Witch and Heka arrived at the spot that was designated on the card that Set gave them. It was a location near one of the huge ribs of the Titan, thankfully the Witch Speeder could fly, so it was easy for them to find which rib bone Set was speaking of. The two Riders dismounted the Speeder and decided to head the rest of the way on foot. Witch had her WizarSwordGun out, and even had the Owl Timer already mounted on her arm just in case. Following Witch's lead, Heka had summoned her MaguScepter and had the Champion ring on her left middle finger. Neither of the two Riders were taking this lightly and were preparing for the worst-case scenario. That, and just in case this location wasn't as secret and secure as they would've liked, and Nuckelavee decided to pay them a visit.
But they made sure he wouldn't follow, as Witch cast both her Illusion and Invisible rings' spells to create multiple copies of herself and Heka flying off in different directions while the real Witch and Heka remained invisible. So now here they were, wandering through the forest, about to possibly meet the Phantoms in charge of the other Phantoms. Needless to say, Witch and Heka were nervous. Witch, Luz's, knowledge of all things Rider made her wonder if she was powerful enough to even stand up against the leader of the Phantoms. While Typhon was powerful, and her All Owl form managed to beat him down, Rider troupes usually had it that the monster leader was always two to three times stronger. While All Owl was powerful, Luz didn't equate it to her Final Form, which would make her feel more confident about going to this meeting. However, Amity had hers, and it was pretty powerful, so between the two of them, they should be able to defeat the leader if it came to that.
Soon the forest gave way to a clearing, and upon entering the clearing they were shocked at who they saw there. Standing around a recently constructed stone table was Emperor Belos, the Golden Guard, Kikimora, and a small contingent of Coven Scouts. Although shocked at seeing him, Witch was hardly afraid of him, but upon glancing at Heka, she could feel a bit of trepidation.
"You alright, Amity?" Witch asked.
"W-What's Emperor Belos doing here?"
"Don't know, but it'll be alright. We're already way stronger than him or any of those Scouts. So, he's not anything to be afraid of." At least as far as magic is concerned.
Heka nodded and followed Witch's lead as they continued to walk to the stone table. The Coven Scouts drew spell circles, watching as the armed Riders approached, but Belos raised his hand.
"Stay your spells, my Scouts. We have not come here to do battle with the Riders," Belos ordered.
Golden Guard glanced at his subordinates and nodded at them. Reluctantly, the Scouts dismissed their spell circles, but were no less on edge.
Witch and Heka stood on the opposite end of the table, with the hero of hope staring down the Emperor. "Belos."
"Nice to see you, Witch."
"Wish the feeling was mutual."
Belos turned his attention to Heka. "Ah, the newest Rider to appear on my island, Kamen Rider Heka. It's nice to finally see you, face-to-face, so to speak."
"Emperor Belos, I would say it's a pleasure, but under these circumstances…"
"Why are you here, Belos?" Witch asked.
"For the same reason I assume you were summoned here as well, Witch. Although, our gracious hosts have not appeared just yet." At that moment a cloud made of black smoke and red lightning appeared some feet away from their location. "Speak of the devil."
The cloud of darkness and red lightning dispersed, and from it emerged the Phantoms, but not in their monstrous states. One of them was covered in a white cape, it mostly covered the left side of his body. He wore a blue shirt, with black straps that led to a possible weapon hidden under the cloak. He had on a black leather glove over his right hand, white pants, and black boots. His face was covered with a black mask that mimicked the look of a dire wolf, and had long, spikey white hair that ran down his back. The man was dark skinned, with pointed ears, indicating a witch male.
The second was a demon and did not hide his face. He had a black suit on, like that of a butler, with a red vest, red gloves, and a black bowtie. His face was purple in color and sported two black and white horns that grew from his forehead and curved upwards. His hair was black, neatly cut, and slicked back. His eyes were blood red, save for the yellow slit in the middle that showed his iris and black pupil.
And lastly, well, let's just say she had some of the Coven Scouts drooling under their masks. She was a tall, statuesque woman, with golden locks of hair that cascaded down her back and shoulders and had almost an unnatural shimmer to it. She wore a dress that was black and white, but the black parts had different colored glitter that made it look like she had a rainbow of stars stitched into it. The dress revealed her long, slender legs, which led to a couple of black high heeled shoes. Her fair skin was radiant in the moonlight, and her pink eyes radiate power. She was also fair skinned, and not a blemish to be seen on it. And, well, her, ahem, assets were quite impressive as well.
Heka looked to her left and saw that Witch was staring at the woman, and while Heka could not deny that the witch woman was a bombshell of a beauty, and hard not to stare at, it still urked her that her girlfriend was ogling that woman. So, she knocked Witch's shoulder with her own and cleared her throat. Witch noticed and rubbed the back of her helmet, even though she could not see Witch's face, she had no doubt that Luz was blushing and flashing her an apologetic expression.
The woman was flanked on her right by the butler, and the masked man her left. The three walked to the stone table, at the relative middle between the Riders and Emperor's Coven. The tall woman cleared her throat and spoke, "Good evening to our guests, Kamen Riders Witch and Heka, and to the Emperor of the Boiling Isles. I am Tiamat, the leader of the Phantoms, to my right is my general and attendant, Set. And to my left is Barbatos, my enforcer, hunter, and warrior."
