A/N: Song suggestion, Saitama's Theme (One Punch Man) sad piano version.
You'll know when to play it.
Meanwhile, far from the battlefield, Hunter, or rather, the Titan, was preparing. He was fully aware of the battle that was taking place but paid it no heed as he stood atop the gigantic skull of his rotting corpse. The Titan chuckled, not bothering to turn around as he sensed a presence standing there.
"So, you have come."
"How and why."
The Titan turned around and saw Belos, or rather, Kamen Rider Inquisitor. The ancient being chuckled deep and forebodingly as he said, "This thing you made was created from an amalgamation of none living things. Possessing one of these parasites requires too much energy, but for something like this thing, it's quite easy. And the beauty of it is that he doesn't even know when I've possessed him. As for the why, mainly, to aggravate you. But because of this thing's station in your Coven, it made it easy to procure the hapless parasites I needed to create the first Phantoms. Some were criminals, others were just in the right place at the wrong time. They seem to show respect for this thing's held station. Using that and the Ghouls, it was easy enough."
"I see…so, that's how you did it." Inquisitor held his hands behind his back as he said, "I know you have dispatched an army to fight against Luz Noceda and her partner, Amity Blight. So, with that said, how did you breed an army that size in just under a day? If that many of my subjects were turned it would've been hard to not notice. But then again, all of them looked the same with the exception that there were some that were canines, birds, and humanoid. If you had that up your sleeve, why not do so earlier? You could've easily overwhelmed the Riders and my forces and had me dead to rights."
The Titan chuckled. "In hindsight, you should be glad I didn't. Otherwise Nuckelavee would've become immensely more powerful than he was."
Inquisitor shuddered. "Point made. But now, what is your goal? Surely you don't think that your army stands a chance against the combined might of those two. And if things get too out of hand, you know my power could wipe them out."
"It doesn't matter, the process has already begun, it's just a matter of time now."
Just then the entire island shook again, but this time it was stronger.
"What are you doing?!"
"I am going to take all the magical energy within my fallen body, and I will release it all at once."
Inquisitor's eyes widened behind his helmet as he heard the plan of the Titan. "YOU'RE MAD!"
The Titan cupped his chin and said, "Hmm, 'Mad Titan', has a nice ring to it."
"That much magical power being released at once; you'll obliterate your body and everything on it!" Inquisitor stated.
The Titan laughed loudly into the air and then glared at Inquisitor. "Isn't that what you wanted in the end? For all these parasites to die?! What does it matter how it's done? Oh, that's right, you're still stuck here, aren't you? I guess you have nowhere to run. Don't bother running either, once I release this blast, even the Boiling Seas will rumble, and cause a wave so big that any other corpses of my kind that lay about will be engulfed in the waters, and whatever parasites exist on them will be burned away. You'll get your wish, but in the end, you'll be all alone. Trapped in a world you despise with no way to leave. Such a fitting ending."
Inquisitor raised his right hand, brandishing the Omega Destruction ring. However, the Titan didn't seem to care.
"Go ahead, you'll only succeed in destroying this vessel. You can't touch my spirit. Actually, I'm done with this thing. You can have it back."
Upon saying that, the Titan forcefully separated himself from Hunter, throwing him forward before Inquisitor where he fell to the ground unconscious.
Inquisitor looked down at Hunter and growled in frustration as he switched out his rings.
[Alpha \A/ Creation, Now.]
The Dark Rider held out his right hand over Hunter and created a portal beneath the young witch boy. Hunter fell through it, now the boy would not be able to see him in his current form. Although, how much did that matter right now?
"Soon, it will all be over."
Multiple explosions went off around the battlefield as the canine Phantoms and humanoid Phantoms were destroyed one after the other, and some were thrown into the air, scattering about. Heka jumped into the air and brought down her ax, sending a surge of golden energy that cracked the earth and set off a chain explosion that wiped out a good swath of the Phantoms in front of her. Some tried to gang up on her, but Heka swiftly raised her Griffon Ax and swung it around in a wide arc, cutting down several of the creatures in one go.
Some of the aerial Phantoms were about to come and attack her, but they were stopped as two spiraling flame blasts roared over Heka's head, incinerating the aerial Phantoms and burning them to cinders. The rest backed away as Fire Witch flew through the skies, wielding her WizarSwordGun and equipped with the Owl Wings. With her weapon in hand, she fired several fire infused silver bullets that wound through the air and found their marks, shooting down several of the Phantoms. A few others were on her tail as they opened their mouths and fired dark green energy beams from their beaks, but Fire Witch was proving to be to just as adapt at aerial maneuvers.
Back on the ground, Plant Owl was using her Owl Talons to tear up the landscape, summoning huge vines that whipped back and forth, swatting the Phantoms with enough force to shatter bones. For the ones that did manage to get close to her, she fought back using the claws, smashing them into their torsos, or slashing them.
