Witch switched her staff, Tizona, around into its saber mode. The Hero of Hope dashed straight for Inquisitor, raising her staff to slash him. Inquisitor countered with the power of his Alpha Creation ring, forging a sword created from his malicious magical power. The blade of black and red crackling energy instantly formed in his right hand just as Witch's attack came down. The two blades clashed, causing a shockwave as magenta lightning and crimson lightning shot into the air above them and crashed against the barrier that kept them trapped.
"̶̨̂Å̴̠s̴͇̽ ̶̱̕Ȋ̸͙ ̷̡́ţ̵̄h̵͉̿ȏ̴͚ü̸͓g̷͉͝h̴̩͝t̶̪͛,̷͕̅ ̴̟̍q̶͇̆u̷͖̿i̶͉͋t̷͕́e̸̻̚ ̷͉̍p̸̛͙o̶͍̍w̴͓͗ë̷̖́r̶̟͝f̸͉͠u̷͍͒l̴͖̈́ ̷̰̃ï̵̤ṉ̸͒ḋ̶̜ę̵͋ȩ̵̃d̴̨̂!̸̛̥ ̵͉̅Ì̸̦t̶̙̍ ̸̘͝w̷̦͛õ̸̲ủ̸̙l̴̹̔ḋ̸͙ ̵͝ͅs̵̥̍ë̸́͜e̸̱͒m̵̝͝ ̴̛̙t̴̼̒ḧ̴̢́é̷̮ ̷̮̀E̴͖͝m̵̢̓p̷͍̄e̵̩͑r̵͆ͅo̴͘ͅr̴̡͛'̴̼͋s̴̨̒ ̶͓̇s̴̠̾ȗ̴̧s̴͈̊p̷̠̽į̷̐c̷͉̆i̶̇ͅò̷͓n̶͓͌s̵͖͝ ̶̡̊ö̴ͅf̵̨̊ ̴̛͙y̴̖͊o̸̺̅u̸̹̓r̸̢͐ ̸̺̋p̵̬͑o̴̘͐ẅ̸͉́ë̴̜́r̸͍͛ ̴͇̕ẁ̸͜e̴̲̋r̸̲̅e̷̙̐ ̴̳̃c̴̫̈́ō̷̧r̷̛̙r̸͈͒ẻ̶̘c̴̫͗t̴̝̀,̷͉̽"̵̨͝ ("As I thought, quite powerful indeed! It would seem the Emperor's suspicions of your power were correct,") Inquisitor mentioned.
"Don't get ahead of yourself! I'm not your only opponent!"
Heka appeared behind Inquisitor, flipping her staff around as she prepared to slash him with her own staff's blades. Inquisitor sensed her presence and formed a shield of crimson light behind him just as Heka's MaguScepter struck against it. Now golden lightning erupted from the point of contact, raging along with the magenta and crimson lightning. The two heroes grunted as they pushed forward, seeking to land their blows against the Dark Rider. Heka's golden flames ignited around the MaguScepter's blades, and once they had, the flames started to eat away at the barrier.
Hmm, that is rather annoying now it isn't, Inquisitor thought.
Witch pulled the trigger three times on Tizona, causing the rings to flare out, and the blade to glow brighter. And that's when she pulled the trigger for the fourth time.
} WONDERFUL! SLASHING STRIKE! {
Inquisitor increased the power of his energy sword as the Tizona energized and prepared to launch the attack. At the same time, both Witch and Inquisitor's blades released their pent-up energy, resulting in an explosion that launched the two heroes backwards. They quickly recovered as Heka raised the MaguScepter into the air, casting a spell through the use of her weapon.
The Dark Rider swiped his hand through the air, dispersing the smoke cloud. And as he did, several Abomination golems appearing as thin creatures with blades for arms. The Abomination golems were then set on fire, with the golden flames acting as armor around their blade arms, and their fists. A small army now surrounded Inquisitor, but the Dark Rider wasn't fazed at all. The first wave of Abomination golems attacked, wielding their blade arms as they readied to slash through Inquisitor's armor. However, with a flick of the wrist, and the glow of the Alpha Creation ring, Inquisitor formed multiple arms with sharpened claws. The arms sprouted from the surface of the skull around Inquisitor. The arms' claws transformed into crimson energy as they lunged for the Abomination golems.
The blade Abominations started hacking and slashing at the numerous arms that were coming at them. The golden flames were doing their job as they burned away at the magical energy that comprised them. Normally such a thing wouldn't stop them, they'd just grow back, but thanks to Heka's flames, they were prevented from regenerating. Inquisitor had a good idea about the magical power that Heka possessed, but this just confirmed it.
Just as I thought. Her flames will prove to be a nuisance. However, Luz Noceda's power on the other hand is nothing to ignore either.
Witch dismissed Tizona and jumped straight into the air, and hovered over Inquisitor's position as she called out her spells.
"FLARE, RUBBER, BIG! PLEASE!"