It was just as Witch had thought, the leader was here, and she brought her heavy hitters on top of it all.
"Tiamat, Set, and Barbatos. So, you don't see fit to give us the names of the hosts you currently occupy?" Belos asked.
"The names of these vessels are irrelevant, for they are not our true forms. And on that subject, I request that you and the Riders lay down your arms on this table," said Tiamat.
"Excuse me?! Why would we do that?" Heka asked.
"A show of trust, as we are doing the same," said Tiamat.
"What weapons do you have? You are the weapons," said the Golden Guard.
"We've made ourselves vulnerable by showing you the faces and appearances of our hosts. Now you know what we look like, and I doubt it will be hard for you to figure out where these hosts live and work. So, we've compromised our mortal disguises, that is our show of trust," Tiamat explained.
"Humph! And yet, one of you wears a mask," Kikimora accused. "How can you claim to show trust if he refuses to show his face?!"
Barbatos growled at the tiny demon woman, making her flinch.
Tiamat glanced over at Barbatos and nodded to him.
Barbatos nodded back and removed the dire wolf mask, revealing his golden colored irises.
"There, now you've seen our faces, and you have means of which to recreate our likenesses from memory with Oracle magic."
Belos nodded, there was no point in lying about it. "Very well. Golden Guard, place your staff upon the table."
"But…my Emperor…"
Belos led by example, taking out his staff, extending it, and placed it on the table. The Golden Guard seemed reluctant to do the same, but eventually pulled out his staff and put it beside Belos'.
"And your other subordinates?" Set asked.
"No need, the Coven Scouts, aside from the Golden Guard, do not possess staffs. They are all confiscated upon entering the Emperor's Coven," Barbatos answered. "So, other than their magic, they are essentially unarmed."
Tiamat glanced at the Riders. "What say you, Riders?"
Heka looked to Witch, she really was not comfortable placing her weapon on the table, where it would be easy for the Phantoms to snatch up and render them unable to match their strength. But Witch, Luz, was more knowledgeable when it came to these kinds of things, at least when it came to her knowledge of Kamen Rider lore.
Witch knew that Heka was waiting to see what she did. She reasoned Heka saw the danger in this action, but right now, Witch was banking on the notion that the threat of Nuckelavee was too high to just call them all here for an ambush. "Okay."
The hero of hope placed her WizarSwordGun on the table, and then the Owl Timer. Heka sighed and put the MaguScepter on the table as well.
"Your rings, too," said Barbatos.
"You let the Emperor's Coven keep their magic, and our rings are no different," said Witch.
"Their magic is biological and does not require the use of items, you, on the other hand, do," Barbatos argued.
Heka drew a spell circle in the air with her left hand and said, "Even if you did take the rings away, we still have magic to use like the Scouts, like the Emperor. It won't matter if the rings are on the table or not."
Tiamat regarded the Riders for a moment before saying, "Very well."
Witch released a silent sigh. Only Belos and the Golden Guard knew that she was human and could not use magic without the rings, but the Phantoms didn't. They still thought she was a denizen of the isles, which worked in their favor.
"Well, I believe you both know why I have summoned you to this meeting spot. The threat of Nuckelavee has become too great for either side to ignore, or to handle on their own," said Tiamat.
"So, one of your own has gotten too strong and you need all of our help to destroy it," said Heka.
"He is not one of our own," said Set. "Whether you want to believe it or not, Nuckelavee was not born at the same time as we were. The Phantoms you have fought up until now, us included, were created on the night of the blood red moon, during the Sabbath ritual. But after investigating on our side, we have discovered out of the thirty Phantoms that were born that night, Nuckelavee was not. He…predates us."
That came as a surprise to Witch and Heka, and to the Scouts, Golden Guard, and Kikimora.
"Wait, are you saying that Nuckelavee has been here the whole time?!" Witch asked.
Barbatos chimed in. "It is unclear exactly how long that creature has resided in your world. But other Phantoms and I went to try and exterminate him. My packmates were lost, but from what we gathered in our battle with him, and from what we saw of his former dwelling spot, this creature has a vendetta against someone, or multiple persons unknown. And it has made its intentions clear that it seeks revenge on them and wants to bathe this world in endless fear."
"And thusly, goes against our goals," said Tiamat. "And I imagine whatever goals you may have, Belos."
"My only goal is this continued prosperity of my kingdom, and the eradication of Wild Magic. This thing poses a threat to my subjects, and I will not let that stand," said Belos.
Heka crossed her arms as she said. "So, we agree that Nuckelavee is a threat. But the major question is: how do we beat him?"
Tiamat turned to Heka and said, "We were originally placing our bets that you and Witch could end his existence, but evidently he has more power and abilities that we had not anticipated."
"Learned that the hard way."
"And so, that is why Lady Tiamat has come with a proposal. The Emperor's Coven, the Phantoms, and the Riders, consolidate their power, and work together to destroy Nuckelavee," said Set.
Belos crossed his arms as well and rubbed the spot on his mask where his chin would be. "I see, you wish to establish an armistice."
"Arma what now?" Witch whispered.
"It's another word for 'truce'," Heka answered.
The Golden Guard decided to give his two snails here. "Why would we side with you creatures! You've been constantly causing mayhem for our people, and now you want our help!"
"Hush, boy, the adults are talking," said Barbatos.
"You!"
"Easy now, Golden Guard," said Belos. "I, too, share his grievances. But why should we side with you?"