Ice Owl was practically gliding across the battlefield as she passed between the multiple canine and humanoid Phantoms that tried to attack her. Some of the canine Phantoms opened their mouths and unleashed dark orange energy blasts to hit her. However, Ice Witch was too fast and agile as she pirouetted and flipped in the air. When she landed, she released wave after wave of subzero ice, freezing the creatures in place, and when she passed by, Ice Witch used a combination of the two WizarSwordGuns and her Owl Tail to slice through the frozen enemies, taking them down easily.
Light Witch was dual wielding the WizarSwordGuns in gun mode as she fired several rounds in different directions and used the OwlHead's twin eye beams to mow down through one wave of the monsters after the other. Fiery explosions continued to erupt all over the place as the Riders continued to devastate the enemy, occasionally, Barbatos would jump in and attack either Heka or Witch, slashing with his long sword or trying to crack their skulls with his cudgel. He would engage with them for a couple of minutes but then fall back to allow his army to take his place. Eventually, all four Witches and Heka were forced in the middle, but despite the vast numbers they were eliminating, it seemed as if they barely made a dent in them.
"Well, I won't lie, it's kind of fun to be able to cut loose like this on so many enemies. Kinda like playing an Empire Warrior franchise game," said Light Witch.
"A what?" Heka asked.
"Human video game reference. Don't worry about it," Plant Witch remarked.
"Noted, and yeah, it is a little fun. But…"
"Something's not right about this?" Ice Witch asked.
"Yeah. Barbatos doesn't seem to attack us for more than a couple of minutes before disengaging and letting the army attack again. It seems less like he's trying to defeat us and more like he's trying to stall us," Heka observed.
"Stall us? Stall for what? You think he was lying about Tiamat and Set being dead and he's just buying time for them to get here?" Fire Witch pondered.
Heka slashed at another canine Phantom before she answered, "It could be they're doing something somewhere else and are trying to hold us here."
"Then I guess we need to kick it up a notch and end this quickly!"
Light Witch reset the Owl Timer and then scanned it.
[FINAL TIME: ALL OWL, PLEASE.]
The other three elemental Witches turned into light and merged with Light Witch, allowing the hero of hope to enter her All Owl Style. Heka dismissed her Griffon Ax and summoned the MaguScepter. Once in hand, she put on the Champion ring and inserted it into the weapon.
[Rise Champion!]
[ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!]
[THE HERO OF LOVE & ORDER!]
[HEKA~]
[HEKA~]
[CHAMPION~!]
[THE GODDESS ASCENDS!]
An eruption of golden flames engulfed Heka as the sounds of Bast's roar echoed around them. Once the flames died out, Heka had entered her Final Form, Heka Champion. The golden Rider looked up to where her Solar Chaser was and felt something. "Dad did say he added a few features. Solar Chaser!" Heka pointed her left hand at the vehicle.
The vehicle beeped and flew straight towards them, as it did, Heka's magic circle appeared ahead of it. The Solar Chaser passed right through the circle, and upon doing so, completely changed. It was no longer a hover bike, it was now a mech. The half circle rings were now hovering on its back like a halo that was broken down the middle. The main body was bulky, but still retained a sleek and angular design. The robot had two spike shaped fins on the sides of its head, and one long one from the top like a fin. It had a black visor, allowing its glowing yellow eyes to shine more promptly. At the center of the machine's body was the glowing orb that was previously under it, the orb released large strands of energy that were funneled through specific outlets on the main body, allowing the metal to form around them and create arms, legs, and a short neck for it.
The mech landed on the ground, skidding towards them as its arms morphed into gatling cannons. The machine's five fingers transformed into gun barrels, and once ready, the barrels spun and fired mana bolts in rapid succession. The canine and humanoid Phantoms that were in front of it were blasted away as they got hit, the mech easily carved a path through the army and right to its summoner. Some of the bird Phantoms were coming down to attack, but the diamond shaped spikes on the broken halo detached and fired themselves like missiles. The eight missiles hit their marks and unleashed four massive explosions that either destroyed the bird Phantoms or tossed them about due to the shockwave. Eventually, the mech finally made it to the two Riders and stood proudly before them.
Witch was speechless as she stared at the machine, doing all she could to keep her inner weeb from losing her mind.
"It's…It's like an Abomaton," said Heka.
"Oh, it's way better than that!" Witch exclaimed. "You got your own Rider Mech! Jealous! What are you going to call it?!"
"Oh…uh, well, it was the Solar Chaser. So, how about the Solar Sentinel?"
"Love it, don't change a thing about it!"
Barbatos growled at this latest development but managed to maintain his composure. "The addition of some machine won't make a difference!"
"Then how about another Rider?!"
Everyone looked up in the sky as Kamen Rider Crusader dropped down and landed. He had the Falcon Shield Wing on the left side of his back, but on his right was another weapon. It was silver colored like the other wing, but the feathers were bright yellow and crackling with electricity, this was the Eagle Lightning Wing.
"Golden Guard, nice of you to finally show up," said Heka with annoyance.
"Sorry, I don't know what happened. I just woke up in the castle. Honestly, I can't remember much after I left you two after Noceda beat Nuckelavee," Crusader admitted.
"The important thing is you're here now!"