Witch held out her right arm as a pulse of magenta energy washed over her body, and then a single magic circle appeared out in front of her right arm. The circle moved forward and stopped just at the edge of her shoulder, and as her arm passed through the circles, the limb grew five times its normal size, becoming the arm of a giant. Heka saw this and knew what her next move was. With wave her staff, the golden Rider summoned forth a huge blob of Abomination goo that was set on fire with golden flames. The Abomination goo passed through the cracks in the circle, appearing on the other side of the circle as an even bigger blob of flaming Abomination goo. The goo rapidly coalesced around Witch's right forearm, transforming into a huge gauntlet with spiked knuckles. Witch cocked back her giant right arm, letting it snap back as it elongated further and further before she snapped it forward and launched her huge fist. The flames of the Flare ring ignited as it began its descent, red flames mixing with the golden flames of Heka's magic, combining to create a meteor sized fist that was rapidly approaching Inquisitor.
"RIDER…RED ROCKET…PUNCH!"
Inquisitor's eyes widened at the combination attack, and quickly countered by switching his rings out and scanning the second ring.
[Omega | Ω| Destruction, Now.]
Inquisitor's right hand shined with crimson light as he waved his hand through the air. A tornado of crimson and black crackling energy formed around him as he directed the attack straight up on a collision course with Witch's attack. The two forces met in the sky as the destructive tornado and the meteor fist clashed. A massive shockwave shook the air in all directions as the barrier that held them became visible due to the raging powers. Inquisitor grunted and growled as he used his power to push back against Witch and Heka's combo attack, but the two heroes weren't about to give up, they were going to defeat Inquisitor, he was too dangerous and needed to be taken down.
I AM STRONGER THAN HIM!
Witch's Wonder Style ring shined as the red flames of the Flare ring's magic grew in intensity and released sparkling particles of red light.
BAST, LET'S NOT FALL BEHIND!
"OF COURSE, KITTEN!"
The golden flames that surrounded the gauntlet doubled in size to match the flames of Witch's spell, and were now emitting the same sparkling particles, but colored gold to match the flames. The dual powers continued to wage war in the sky as Witch forced her fist to go further, and another shockwave erupted as the tornado of destructive power seemed to be pushed back. Inquisitor didn't like this, it seemed Witch's Wonder power operated similarly to his Alpha and Omega rings, but it was more than that, it was fueled by her own belief, which made her able to surpass her limits.
In which case, my plan will work. But I mustn't fall here!
Inquisitor switched out the Omega Destruction and scanned his third ring.
}[ JUDGEMENT! ENDING STRIKE! UNDERSTOOD! ]{
The Dark Rider's eyes glowed as he thrusted out both of his hands and made the Omega tornado rage, the crackling energy became even more aggressive as it transformed into a serpent with a gaping mouth that threatened to swallow Witch's fist whole. But that was not about to happen as Heka doubled the size of the gauntlet surrounding Witch's fist, making it hard for the energy snake to even attempt it. The two heroic Riders and Dark Rider released loud battle cries as their warring powers reached their climax and caused a huge explosion to erupt in the air. The interior of the barrier was filled with smoke, but after a while that smoke began to pass through it and disperse on the wind. When the smoke cleared, Witch and Heka were revealed to be back on the Titan's skull, and Inquisitor was standing a few feet ahead of them.
"Gotta admit, you're definitely strong. The menacing look isn't just for show," said Witch.
"At least I can take him more seriously than Hunter," Heka whispered.
"̸̗̑Ǎ̵̙n̸̲̚d̴̗̓ ̷͖̊I̵̠͑ ̸͙̕w̵̫̋i̵̹͝l̴̢̋l̴̖͌ ̸́͜a̸̫͑d̵̛͖m̴͎̑ḭ̷̚t̶̝̂ ̶̲̑a̸͕̅s̸͍͑ ̴́͜w̵͓̏ē̵͉l̸̹͗l̵̼̽,̸͕̀ ̴̝͌y̴͓̑o̷̙͂u̵͍͠ř̴͉ ̸̧̕p̷͖͛ó̵̻w̸̟̑e̵͖͋r̵̰̿ ̴̤̒i̴̼̾s̵̺͑ ̵̠͘j̷̨̿ȕ̴̡s̶͉̋t̴̗͌ ̴̭͊a̷̹̍s̵͇̑ ̷͉̊t̴̠͠h̴̲͠ḙ̵̂ ̴̲͝Ȇ̵͙m̴̰̿p̷̭̑e̸͙͊r̴͖̿ǫ̴͒r̶̞̐ ̶̞̈́ĕ̶͓x̶̗͝p̴͓̄ę̶̈́c̸̛̱t̷̞͋e̶͖̕d̷̡͐ ̶̳̓i̵̊͜t̷̩̎ ̸͉͘t̸̡̿o̷̧̒ ̷̝̎b̷̩͘e̷̗͒.̴̝͗"̶̥̇ ("And I will admit as well, your power is just as the Emperor expected it to be.")
"Heh, well, I almost kicked his butt a few months back, but that's when I just figured out my Super Form. I've come a long way since then. So, why don't you tell him to come out here and face me! We'll have a proper witch's duel!" Witch challenged.