"Because it will be us who join in the battle as well. A unified front against this monster is the only way to destroy him, but I will tell you now, that I will not be joining the battle, my Generals, on the other hand, will," said Tiamat.
"A leader and a coward," said Kikimora.
"No, it makes sense." Witch's comment made everyone look at her. "Tiamat, you're the most powerful of the Phantoms, right?"
Tiamat nodded.
"I've seen that monster gain a lot of power just eating a piece of the Phantoms. Nuckelavee doesn't need to fight Tiamat head on, he just needs to survive long enough to snag a piece of her body and eat it. And if he does that Nuckelavee will be insanely more powerful than he is now. It's already a risk involving her Generals. They have just as much to lose as we all do," said Witch.
Belos hummed approvingly at Witch's assessment. "I good deduction. It would be a severe disadvantage if he was able to devour you, Tiamat. But just as risky for your subordinates to join the battle. How can we be sure they will fight?"
Barbatos growled as he gripped the left side of his cape. "I owe that monster payback for the deaths of my packmates, and for taking my arm. I relish the opportunity to settle the score."
"Anything that threatens Lady Tiamat must be eliminated, and so, I will be on the battlefield as well," said Set.
"My other two generals, Ifrit and Ahuizotl, will be in the battle as well. Combining our magic and power together, I believe we stand a higher chance of victory than if we stand alone. But it goes without saying, after the threat is over, the armistice will be dissolved," said Tiamat.
Witch and Heka were still iffy on this. A shaky truce that would end when Nuckelavee was destroyed, and neither girl had any doubts that the Phantoms would strike the moment they were all exhausted and beaten from defeating Nuckelavee, especially if Tiamat was not going to join the fight. It provided the perfect opportunity for them. Let the Riders, Generals, and Scouts wear themselves out fighting Nuckelavee, and if they manage to destroy him, then it was good for them, and once everyone was tired and weak, Tiamat would emerge and finish of Witch and Heka. It was an easy thing to see, but for all the risk it involved, after fighting Nuckelavee, the girls knew that they could not defeat him with their strength alone.
"Okay, we agree to this truce. We fight together, and together we take down Nuckelavee," said Witch.
"What say you, Belos?" Tiamat asked.
"Heh, I'm really not in the position to negotiate better terms. The stakes are clear, if we don't win, we all die. As Emperor of the Boiling Isles, I pledge my Coven, and resources to this temporary alliance." Belos looked to each of his subordinates in turn. "Understand?"
The Scouts, Golden Guard, and Kikimora stood at attention and said, "Yes, your majesty!"
Corny, thought Witch.
"Well, now that that has been established. I think it prudent that we come up with a plan of attack."
"THAT'S WHERE YOU TWO WERE?!" everyone yelled.
"Ouch, way too loud you guys," Luz complained as she covered her ears.
Luz and Amity returned to the Owl House, fresh from the meeting between the three factions. When they did return, they found Willow and Gus waiting for them, but not just them, Edric and Emira were there, too. The whole identity thing had been resolved while they were waiting for their return, and now the girls had finished filling them all in on what was discussed.
"Wow…that's…that's crazy," said Edric.
"I'm still trying to wrap my head around this," said Emira.
"Join the club. I was there, and I'm still trying to come to terms with it," Amity remarked.
Eda was sitting on the adjacent couch as she rubbed the bridge of her nose, feeling herself age faster just from listening to that story. "So, Belos, the Phantoms, and you, entered into a temporary truce in order to take down this 'Cannibal' Phantom, something that apparently was here before the other Phantoms arrived. That's the part – among others – that I still don't get. If this Phantom has been around longer than them, then why hasn't it made its move until now?"
"Maybe it was waiting?" Willow suggested. "Maybe, until now, it wasn't strong enough to do much, but after the Phantoms were born, it must've realized it could get stronger by eating them."
"Makes sense, it's like a predator, and it had no prey until now," said Gus.
"Well, that kinda makes sense, but what about that other thing? That it's after someone," said King.
Luz sighed as she tried to come up with an answer. "It might be a Phantom that merged with its host, like Dracula. Maybe whoever it is was had a grudge on someone this whole time, and didn't think they were strong enough yet, even as a Phantom, to get their revenge?"
Emira shivered at the name of that Phantom. "Yeah, I don't know. Pretty much all these Phantoms are barely even fazed by our magic and are way stronger and faster than us to begin with. I can't imagine whatever Phantom they merged with was so weak that they still wouldn't be able to beat a normal witch or demon."
Eda tapped her chin, but then gasped as a thought came to mind. "What if it was weak? What if the method that brought it here was not perfect and weakened it? Think about it, if this Phantom has been here this whole time, before the others, then…"
Everyone's eyes widened, coming to the same realization as Eda had.
"Nuckelavee could've been the one who originally conducted the Sabbath ritual, it was summoning more Phantoms so it could get stronger!" Amity stated.
"It basically ordered takeout," said Luz.
"A Phantom being here before the others is not out of the realm of possibility. After all, I was dwelling inside of you, as were all the other Inner Phantoms, but nothing had driven anyone into deep despair enough to cause our awakenings," said Bast.
That is true, but this is the first case of one actually manifesting. Would that have happened to you, too, if you weren't successful?
"If so, I'm glad you never emerged earlier, Bast. While you annoy me, I'd find it disgraceful of you to fall to such a low," said La Lechuza.