Another quake took place, the third quake today and it was more violent than the last. Heka had to stab her MaguScepter into the dirt to keep herself steady, while Solar Sentinel, Witch, and Crusader merely hovered in the air to prevent themselves from getting thrown off balance.
"These quakes aren't natural. Something's wrong," said Crusader.
The island is shaking. There's an army of Phantoms before us that attacks us in endless waves, and Barbatos barely goes for the kill. I think Amity was right, they are stalling!
"It's starting to seem that way. But what could they be doing that's causing the entire island to shake like this?" La Lechuza pondered.
Witch couldn't figure it out, but they needed to or else everyone on the Boiling Isles was going to suffer something terrible. Just then, another pillar of light shined in the distance, this time it was crimson red, and it came from atop the Titan's skull. Barbatos looked in that direction, and he unfortunately looked surprised.
"That's it! Whatever you're doing it's happening at the Titan's head!" Witch stated.
"What about the army?!" Heka asked.
"While I was flying here, I noticed thralls of these things coming from one direction." Crusader pointed eastward. "Somewhere that way!"
"Okay, Hunter, Amity, go there and see if you can stop this army at the source. And I'll go and check out what's going over there," said Witch.
Before Crusader or Heka could agree, Witch had already taken off in that direction.
"She's quite impulsive," Crusader commented.
Heka smiled under her helmet. "Only when it concerns the safety of those she's cares about. I'm not thrilled with working with you. But for the sake of everyone on the Boiling Isles, I'm putting that aside."
Barbatos growled as he looked between the two Riders before him, and to where Witch flew off. Right now, he deemed Witch the bigger threat. Something was not right about that flash of light at the Titan's head, and it needed investigating. The fact that Belos' lackey was here now when he was originally possessed by his master was another thing to be concerned about. Without a word, Barbatos took off with near lightning speed, following Witch.
"Let's go!" Heka ordered. "Solar Sentinel shift, now!"
The mech obeyed as Heka's magic circle passed over it and returned the Sentinel to its original Solar Chaser mode. The Phantoms that surrounded them lunged for them, but Crusader jumped and spun around as he let loose dozens upon dozens of lightning imbued feathers. The feathers flew like daggers all over the place, piercing through several of the Phantoms. Heka raised her MaguScepter and called forth an Abomination wave the crashed upon them like a tsunami, pushing the rest away and getting them stuck in the goo. After creating their window of escape, Heka mounted the Solar Chaser and rose into the air as Crusader flew in the direction he spoke of earlier, with the golden Rider flying right behind.
The Titan looked at Inquisitor and asked, "Just how petty are you?"
"Very," said Inquisitor.
"What can you possibly do now? There is no stopping this."
Inquisitor switched out his rings and said cheerfully, "Oh, Titan, I'm not going to anything. That girl on the other hand, she's a different story. For now, I think I'll look into those mass-produced Phantoms of yours."
"You'd be better off trying to flee as far as you can. Not that it'll matter, but it will still be fun to see you try."
[Alpha \A/ Creation, Now.]
Inquisitor opened a portal to his right and walked towards it. But before he left, Inquisitor gave one last remark. "As annoying as it is to admit, that girl as a knack for making the impossible possible. So, I guess you can say I'm counting her pulling off a miracle. And as you said, there's no running, so I might as well prepare for the inevitability that she could defeat you."
With those words spoken, the Titan watched as Inquisitor disappeared into his portal. However, his attention was pulled when he sensed Witch's approach. The Titan narrowed his gaze as he saw the hero of hope, Kamen Rider Witch, fly up to meet him.
When Witch arrived, she looked around to see what caused the pillar of crimson light but saw only the shadowy figure with horns. But as she looked upon him, she felt something was wrong. It didn't look like a demon or a witch, nor did look like a Phantom. It just looked like a dark spirit just standing there, the same one from the broadcast.
"Was it you who sent up that light?" Witch asked.
The Titan narrowed his gaze at her. "…"
"Can you hear me?! Who are you?!"
"You stand before the spirit of the being you walk and live upon. I am the Titan."
Witch's eyes widened behind her helmet. She couldn't have heard that right, this dark spirit before her, that was the Titan, the Titan. The giant corpse that birthed every demon and witch on the island. The very being from which the denizens of this world drew their magic from. THAT TITAN.
"I…I don't understand…you really are alive…but…what are you doing here?"
"I am here to witness the end of the parasites that wriggle around across my body, and to that end, I have employed the Phantoms to do my bidding," the Titan answered.
"AND YOU WERE THE ONE WHO SUMMONED THE PHANTOMS?!"
"Well, that certainly explains why Phantoms as strong as Tiamat, Set, and Typhon followed someone else's orders. A godlike being like this would make even them bow in servitude," said La Lechuza.
Witch was still having a hard time trying to understand this. The Titan summoned the Phantoms to get rid of the people of the Boiling Isles? This whole time Witch thought it was some deranged demon or witch that went nihilistic and wanted to end everything, or that maybe another Phantom similar to Nuckelavee managed to summon them. But the last one she suspected was the creator of life for the witches and demons.
"I don't understand! Why are you doing this?!" Witch asked.
