. Heka jumped into the air next and hurled her charged shield straight for where Nightmarcher Prime was. He continuously made more of himself, trying to make them into a makeshift shield. The Sphinx Shield spun through the air like a flying saucer as it struck against the pile of Nightmarcher Phantoms, releasing its pent-up kinetic energy, and blasted them away, while at the same time recreating the sound of a heavy bell tolling.

"HEKA, LET'S END THIS!"

"RIGHT BEHIND YOU, PARTNER!"

[ VERY NICE, KICK STRIKE! FABULOUS! ]

[ LET'S GO! KICK STRIKE! ]

Witch's right foot shined with sparkling yellow energy, while Heka's blazed to life with swirling purple and golden energy. The two Riders dashed straight for Nightmarcher Prime, Witch kicked him once, sending him straight up into the air. Heka followed him and struck him once with a flying roundhouse in midair. Witch jumped straight up, and spin kicked him back down to the ground. Both Riders flipped once in the air before dropping down with dual glowing Rider Kicks. Nightmarcher's clone horde rushed towards him, trying to protect the original, but it was too late. Witch and Heka's kicks hit him dead on, their combined energies resonated with each other, creating a joined nexus of power that overloaded Nightmarcher Prime and caused a powerful explosion to erupt, and subsequently caused the remaining clones to explode as Witch and Heka appeared on the other of the explosion, their visors glowing bright in the shadow cast by the light of the explosions.

Heka and Witch stood up and looked behind, confirming that there were no more Nightmarchers. The battle had been won.

Witch hunched over and placed her hands on her knees. "Whew, that was a tough one." She then looked up at Heka and said, "I'm glad you were here to help."

Heka smiled under helmet, but then sighed as she said, "Witch, do you see this hourglass symbol on my Driver?"

Witch looked down at Heka's Driver and saw the hourglass symbol, it was steadily dripping a green colored light from the top to the bottom. "Yeah, what's that about?"

Heka hesitated for a moment, remembering her father's words of caution about revealing such a vulnerability. However, after that battle, Heka knew she had to tell Witch. Otherwise, there was no way they could continue to fight side by side. "…I have a time limit. I can only be in Rider form ten minutes out of the day. My timer resets at midnight every night. But last night, when we first fought Nightmarcher, we took so long fighting the clones that I was down to only two and a half minutes of transformation time left. Thankfully if I end the transformation before the time runs out, I can still transform and fight for the remaining time I have, which was the only reason why I was able to protect Tibbles at all."

"And that's why you left. If you stayed and fought you would've changed back," said Witch.

"I hated doing that, but I knew if I didn't, you'd just be more worried about protecting me than fighting the Phantom. And with that cloning power, there was no way you would've been able to do both," Heka explained.

Now it made sense to her, Heka did not leave because she was scared, she left because she did not want to become a burden on her. "I'm sorry…I was angry about you leaving me like that in the middle of a fight, and I thought you were scared, but all along you were thinking of what was best to help me and you."

Heka shook her head. "No, it's not your fault, I don't blame you for thinking that way! If anything, it's mine, I should've told you that night before we engaged in the fight."

Witch reached out and placed her hand on Heka's shoulder. "That's not something you can easily tell someone. So, I get it. We have to trust each other and that was our first time working together. You showed me I can trust you, and I do."

"Thank you, Witch. I should get going, don't want to use up my time since, you know, it's after midnight and you might need me tomorrow."

"Right, go on."

Heka stepped back, turned around, and gave Witch one last glance over her shoulder before jumping over the mansion and into the distance.

"She's a pretty cool person," said Witch.

~Oh, Niña you have no idea,~ La Lechuza thought.

Despite the big mess that was, the buyers for the selkigris were all right and still willing to do business tonight. They convened in another part of the mansion that was not demolished and continued their negotiations behind a Veil of Anonymity.

"So, do we have a deal? Ten mil for the selkigris, no more or less," said Eda.

Amity sighed heavily, "Even though that is a lot of money, we are willing to pay you the amount you requested."

Tibbles, now Phantom free, clapped his hands together and said, "Splendid! Both parties will bring forth their trades and we will commence the exchange."

On Eda and Luz's side, they hauled in the selkigris on a big wheelbarrow. While on Amity and Alador's side, Amity brought out an enchanted bag that had a closed void space, allowing her to carry the full ten million snails around without having to lug several huge bags. Once this was done, both parties commenced the exchange, Tibbles was given the bag of money, while Luz pushed the wheelbarrow through the veil and to the other side, making sure she did not pass through as well. Tibbles brought the bag to Eda, but when Luz saw it, she was a little confused and peeved.

"Wait, that's it?! That's ten million snails?!" Luz asked.

Eda opened, which reminded her of Santa's toy sack, and allowed Luz to look inside. Many shiny coins were inside, so many that Luz could not count them all. I love magic, she thought.

"Do both parties confirm that the exchange was fair and good?" Tibbles asked.

"I confirm," said Eda.

"As do I," replied Amity.

"And with that, our business is concluded. As per these arrangements, I think it best that both parties depart going opposite directions so as to preserve the anonymity of these proceedings."

Eda and Luz nodded and headed back the way they came, while Alador and Amity headed out the back way where they came from. As they walked out, Eda was peeking into the bag over and over again, she had never in her life thought she would have this many snails at one time. She was practically rich, but more than that, it meant that now she did not have to worry about how they were going to afford food, clothes, or anything really. And it also meant that Luz could go back to school and be with her friends.

"Ahem!" Eda and Luz looked down and saw Tibbles. "My fee?"

Eda sighed; she knew that was coming. "Take your fee, Tibs, you know I can't use my magic. So, if I find that you took one snail over the amount–!"

"Please, Eda, I may be petty, but I'm still a businessman." Tibbles drew a spell circle and from it he produced his own sack. He drew a second and had a lot of snail coins rapidly move out of the main sack and into his. Once it was over, Tibbles now had at least one million snails and they had nine. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you two."

"I'd say the same, but I wouldn't mean it," Eda remarked.

Luz crouched low and asked, "So, now that you at least have some money back, and the Phantom is gone, what are you going to do?"

Tibbles smiled. "Isn't it obvious? I'm going to rebuild what that monster destroyed, invest, and build up."

The human girl smiled, it seemed that he was on his way towards–

"And once I've gotten all that settled, I'm coming back for you!" Tibbles warned.

Luz deadpanned.

Tibbles laughed manically as he ran away and headed back to town.

Luz stood back up, still wearing her deadpan expression. Eda walked up next to Luz and padded her on the head. "Ya can't win 'em all kid."

"You know what, it's fine. Because now I can go back to HEXSIDE!"