"Humph, I'd sooner jump into the Boiling Sea then allow myself to become such a creature!"
"So, what's the plan you all cooked up? I can only imagine the logistics are going to be a mess since they don't know you're real identities," said Eda.
"Yeah, well, the Golden Guard knows…unfortunately…" Luz lamented. "You see…"
The meeting was over for now, they had come up with a strategy to fight Nuckelavee, but it was going to be a bit of time before it was put together. Barbatos would act as mediator for the Phantoms and communicate with the Emperor's Coven to coordinate their actions, but since Witch and Heka refused to give up their identities, they decided that they'd come up with an alternate way to communicate.
The Phantoms left, and both sides reclaimed their weapons. But before Witch and Heka could leave, Witch was called upon.
"Witch, a moment if you will," said Belos.
Witch narrowed her gaze at Belos but walked towards him. Both she and Belos walked a little further away from everyone else. When they stopped, Witch asked, "What do you want, Belos?"
"Coordinating with the Phantoms and us will be difficult for you, will it not? Especially since no one aside from myself and my righthand man know of your true identity," said Belos.
"What's your point?"
"I will have Hunter act as my mediator between you and us, and through us we will coordinate with the Phantoms. They don't know the identity of Hunter, nor does this Nuckelavee, so if I have Hunter give you messages, he can relay yours to us, and through us to the Phantoms."
Witch hated to admit it, but if it made the most sense. If they were going to fight together, then they needed a way to talk that would not compromise hers and Amity's identities. "Fine, but you have Hunter only come to me at the Owl House, nowhere else."
Belos chuckled. "Yes, I figured you wanted to keep your partner's identity a secret. But you should know that it won't be long before I eventually learn who she is under that helmet."
"We'll see."
"So, for now, the Golden Guard is going to be sending me messages here," Luz explained.
This was really a lot to take in, the Phantoms, the Emperor's Coven, Luz, and Amity, all of them were joining forces just to take down one Phantom. And there may be the possibility that this original Phantom was the one who enacted the Sabbath ritual and summoned the others to the Boiling Isles just to be its meal.
"So, what happens now?" Gus asked.
"For now, we just wait and see, I guess. If we fight Nuckelavee again…he'll beat us. We only made it out of that fight thanks to the Phantoms. And honestly, I don't think we should rely on that happening too much, we run the risk of them getting eaten and making Nuckelavee even more powerful," said Amity.
"That doesn't mean we won't stop him if he tries something, though. We can't just let him attack people just because we might not win, at the very least, we can give him something else to focus on," said Luz.
Amity smiled, she loved that selfless side of her girlfriend, but at the same time, it worried her. "I understand, Luz, but we won't do anyone any good if we just rush out and tried to fight him. I know it'll be difficult, be we need to wait, Luz. I say we train until then. Now that I can stay transformed for longer than ten minutes in a day, we can train in Rider form for a lot longer."
"Listen to her, Luz. You tend to have a habit of rushing into danger when people's lives are on the line. Not a bad quality, but this go around that monster won't let you off, and like the kiddo said, we can't rely on the Phantoms to come in and save your butts if things get too hairy," said Eda.
Luz disliked the idea of hiding and waiting, to not answer the call to save people when she knew she could help them. But Amity and Eda were right, if she went out and fought, she ran the risk of dying. And then their plan would be ruined, and the Boiling Isles would lose its hope.
"…Okay, I won't."
Thanks to Nuckelavee's attack on Hexside, school was to be cancelled for at least the next week or so. Glandus and Saint Epiderm followed suit. It was not as if this was the first time a Phantom had infiltrated Hexside, but this was the first time one so blatantly destroyed part of it in a clear act of wanton destruction. This inadvertently helped Amity and Luz as this made it easier for the latter to receive messages from Hunter.
The routine was simple, the Golden Guard would leave the Emperor's Castle, use his magic to conceal his presence long enough to switch out of his clothing and don regular clothes, and then proceeded to the Owl House. Hooty was their lookout, and once he was on scene, Hooty would swallow him, and spit him out in an owl pellet inside the house. When Hunter asked if she would stop having the house demon do that, she said no, and to deal with it while this truce was going on. Preparations were being made for an ambush plan of attack on Nuckelavee, and hopefully, it would work.
Unfortunately, while the monster wasn't attacking them, it was busy elsewhere. Reports were coming in from different parts of the island, reports of people being wracked with intense fear, some losing their minds, and others cowering and locking themselves in their homes. People were even reporting seeing nightmarish creatures roaming around that weren't exactly Phantoms.
Now it was the third day since the meeting occurred, and Luz was getting anxious. So, she invited Amity over to both spend some time with her girlfriend, and to get some sparring in.
Both Amity and Luz were at the back of the house, away from prying eyes. Luz was wearing the same shorts and tank top she always did when practicing outside, while Amity was wearing a pink, loose fitting shirt, a pair of black shorts, and some black shoes. The young witch was armed with a staff that she had made from Abomination goo and provided her GF with a sword made of the same material. Amity watched as Luz swung the sword around, getting a feel for it before entering her fighting stance. Amity gulped as she felt her face heat up, seeing her girlfriend in that outfit again, and knowing that it and Luz would be drenched with sweat was an image that was not helping.
"You ready, Amity?!" Luz called out.