The Titan briefly glanced below and then back up to Witch. "For one, I hate these creatures the fester upon my corpse, who use my body and my power to further their own needs. But mostly, I HATE that so called 'emperor'. So, now, I will wipe the slate clean. I will detonate all the built-up magical power within my body, and in so doing, eradicate all living things. The explosion well also cause a tidal wave that will rage in all directions, and any other small alcoves where these parasites reside will be washed away in the Boiling Sea."
It made sense now, the quakes that were occurring, the reason why Barbatos and the Phantom army were fighting them, but barely trying to kill them. It was a stall tactic just like Heka had surmised. The real goal was to run out the clock on the ticking time bomb that was the entire island itself.
"You have to stop! I know you don't want to do this!"
"I should've eliminated you a long time ago. But I guess better late than never. Barbatos!"
"Behind you!"
The white beast Phantom raised his sword and cudgel, but Witch bolted into the air at the last second, dodging the attack as she flew some feet away from the two and hovered over the skull.
"My apologies, my Master. I was not able to keep their attention," said Barbatos.
"It doesn't matter, in ten minutes this entire island will be destroyed. But I do wish to finally kill this nuisance myself first. Apologies in advance, but you will not survive this."
"What?"
Before Barbatos could do a thing, the Titan's spirit merged into his body. The Phantom roared painfully as its body began to morph from the merger of the ancient Titan's spirit and his Phantom power. Witch watched as Barbatos' fur turned a dark violet color, and his construct left arm raged and flared with greater power. Two tan colored horns broke free from the top of the monster's head and curved upwards. Curved spikes protruded from his right forearm, and the claws on that same arm became jagged. Barbatos' maw now had two fangs that stuck out from his lower jaw and two more from his upper. Barbatos' eyes glowed bright red as he roared loudly and fiercely, his transformation complete.
"Although this body may not last long, it will last long enough to end you," the Titan proclaimed.
"Luz, we can't hold back here."
I know…
Witch dropped out of the sky and landed on the skull, dismissing her All Owl Style as she detached the pink ring from her chain link and slipped it over her left middle finger.
[Shabadoobi touch to henshin!
Shabadoobi touch to henshin!]
[LIGHT!]
[ICE!]
[PLANT!]
[FIRE!]
[ELEMENTS OF THIS WORLD NOW UNITE~!]
[BRING US HOPE!]
[LIGHT OF WONDER SHINE ON~!]
[PLEASE.]
La Lechuza appeared in the form of a pink construct as the four elemental glyph symbols appeared around Witch. The Titan raised an eyebrow when he noticed the symbols, but then the symbols united as La Lechuza wrapped Witch in her wings. A bright flash of pink light erupted around Witch, and when it faded, the hero of hope had entered her Final Form, Wonder Style.
"I won't let you do this, Titan. You can't just kill everyone!" Witch declared.
"Do you think you can match a god?" the Titan questioned as he pointed his sword at her.
Witch switched Tizona around, holding it in its sword mode as the shaft of the staff energized and hummed. "I don't think so. I believe I can!" Witch's aura flared as the power of her belief energized her.
The Titan roared and charged straight for her, at the same time, Witch dashed to meet him. The hero and god met in the center as their weapons clashed and sent out a shockwave of power the shook the very air around them.
Crusader and Heka blasted their way through several of the mass-produced Phantoms. Following their trail to a large cave. The two Riders flew down the long tunnel and exited into a huge cavern. That's when they laid eyes upon the Phantom, Echidna, and her vast amount of eggs. Some of the eggs hatched and from them came out small versions of the Phantoms they fought outside. But within a few seconds they were already starting to grow.
"That's what's been making these Phantoms?" Crusader questioned.
"Ah-ha! Now it makes sense! It's Echidna! I knew something was off about these Phantoms! She has the power to birth pseudo-Phantoms in mass quantities, essentially, she can create an army of offspring almost endlessly."
So, if we destroy Echidna, then we destroy the pseudo-Phantoms?
"Exactly. Like a hive of bees or a colony of ants. Kill the queen and the rest fall. But don't slack off, she's strong either way."
Understood!
"Crusader! We need to take out the big Phantom! If she falls, the rest of these creatures will die off as well!" Heka informed.
"Simple enough."
"NOT AS SIMPLE AS YOU THINK!"
Crusader turned around and watched as Goblin raised his Warhammer and brought it down. The weapon wielding Rider quickly activated his Falcon Shield Wing, creating a barrier around himself just as the hammer was brought down. The blow from Goblin's weapon sent Crusader flying across the cave where he impacted against the cave wall several feet away. Goblin, contrary to his lumbering size, was quite fast as he dashed straight for Crusader.
The avian themed Rider managed to dislodge himself from the wall and fired several lightning feathers at Goblin. But the stout Phantom batted them away with his Warhammer, but when he did, the weapon seemed to glow brighter and brighter. Goblin stopped and then smashed the hammer against the ground, sending a surge of energy that cracked the earth as it snaked its way towards its target.
Crusader formed his shield again just as the surge struck and erupted from below in the form of an orange-red pillar of energy. The shield was showing signs of strain as multiple cracks started to appear. Seeing that, Crusader quickly moved out of the pillar and went on the offensive.
[Crow Scythe, Now.]
The black and purple crow appeared next to Crusader and materialized into the Crow Scythe. Once in hand, Crusader flew at full speed and slashed with his weapon, only for Goblin to intercept as the ringing of their weapons echoed inside the cave.
Meanwhile, Heka was trying to get close to Echidna, but her swarm of pseudo-Phantoms were making it difficult as they fired their beam attacks at her. Solar Sentinel was aiding her by launching its missiles and firing its gatling magic bolt cannons. But Echidna wasn't just watching, she was attacking as well. The snake woman summoned huge spheres of dark energy and had them fire strafing beams at Heka and her mech partner. Thankfully Solar Sentinel was agile and could fight on its own without direct orders from Heka, which freed her up to attack Echidna directly.
Heka saw an opening and dashed straight the huge Phantom, ready to slash her across the chest. But at the last second, one of her offspring came in and took the blow meant for her. Its body exploded and pushed Heka back, allowing Echidna to fire her attack again. The golden Rider used her incredible speed to dodge the beam attacks, and in retaliation, Heka summoned several gold and purple fireballs and launched them. The flying pseudo-Phantoms engaged the fireballs, either by blasting them with their energy rays or using themselves as living shields to protect their "mother".
"Struggle all you want, Riders! No matter what you do here, the end result will be your failure!" Echidna stated.
"You Phantoms should have figured it out by now! Riders never give up! So long as there's hope! And I believe in the one who embodies that hope!"
The air around the Titan's head continued to vibrate with resounding force as Titan Barbatos and Witch dueled. Their battle was moving at speeds that no normal witch or demon could follow. If anyone was watching, they'd barely make out a ghostly image of where the combatants were as opposed to where they were now. Titan Barbatos slashed with his long sword, but Witch blocked it with Tizona. But Titan Barbatos twirled his cudgel around and readied to bring it down on her.
"Abomination, Please!"
As soon as the cudgel dropped, a third arm made of Abomination goo formed from Witch's back and created its own cudgel to block the attack before it hit. But the cudgel attack was just a feint as Titan Barbatos' blade tail extended and struck Witch in the chest, sending sparks flying from her armor. The bestial Phantom pressed his attack as he slashed her across the chest, causing more sparks to litter the air. Titan Barbatos spun in the air to build up momentum as he smashed the cudgel into Witch's left side, making the young Rider grunt in pain as she was sent flying to the forest below.
Titan Barbatos opened his mouth and gathered violet magical energy to it. Condensed it, and then fired it in a straight beam of light that strafed across the ground, setting off multiple explosions as the beam drew closer to Witch's position. When the beam hit, a massive explosion ignited, setting that section of the forest ablaze with violet flames. However, Titan Barbatos didn't waver as his red eyes glared at the spot where his attack hit.
Within seconds, the flames were dispersed and revealed Witch with a barrier around herself. "Construction, Please!" Witch stamped on the ground with her right foot, causing ten huge chunks of rock to break off from the ground and float into the air.
"Potion, Please! Connect, Please!"
Ten magic circles passed over the ten chunks of rock, and with a wave of her staff, Witch launched them at him. Titan Barbatos energized his sword and slashed the first chunk of rock right down the middle. As the two halves passed by him, Titan Barbatos noticed something embedded in them, several somethings. Titan Barbatos noticed too late as all the embedded objects, which were potion flasks, denotated at once and created a huge explosion around him. The bestial Phantom managed to rise out of the flames, but that put him in range for the big one. Titan Barbatos opened his mouth again and fired his energy beam. The beam soared into the air and struck the huge boulder and exploded it before it could reach him.
"NICE! BUT WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT THE SECOND ONE?"
Titan Barbatos looked up and watched as the remaining boulders merged into one huge boulder that looked like a meteor from space. The boulder's sheer mass displaced enough air to part the flames as Titan Barbatos' eyes widened with a bit of shock. The huge meteor boulder crashed onto him and dragged the merged Phantom all the way down to the ground below, impacting hard against the earth. The moment it did hit, the potions inside it detonated in a cascading chain reaction of destruction as the entire boulder exploded.
"DEFEND, PLEASE!"
Witch summoned her barrier again, but this time formed it into a cone, wrapping it around the impact site of the boulder, forcing the flames and destructive shockwave to shoot into the air and away from the rest of area. It took a minute before the entire explosion and flames managed to die down, and with that, Witch released the barrier to see what was left. The smoldering crater released a lot of smoke, and visibility was zero. However, the smoke was blown away as Titan Barbatos dashed from the crater and slashed through Witch, the merged Phantom grinned in satisfaction, but that grin faded just as quickly as the image of Witch before him did.
Chains made of pink sparkling energy broke through the ground and began wrapping themselves around Titan Barbatos' arms, legs, torso, and neck. The chains multiplied and continued to coil around his limbs until they managed to bring Titan Barbatos to his knees. It was then that Witch appeared out of nowhere, standing a few feet away from where he had cut down the illusion of her.
"Please, you have to stop this!"