Amity fumbled with her staff and finally got a good grip on it. "Oh, uh, yeah! Yeah! Whenever you are!"
Luz nodded and dashed for Amity, as she thrust with the sword (which was blunt, by the way). Amity blocked it with the staff as she held her ground against Luz's strike. She couldn't help but notice how Luz's arm muscles tightened as she tensed them, trying to drive the blade down.
She gulped again, and then shook her head.
Amity pushed Luz back and spun her staff around as she began swinging it at Luz. The Latina dodged some of her attacks, and for the ones she didn't she used the sword to block them. Ghost was watching from the sidelines, licking their paw, and brushing it over their face for a few moments before returning their attention to the sparring session. Amity swiped the ground with her staff, forcing Luz to backflip away before it could hit. The two girls continued like this for some minutes, exchanging blows, dodging, and clashing their weapons. After about thirty minutes they took a break.
Luz panted from their workout and glanced at Amity. Amity's face was drenched with sweat, and even her shirt. It clung to her small frame and gave just the faintest of outlines of Amity's sports bra underneath. Luz turned away, her face turning red, that's when she looked down at herself and realized that it was the same for herself. Luz suddenly became self-conscious and covered her chest.
Oh, why is this bothering me now?! I didn't use to care if Amity saw me like this, but now…
Luz was confident in herself, most of the time, but this was the first time she was self-conscious in regard to her looks. She managed to sneak another glance at her girlfriend, and watched as Amity leaned back, slowly breathing in and out. Luz looked away, again.
Amity's just so…beautiful. And I'm…
"Why are you doing that?"
"Huh! W-What do you mean?" Luz asked.
Amity looked at how Luz's arms were positioned and pointed at them. "You're hugging yourself, did I hit you too hard earlier?"
"No, no, it's not that," said Luz. "Sorry, it's just that, you're so pretty and I'm…"
"Don't do that." Amity interrupted as she furrowed her brow. "Don't start talking down on yourself. I won't allow that. Luz, I wanted to be with you, and…I think you're also pretty, Luz. So, please don't think you're not."
Luz lowered her arms and sighed happily. "Sorry, sometimes I just can't believe I have an actual girlfriend. And all it took was for me to get trapped in another world."
Amity used her right hand to hold Luz's left. "I'm sorry you are. I promise we'll find a way to make another portal door, and then you can go and see your mom again. Then you can show me around the Human Realm."
"I'd really like that, and maybe introduce you to my Mom, I know she'll like you," said Luz.
"I hope so."
Amity did not have the best of luck when it came to mothers, considering the way her own mother was to her and others. She was looking forward to meeting a mother figure who wasn't a total –
"Hoot! Hoot! You got a visitor!" Hooty announced as he stretched himself to the back of the house.
"I'll be in a second, Hooty."
Amity watched as the house demon retracted himself. She stood up and stretched a bit before saying, "I guess I should go then. We don't need the Golden Guard knowing that I'm Heka."
"You could go, but I'd rather you'd stay."
[Driver On, Please.]
[Lupachi Magic Touch Go!
Lupachi Magic Touch Go!]
"What are you doing?" Amity asked.
"Just watch."
Luz slipped on the Invisible ring and activated it.
[Invisible, Please.]
Luz waved her right hand over Amity until her body disappeared. "Now you can listen in."
"Wow, good thinking, Luz," Amity complimented.
With the invisible Amity, Luz headed into the Owl House. Once inside, King and Eda were in the living room, with Hunter picking out pieces of the owl pellet he was in off his clothes and hair.
"Again, I ask, is it REALLY necessary for that thing to do that every time?!" Hunter asked.
Hooty belched.
"Yes, yes it is. Now, what's the message today?" Luz asked.
Hunter decided to push all that to the side and focus on his task. "According to Tiamat and our Coven Scouts, Nuckelavee is still on his nightmare rampage. Fear is gripping the people in various parts of the Boiling Isles, and the ones not directly affected are on edge wondering when it'll be their turn."
Luz balled up her fists, she hated feeling powerless like this. Nuckelavee was doing whatever he wanted while they were planning out their next move.
"But luckily, we're about finished with the preparations for the ambush. We just need to lure him to the spot where it's going to happen," said Hunter.
"We don't need to lure him; we just need to find him. Once we do, I'll use my Connect ring to take us to the ambush site. Just let me go there once so I can make a connection," said Luz.
"Got it, we've got all our parts to play to pull this off, and hopefully this works," Hunter remarked.
"Hope is my thing, Hunter," said Luz. "Now, you should be heading back."
"Yeah…" Hunter noticed a shadow was cast over him, and when he looked up, he saw the embodiment of all that was evil, Hooty. "Oh, come on…"
Before Hunter could even make a move Hooty swallowed the young witch boy whole and proceeded to stretch himself far into the woods and away from the Owl House.
"Ah, that never gets old," said Eda.
"Is there any way we can make him keep coming back just to have that happen?" King asked.
Luz rolled her eyes playfully and then pointed her right hand towards her back, cancelling the invisibility spell and revealing Amity. "So, what do you think?"
"I don't like that you're going to be the bait for this," said Amity. "Isn't there another way?"
"Not if we want to take him down," said Luz.
Eda shook her head, she wanted to help Luz and Amity, she wanted to get in the fight and help take down this monster. But she still had not mastered her new Harpy Mode, unfortunately, even if she did, Eda had no illusions that it would be enough to help them defeat Nuckelavee, but the reality was she would just be a hinderance, at worst a liability. Eda looked to her young ward and saw the confident smile she put on, and in contrast, she looked to her new girlfriend, and saw a worried smile.
The town of Femoraz (Femur), located on left thigh of the Titan. The town was losing its mind a Nuckelavee roared, spreading its Absolute Terror Field, and inducing mind great fear into the people. The town itself was bigger than Bonesborough, something close to being called a metropolitan city, but right now it was looking like anything but as the people were running in fear, or on the ground cowering as their minds were getting ravaged by the power of Nuckelavee.
The Cannibal Phantom fired its eye beams at some of the buildings, causing parts of them to explode and spreading wanton destruction just for the heck of it. Some of the witches tried to fly away, but Nuckelavee used the power of the wind to create a powerful gust of air that forced them to fall to the ground, like birds whose wings had been clipped, trapped on the ground with a deadly predator. A contingent of Coven Scouts, who somehow mustered up enough courage to face him, came up behind him and fired numerous spells at his back. Nuckelavee merely turned around, glanced in their direction, and fired his dark green stone beam. The Coven Scouts had no time to react as the beam struct them, and instantly turned them all into stone. Nuckelavee charged his horns with violet lightning and unleashed it on the petrified Scouts.
[Defend, Please.]
A wall of light appeared in front of the petrified Scouts, blocking the attack as the lightning was forced to hit the buildings on the either side of the barrier. Nuckelavee stopped his attack and chuckled, knowing full well who did that. From the air, Kamen Rider Witch dropped down from the Witch Speeder, landing in front of the stone Scouts in her Light Owl Style, and armed with the Owl Timer.
"Ah, there you are…Are you done licking your wounds?"
Witch tightened her fists but remained focused on her task. "I'm here to finally stop you, Nuckelavee! I know you're a Rouge Phantom, and I'm pretty sure talking you down will be useless, but I need to know. Who is it that you're after?! Who wronged you so much that you feel as if you need to do this?!"
Nuckelavee's creepy smile widened as he turned his whole body to face her. "Only two people. But it's not any fun to just hurt them, they must marinate in the fear, knowing that there's absolutely nothing they can do to stop what's coming for them, and those they care about. The sheer joy of seeing their faces contort in fear and despair, is what I live for."
"Who are you, Nuckelavee?" Witch asked.
"Heh-heh, you really want to know?" he asked.
"Yes, and no, I just needed you to distracted long enough for this to happen."
[Fissure, Please.]
Suddenly, the ground cracked all around Nuckelavee as several vines shot out and wrapped themselves around his limbs.
[Connect, Please.]
Nuckelavee looked back behind him and saw Plant Witch standing there, hand against the ground as she used her Fissure ring to conjure the vines. And to the left he saw Ice Witch, pointing her hand at him as a blue magic circle appeared right below him.
[FIRE OWL.]
[Big, Please.]
The fourth elemental Super Form of Witch appeared and used the Big ring to enlarge her right hand. She used that huge hand to palm heel strike Nuckelavee straight into the magic circle just as the vines released him. Nuckelavee found himself being whisked through space before finally landing hard against the ground. The horse head part of the monster snorted and neighed angrily as Nuckelavee scrambled back to his hooves. Something was wrong though. All around him he could see nothing but darkness, the ground, the sky, it was all gone.
"Tch, instead of fighting me, they decided to trap me in some kind of void, did they?" Nuckelavee speculated.
However, Nuckelavee was about to be proven wrong on that. In reality, Nuckelavee had not be trapped in a void, he was merely inside a huge cube that was made of magical energy. It stretched at least a hundred feet into the air and was about fifty feet wide on either side. The place that Nuckelavee had been transported to was a huge clearing in the middle of a rocky terrain, far from any town where they could use the full of extent of this spell.
All around the dark cube were Coven Scouts, each maintaining a spell circle that was connected to the spell itself. On the four sides of the cube was one of the Phantom Generals, including Barbatos who was standing next to Heka. A yellow magic circle opened next, and from it emerged all four Witches.
"Is it holding?!" Light Witch asked.
The Golden Guard ran up to her and said, "It is, but we need to complete the spell now before that thing figures out he's not in some endless void."
Fire Witch looked up at the construct structure and marveled at it, "So, this is the Dark Casket spell."
"Yes, normally a spell of this magnitude is best used against a singular opponent. It's a forbidden spell. It works on time dilation, on the outside, once the spell is complete, it will be over in mere moments, but on the inside, time is slowed for the one captured within and death is slow, they feel every part of their body being broken down, and they desperately try to figure out a way out of it, not already knowing that they're dead, it's just that time hasn't caught up to them," the Golden Guard explained.
"That's a really messed up spell," said Ice Witch.
"Like I said, it's a forbidden spell. But considering what we're up against, nothing's off limits right now." The Golden Guard turned his sight back to the spell. "The Scouts have the power to maintain it in this state, but we'll need you, Heka, and the Phantoms to use your magic to help close it fast, so get into position!"
Witch nodded and hit the thumb on the Owl Timer.
[Owl Four-mation.]