"GRRR! Are you pleading for the lives of these wretched parasites?! Do you think you can persuade me?!" The quakes started up again, but this time they were even more violent than last time, indicating how close the time of detonation was approaching.
"I do. Because I know you don't really feel that way," said Witch.
Titan Barbatos glared up at Witch as he retorted, "What in the infernal pit makes you think I care about ANY of these creatures?!"
Witch walked up to the merged Phantom, got down on one knee, and showed Titan Barbatos Tizona. The four orbs that were embedded in the upper portion of the staff all glowed and displayed their associated glyph symbol. "Because if you did, you wouldn't have showed me the glyphs."
Titan Barbatos stopped his struggling.
"My mentor, Eda, taught me that magic is a gift from the island. And when I truly listened to the island, I saw the glyphs. In the sky, in the snow, in the plants, and in the flames. I treasure magic, and what it can do, and the people, the very ones that were born from you, revere and respect the life and magic you gave them. They revere you like a god!" Witch explained.
Titan Barbatos growled and retorted, "You're wrong! Why would I show you these things! I just want you all gone!"
Witch stabbed Tizona into the ground next to her and reached out with both of her hands. Titan Barbatos looked about ready to bite off those hands, but in a stunning move, she placed them on either side of his face. The moment she made contact with him, something changed. He could sense something, sadness, compassion, kindness. It…It was coming from her.
"It must've been lonely. To be around, but not seen. To want to speak but never heard. You, the one who gave life to the demons and witches of this island."
Titan Barbatos' grunts and huffing slowly became less and less furious. For some reason, he felt compelled to answer her. "Belos…he says he speaks for me…HE DOES NOT SPEAK FOR ME! I…I…"
Witch's body began to shine with a sparkling pink aura as a construct of La Lechuza appeared around them, shielding them with her wings. "I know you're not evil. Because something that could give life to so many beautiful and wonderous things can't be evil. No, deep down, I think you wanted someone to help you. So, you reached out, hoping that someone would listen to you. I heard you, and I'm here to be your hope, great Titan."
Was it true? He wanted to get rid of the parasites – of the creatures – who lived and existed on him. But was it really because he hated them? No, that wasn't his true goal. Was it? Images began flashing through the Titan's mind, witnessing the birth of the first demon and witch, the rise of the civilization, how they made use of his body long after his demise. The people did revere him, they did respect him, and they gave thanks to what he provided them. But then it all changed when he appeared, the oppressor, the pretender. He began twisting the magic, twisting his will into what he needed to justify his goals. It was then that the Titan remembered something, something far back that had been buried under centuries of wandering as a spirit, who and what he was.
"Luz Noceda…"
Witch gasped as she heard Titan Barbatos utter her name.
"Release me from this world. Send my spirit to the beyond. It is the only way to stop the reaction."
"Wait, but if I do that, won't that…won't that destroy you?!" Witch asked.
"You will only destroy this vessel. But your magic will bring me send me to the place I should've gone so many millennia ago. It is not destruction, but peace that you are giving me. Please, do it quickly before my sense of reason leaves me…"
Witch was crying under her helmet, there was so much she wanted to ask the Titan. But if she didn't do it now, the entire island and everyone in the Demon Realm was going to die. Witch took a calming breath and nodded her head as she picked up Tizona with her right hand. The construct of La Lechuza faded away as Witch jumped backwards. Once far enough away, Witch made a circle over the glyph orbs in a clockwise motion four times. When she did, the four orbs glowed bright with their respective colors.
}} WONDER GLYPH SHINING BLAST! {{
All four glyph symbols appeared before Witch in a diamond formation. There was a moment of hesitancy, but Titan Barbatos nodded to Witch, telling her it was okay. With a loud battle cry, Witch thrust Tizona towards the middle of the formation, making the four glyphs merge into one as they fired a beam of sparkling pink and white light that roared towards Titan Barbatos. He did not roar or cry out, the Titan merely closed his eyes and let the magic wash over him. It didn't hurt, and it was warm.
"Luz Noceda…be weary of Belos…and…tell my son…"
Before the last word could get out, Titan Barbatos' body was broken down into particles of light, and the spirit of the great Titan was released from this mortal plain of existence and sent to the beyond where he should've gone. Witch cancelled her attack and sighed heavily as she saw that there was nothing left of the Titan, not a Phantom body, nor his spirit. With his departure, the quakes settled.
The hero of hope lowered her head and whispered, "Que descanse en paz. (Rest in peace.)"
WITCH
Heka was squaring off with Echidna, and Crusader with Goblin. Both had been fighting for a good two minutes, but the fighting was fierce with neither side giving an inch. Things got hectic with the quakes grew more violent. Heka and Crusader couldn't help but notice that their Phantom opponents seemed to be excited about the increased activity.
"What is going on?! What are you Phantoms up to?!" Crusader asked, angrily.
Echidna looked to Goblin who smirked up at her. The snake woman Phantom looked back at the Riders and replied. "Guess there's no real harm in telling you, since we're all going to be vaporized within a minute."
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!" Heka exclaimed.