Four constructs of La Lechuza appeared and flew into each of the Witches, equipping them with the OwlHead, Talons, Wings, and Tail. Fire Owl flew until she was hovering next to Ifrit, while Ice Witch took position next to Ahuizotl, Plant Witch was next to Set, and lastly, Light Witch stood next to Heka and Barbatos. With the strongest magic users assembled, the Phantoms and Riders channeled their magical energies and focused them on the Dark Casket spell. The black cube that surrounded Nuckelavee suddenly started to shrink rapidly. Second by second the cube got smaller and smaller, and it was harder than it looked as the Phantoms and Riders were struggling.
"That all ya got, Witch?!" Ifrit goaded.
"HA! I can say the same to you! Are you sweating?"
"¡Debemos cerrar esto antes de que esa monstruosidad encuentre una salida! (We must close this thing before that monstrosity figures out a way out of it!)"
"¡¿También hablas español?! ¡Guau! ¡Eres solo el segundo Fantasma que conozco que puede! (Oh, you speak Spanish, too?! Wow! You're only the second Phantom I've met that can!)"
"Give it everything you've got, Riders!" Barbatos ordered.
"Don't tell me what to do, Phantom!" Heka retorted as she poured more mana into the spell.
"We're almost there, just a bit more," said Light Witch.
The Dark Casket cube kept shrinking until it was a cube shaped pillar. The cube kept condensing more and more, but something was wrong. It would not shrink anymore, and what was worse, they could feel something pushing against it. The cube kept expanding and contracting, as if something was actively fighting against it from the inside.
"What's going on?! Finish the spell!" The Golden Guard shouted.
"What's it look like we are trying to do, boy?!" Set snapped.
"It has to be Nuckelavee, he must be fighting it from the inside somehow!" Plant Witch suggested.
That's not possible! The flow of time inside of the Dark Casket should be ten times slower than it is out here! Even if he was fighting back, by the time it even showed to be making a difference, we should've already completed the spell! It has to be something else, maybe the formula for the circle is messed up, no, I triple checked it myself, and even Uncle checked it before we did it! The Golden Guard thought.
His fears, and that the others assembled, were starting to come true as the cube showed cracks forming along its surface. The cracks continued to spread out, spider webbing across the entirety of it. In the end, the cube could not take it anymore and the entire structure shattered like fragile glass, collapsing around them, and scattering into glittering particles. And at the center of what was the Dark Casket, was Nuckelavee. His arms were stretched outwards as if he had been pushing against the cube from the inside.
"You nearly had me there…"
The Golden Guard shook his head. "I don't understand…h-how did you manage to–?!"
"The Phantom, Kali."
"Oh crap…" Ifrit uttered.
"What?!" Fire Witch asked.
"Kali is a Phantom that's right on up there with Typhon! She not only has pure destructive power, but also…a bit of time manipulation," Ahuizotl explained.
"It was a recent acquisition, I sensed a strong Inner Phantom in some random demon, so I just helped myself. I almost forgot I had those powers…But I guess it's not unexpected, when you've devoured as many Phantoms as I have, you tend to forget some of the abilities you acquired from them. But your efforts were valiant, although inevitably wasted…"
"You talk a lot more than you used," said Barbatos as he readied his cudgel and long sword.
Nuckelavee glanced in his direction. "I guess you can say, I'm feeling more like myself. Getting used to this new form was a jarring experience, but the more Phantoms I devoured, the more I found myself able to get stronger and think clearly. But one thing never left my mind, my need for vengeance."
The Coven Scouts regrouped around the Golden Guard, while the Phantoms regrouped around the Witches and Heka. Both groups managed to meet up, all of whom were on edge now that their original plan had failed.
"So, what the hell was plan B?" Ifrit asked.
Light Witch narrowed her gaze as she said, "Same as the original. Defeat Nuckelavee! Heka and I may not be able to beat him alone, and you Phantoms or Coven Scouts can't either, but together, I know we can!"
Heka and Light Witch broke off and attacked, along with Barbatos following right behind them. Set and Plant Witch began flanking from the right, while Ifrit and Fire Witch flanked from the left, Ice Witch and Ahuizotl attacked from the opposite side, using their own speed to their advantage.
"Sir…what do we do?" A Scout asked.
"We'll only get in the way if we engage directly…therefore we'll provide support! Use your magic to aid the Phantoms and Riders, disorient him, divide his attention, do whatever you can to give them the edge in this battle!" The Golden Guard ordered.
"SIR, YES SIR!"
What occurred next was a furious battle with three factions working together to defeat a common enemy. Ifrit ignited his fists and punched the air furiously in front of him, launching several fireballs in Nuckelavee's direction. Fire Witch flared her wings and unleashed her own barrage of fiery feathers, flooding the air above the Cannibal Phantom with flames. Nuckelavee made no attempt to dodge them as he let the fireballs and flame feathers hit him. Several explosions erupted on and around him, but Ifrit and Fire Witch didn't let up in their barrage.
Nuckelavee used the wind to create a barrier around himself, pushing the rest of the fireballs and feathers back as they exploded against it. However, the ground beneath him started to rumble violently, and within seconds, the very earth itself came alive under his hooves. Nuckelavee, growled and hurriedly jumped away from the living rock and granite, but when he did, Nuckelavee was ambushed by several golden flame armored Abominations. The Cannibal Phantom immediately grew his serpent heads from his back, and his canine heads from his shoulders. Both bestial heads unleashed their attacks of dark energy orbs and hellfire, causing multiple explosions around him.
Twin light beams shined from the smoke and hit him in the back, exploding on impact and sending the Phantom flying forward. Set was on an intercept course as he unleashed a chaotic red and black lightning tornado at Nuckelavee, setting off even more explosions around him. Nuckelavee dispersed the tornado around him with his acquired energy burst, exploding it from his body and destroying the tornado around him. Just then, several thorned vines sprang out from the ground, Nuckelavee shot his eye beams at them, only for the beams to pass through them. His confusion was apparent even more when they hit him and threw him back against the ground. Even more vines came out and tried to ensnare him, but it was difficult as there were some that weren't there, and others that weren't.
It was unknown to him, as he did not consider them a threat, but the Coven Scouts were using their magic to create illusions of the vines and added their own vines to the mix. Plant Witch was doing the same, which made it hard for Nuckelavee to determine which was the stronger of the vines to fight against.
Ahuizotl and Ice Witch appeared. The Phantom used his mastery of water to create a huge torrent of water that splashed down upon the monster, and Ice Witch used her Owl Tail to instantly freeze it all within seconds, pinning the monster in place. The ice, unfortunately began to crack as Nuckelavee's upper half broke free, roaring with anger at having been overwhelmed like that.
"You took my arm, so I'll take yours!"
Barbatos appeared swiftly behind the monster and used his long sword slice off both of Nuckelavee's arms. and with his cudgel slammed it atop the monster's head, cracking his exoskeletal armor and shattering his horns.
"Together!" Barbatos roared.
[FINAL TIME: ALL OWL, PLEASE.]
Ice, Plant, and Fire Witch transformed into constructs of La Lechuza as they flew through the air and merged with Light Witch, transforming her into All Owl Style. Along with Heka and Barbatos, the three took up a triangle position, with Barbatos abandoning his cudgel and wielding his long sword with both hands. Witch energized the Owl Talons, and Heka turned the ring in the MaguScepter three times.
} ROYAL SLASH! {
The wing blades on the MaguScepter shined with golden light as Barbatos' sword shined with black and white energy. The three dashed at the same time, and in a flash, all three ended up on opposite ends from where they had started. After a delayed reaction, Nuckelavee was split into three parts, with his head flying off. But at the last second, the creature chuckled. Strands of darkness lashed out reconnected the severed parts back together.
"You've got to be kidding me…" Heka groaned.
"HIT HIM AGAIN!" Barbatos yelled.
The Coven Scouts fired magic bolts, Witch shot the twin eye beams at full power, Heka discharged a fireball infused Roaring Blast, Set unleashed another chaos stream, Ifrit shot a huge flaming fist, Ahuizotl sent out a wheel of slicing water, and Barbatos slashed the air and launched a black and white energy crescent. All these attacks were about to converge on Nuckelavee, but the Cannibal Phantom smirked as he unleashed another of his terrible roars. His entire body began to glow, and within seconds, an explosion of violet energy erupted around him. The explosion caused by it detonated all the attacks that were heading towards him, throwing everyone back and away from the epicenter of the explosion.
Witch and Heka managed to get back to their feet but noticed that the Phantoms were struggling to stand up, and the Scouts were on their backs, either knocked out or in too much pain to even try to get up. The two heroes looked back at Nuckelavee, who had regenerated his limbs and continued his jerky movements as he chuckled sinisterly and mockingly at them.
"All this for me. A bunch of weak witches, Phantoms who are looking like good meals, and lastly, two Riders. Even with you, you're all still going to lose and be consumed by fear!" Nuckelavee stated.
The Golden Guard, who had managed to summon a shield to protect himself, rose to his feet as he stared down the monster. "Okay, so, you're saying that not even with two Riders we can't win…" The Emperor's righthand man dismissed his staff and began taking off his gloves, revealing fingerless gloves instead. "How about three?"
Hunter reached into the pocket of his shirt and pulled out two rings, one of which had a green diamond pattern on it, which he slipped over his right middle finger, and the other had a crystal at the center of it that had the image of wings and a sword blade sticking up between them that he put on his left middle finger. Hunter hovered his right hand over his waist, and immediately a green light flashed.
[Driver Appear, Now.]
From that light, a Driver manifested around Hunter's waist. Its design was simplistic, a silver buckle with a green gemstone at the center of the device. Needless to say, Witch, Heka, and the Phantoms were in disbelief.
"No way…" Witch gasped.
"It's not possible," said Heka.
Nuckelavee just glared at the young witch boy, curious to see where this was going.
"What was it that you're supposed to say? Oh, right. Henshin!"
[Initiate.]
[I am]
[The sword of justice!]
[I am!]
[The warrior who paves the way!]
[I am!]
[Crusa-Crusa-CRUSADER~]
A green magic circle with yellow glowing runes written into it appeared below Hunter and rose up over him. Ten seconds later, Hunter, the Golden Guard, had transformed into a Kamen Rider. His armor was brown in color, with highlights of gold and white. Along the sides of his helmet were golden wing frills, a white mouth plate, a diamond shaped green crystal on his forehead, and two sharp green eyes. There was a wing shaped pin on the left side of the collarbone area and connected to it was a long white cloth that fluttered in the wind. The chest armor had two white plates for the upper half that had six wings painted on it, the lower half showed a six-pack made of white plates, with the middle two colored gold.
"Kamen Rider Crusader!"