"Heh-heh! Surprise, Riders! You've been fighting a losing battle! We had no real plans on surviving this encounter! The Master just ordered us to distract and stall you for as long as we were able. And once he's amassed enough energy, he's going to blow this entire island away, nothing will survive it." Goblin explained.
Crusader shook his head as he said, "You're insane! That means you'll die too!"
Echidna chuckled as she replied, "We were summoned to follow our Master's will. Our one goal was to rid this world of the mortals, which was the explicit reason for our existence. You've left our Master with little choice but to employ this last gambit. And now, we'll perish together!"
The shaking got stronger and stronger, making Crusader and Heka worry that the end was about to come. But then, silence. The quakes stopped. Goblin, Crusader, Echidna, and Heka all looked around in confusion for a second, but then the two Phantoms looked at each other.
"It can't be…"
"You don't think the Master…?"
Heka smirked under her helmet. "Heh, that's my Luz, making the impossible possible!"
"I gotta hand it to that human, she's full of surprises," Crusader commented.
Now that their biggest worry had been taken care of, it was time to finally put an end to the Phantom menace once and for all. Crusader took another of his weapon rings and placed it on his right.
[Raven Talons, Now.]
A violet and black bird appeared and flew around him before it separated into two spheres of black and violet light that shot towards his legs. As soon as they hit, the light materialized into two silver boots, both of which had a violet-colored streak down the middle. And at the tip of each foot had a two-foot-long violet blade that gleamed in dim lighting of the cave. But Crusader wasn't done yet.
[Hornbill Drill, Now.]
[Crow Scythe, Now.]
The avian Rider had the Hornbill Drill appear on his left arm, while the Crow Scythe appeared in his left, but a shorter version of the one he used before. Now fully armed in all of his weapons, Crusader sped straight for Goblin. The stout Phantom was caught off guard by the sudden attack as Crusader slashed upwards with his right leg, sending sparks flying off the Phantom's body. Goblin grunted and snarled as he struck with his Warhammer, but Crusader swiftly dodged it and appeared behind the Phantom.
"He's faster than before?!"
Crusader slashed upwards with the Crow Scythe and made Goblin stumble forward as his back writhed with pain. The Warhammer in his hands glowed bright orange, and then he brought it down again, sending another surge of energy into the ground that erupted into multiple pillars of orange light. The Falcon Shield Wing created a spherical barrier around Crusader as he flew through the pillars of light and came to a stop just a couple of feet from Goblin before striking him in the gut with the Hornbill Drill. The drill whirred to life and released a burst of magical energy that sent the overweight Phantom to the other end of the cave.
While this was going on, Heka and Solar Sentinel were busy destroying the pseudo-Phantoms. Solar Sentinel analyzed the Phantom and realized where the eggs were coming from. Once it had, the mech flew into the air and got right over Echidna's tail. Solar Sentinel was hovering over the tail's position as it shot off eight missiles from its back and unleashed a barrage from its gatling cannon arms on that spot. All the missiles and magic bolts converged and created a huge explosion that completely destroyed Echidna's egg laying tail. The snake woman Phantom screamed in pain as she began to flail about, accidentally knocking around some of her own creations in the process. Heka summoned her own mini army of flame armored Abominations to her, and together the swiftly cut down the remainder of the pseudo-Phantoms inside the cave.
Heka looked up at Echidna as she switched out her rings and proclaimed, "Time for your curtain call!"
[ LET'S GO, KICK STRIKE! ]
Crusader saw that Heka was about to deliver her final blow, so he decided it was time to unleash his. The Crow Scythe broke down into particles of light for a moment as Crusader switched out his ring for another. Once on he scanned the ring and reformed the scythe.
[ ENDING STRIKE, RIGHT NOW! ]
All of Crusader's weapons began glowing, and within moments his entire body was wrapped in an aurora aura. Goblin charged up his Warhammer again in one last desperate attempt to kill at least one Rider. Crusader charged towards Goblin, but halfway to him, Crusader's body was enveloped in that aura, and soon transformed into a bird of aurora light with green glowing eyes. The aurora bird screeched proudly as it flapped its wings and drew closer to Goblin as the Phantom raised his hammer and swung.
The aurora bird increased its speed until it became a beam of aurora light that pierced right through Goblin. The aurora bird reformed on the other side before rematerializing into Crusader. The avian Rider turned around and saw a hole burned right through Goblin, the stout Phantom made only a small grunting noise before falling over and exploding.
Heka channeled her magical energy and jumped straight into the air, going as high as she could without hitting the ceiling. The golden Rider descended from on high as golden magical energy formed a construct of Bast's head around Heka, her jaws wide open and ready to bite down. Echidna converged the spheres she was using to attack with and unleashed another dark energy blast at Heka, but the searing flames and magic of Heka was burning right through the beam as the golden Rider struck Echidna in the chest with great force. The golden construct Bast head roared as it widened its maw and bit down over the top half of Echidna as an explosion took place.
Heka reappeared on the ground behind Echidna as the Phantom's body formed golden cracks all up and down her body until it ignited into golden flames and dispersed into particles. The pseudo-Phantom army outside screeched in pain as they felt their creator's demise. One after the other the pseudo-Phantoms all began to break down into dust right where they stood, or in some of their cases, flew. However, before all of them could be destroyed, thee of each time were wrapped in a sphere of crimson magical energy. A portal opened up and inside was Inquisitor.
"These'll do nicely."
Inquisitor waved his hand, and the nine spheres flew into the portal and disappeared.
"CHEEEEEERS!" Everyone exclaimed happily.
Everyone had gathered at the Owl House in celebration for the end of the Phantoms. Eda had supplied the group with some Apple Blood Lite, while she kept the hard stuff for herself. There were copious amounts of sweet treats for the two young Riders, mostly to help them recover their energy from the arduous battle they had fought not long ago.
"I can't believe it, we finally won," said Amity.
Edric and Emira chuckled as they mussed their little sister's hair up playfully, "We knew you could do it, Mittens!"
Amity playfully swatted her brother and sister's hands off her head, but smiled, nonetheless. "Luz, how did you do it?"
"Yeah! You saved the island from blowing up! I want to write about it! I mean, I can only write about in the form a fanfiction, but hey, all the same. And you still owe me the story of how you got your Final Form! I haven't even gotten to see it yet, ugh, I need pictures," said Gus.
Amity glanced at Gus with a deadpan expression and said, "You know we were literally fighting for our lives during that time. Right?"
"Yeah, yeah, now spill!" Gus insisted.
Luz rubbed the back of her head. She was debating on how to tell everyone here that the very being that was their literal god wanted to kill them all but had lost sight of his himself and ended up becoming bitter and angry. Belos was the ultimate cause of all this, but again, she didn't think that telling them how close they came to the Titan himself killing them would be good for their worldview.
"Well, apparently the Phantom's Master was there, and found a way to gather enough magical energy to set off a chain reaction that would've blown up the island. But thankfully, my Wonder Style powers were able to counter him and, you know, I Rider Kicked him into oblivion," Luz half lied.
"Did you ever get to see what they looked like?" Willow asked.
Luz shook her head. "No, it was a mass of darkness. Even after I destroyed it, its form was still not clear."
"Well, the important thing is we no longer have to deal with anymore Phantoms!" Eda declared. Now we just gotta worry about whatever it is Belos is planning. I'm sure Luz knows it, too.
King shoved a few cupcakes into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and asked, "So, does this mean you guys aren't going to be Kamen Riders anymore? I mean, you were using your powers to fight the Phantoms, but now they're all gone. Any witches or demons who are Gates don't have to worry about being turned into Phantoms either."
King did have a point, one that everyone acknowledged. The main reason that Luz became a Rider was to protect the people she cared about, but she wasn't ready to give up the belt or rings, and that's because she still knew there was a threat. Belos was planning something, and since the Golden Guard was Kamen Rider Crusader, she doubted that he would be used for good things. Plus, the only reason why Belos never came after Witch or Heka was, as he had told her, they served a purpose. Now that that purpose had been fulfilled, how long would it be before the Emperor of the Boiling Isles set his sights on her? On Amity? On Eda?
"I don't think I'll be hanging up my Driver just yet. You never know when Witch will be needed again. But, Amity, you're free to do it," said Luz.
"What?"
"I know you became a Rider to protect me, and then you took on the Rider mantle and became a hero in your own right. But you don't have to keep fighting anymore."
Amity got up from her spot on the couch and walked over to Luz. She then sat next to her girlfriend and pressed her left shoulder against Luz's right. "Oh? Is that right? Or are you just trying to hog all the hero glory for yourself?"
"N-N-No! That's totally not what I meant by that! I was just–!"
Amity reached out with her left hand and draped it over Luz's shoulders, bringing her into a little hug. "I know what you meant. But honestly, I'm going to keep my Driver and rings. There may not be any more Phantoms, but I still like to have that power whenever I need it to protect you or my family. Plus, I'm sure Bast would feel slighted if I just gave it up after we finally came to an understanding."
"You got that right," Bast remarked.
"Sassy as ever," said La Lechuza.
Luz smiled and leaned her head against Amity's as she said, "I understand completely. Alright then, let's chow down, mama needs her sugar fix!" Amity released Luz and let her go to town on the confections before her. Luz stopped halfway as something tickled her nose.
"Luz?"
"Aaaa…Aaaa…Aaaaa…!" Amity quickly drew a spell circle, materialized a handkerchief, and handed it to Luz who took it and put in front of her face. "AAAACHOOO!"
"Titan bless you," said Amity.
"Thanks," Luz folded the handkerchief. "Whoa, that came out of nowhere. Guess I got some dust in my nose or something. Probably nothing."
Phantoms Arc: End
A/N: I'd like to thank Multiverse Sentai for the idea of creating a bike/speeder for Amity/Heka. The bike is based on Faiz's transforming bike.
Thank you all for sticking with this long story thus far. But now this story will go on hiatus while I write out a few chaps for "Heroes From Another World". I kinda need that story to catch up to a certain point for a special "movie" to be made. Look forward to that and the startup of Season 2 of "Bring Us Hope, Kamen Rider Witch!"