Inquisitor brushed off some dust from his armor and straightened up as he put on his Alpha Creation ring. "̸̘͐T̵͔̋h̸̖̅ē̶̻ ̴̟̅E̵̪͊m̶͎̊p̸̪̉ë̸͖́ř̴̨o̶̰͐r̸͎͆ ̴̢͘i̷͈͒s̸̭̄ ̴̡̀a̷̘͑ ̴̧͑b̴̳̔ù̶͖s̸͇̆y̸͉̔ ̷̤̅m̷̥̒ả̸̡n̶̺͊,̶͔͛ ̷̪̕M̷̜͑s̷̮͑.̶̯͘ ̷̘̇N̵̜͑o̴͓̍c̵̭̿ę̷̛d̸̪́ä̴̹.̷̜̀ ̸͚̓H̷̨̅e̸̩͌ ̸͈͐d̵̹͝o̶̙̊e̵̼͒s̸̭͂n̸͎͒'̸̱̀t̷͓̑ ̷̟̄h̶̢͌ả̵͈v̷̖̿ë̶̲́ ̴̤̅t̶̮͊ì̴ͅm̶̡̂e̶̖̅ ̵̡̄ṭ̷͂o̸̗̕ ̵̡̀p̶̘̂ļ̴͋a̶͈̐ỷ̵̰ ̸̡͛w̷͉̃i̴̯̊t̵͉̆h̸̙͒ ̸̝͋c̷̮̓h̷̡͠ȉ̴̟l̴̤̀d̴̮͘r̷̾͜ě̴̢ņ̷͂.̶̘̆ ̴͍̒B̷̻̒ư̶̞ẗ̸͍ ̷̺͘m̸̞̄à̵͖k̸̩͂ẻ̵͈ ̴̜̄n̸͍̈o̷̲͛ ̷̙́m̴̱͘i̸̯̚s̵͌͜ț̷̒ȁ̸̡k̷͍͋ḛ̶̎,̶̮͌ ̴̣̋h̴͉̐ê̴̦ ̷̠̏ȋ̴͚s̸̱͐ ̸̞͝ṽ̴͕ȅ̸̘r̶̤͒y̷͐͜ ̷͕̏a̸͔͆w̵̭̏a̷̞͛r̸̦̍e̵͕͝ ̶̦̍o̶̰͒f̴̤̊ ̵̜̇y̵̞̕o̷̜̔ǘ̸͖r̷̡̓ ̵͓̆g̷̦͋r̵͎͐o̴̪̓w̴͓̐i̵͚̔n̴͖͗g̵̰͋ ̸̦̈́p̷̭͊o̸̥̎w̴͉̕ę̵͑r̶͓͊.̴̪͝ ̸̦͆B̷͙̀u̵̙͌t̷̥̂ ̷̠́t̶̜̀e̷͇̽l̴͕͗l̴̻̉ ̵̘́m̴͈̈́e̷͉̽,̴̭͒ ̸͇͑h̵̻̒u̴̡̓m̴̼̓a̷͎͠n̴̜̂,̴̳̌ ̶̧͊ď̸͇o̷̪̐ ̴̯̃y̵͇͋o̴̲̍u̷̺̎ ̷͠ͅt̷̙̂r̶̞̎u̷̠̽l̶̓͜ẙ̸͉ ̷͓͘t̵͚́ḧ̵͚́i̴̩͠n̶̨̈́k̷͔̕ ̷̺́y̵̛̘o̴̼͛u̴͖͂ ̸̤͗c̶͚̋ạ̷̽ǹ̷̰ ̵͇̑p̵̗̊r̶̦͝o̷͔̚t̸̝̔è̶͉c̷̯͠ẗ̴͚ ̸̞̍t̵̒͜ḣ̴͉e̶̖͗ ̵͕͠B̵̹́o̶̱͂i̶͎͐l̵͍̄i̷̛͚ǹ̶̪ĝ̶̮ ̸̙̈́I̷̬͝s̶̟͠ḻ̶̓e̴̛͔s̷̙̈́?̶̘͘ ̵͎̕B̵̛͎o̵͕̚t̶̲͘h̸͔̋ ̴̩́o̴͗ͅf̴̛̻ ̷͈̉y̸̩̏ô̴̲ú̶̞?̷̞̒"̸̥̒ ̶̘͛ ("The Emperor is a busy man, Ms. Noceda. He doesn't have time to play with children. But make no mistake, he is very aware of your growing power. But tell me, human, do you truly think you can protect the Boiling Isles? Both of you?")
"We've been doing good so far," Heka retorted.
"̸͔̀T̴͔͋r̸̫͘u̵̢̇e̵͔͂.̴̝́ ̴͍͝H̵̝̚o̴͈͒w̷͚͂ë̵̥́v̴̝͑e̸̩͆ṙ̵̹,̴̳̽ ̵̯̀ć̶̰å̷͓ṅ̸̹ ̷̟̑y̴̙̓ǒ̶͓ù̷͖ ̷̯͗ṣ̶̈́a̵̱̅y̶͎͌ ̴̠̈́t̸͇̑h̸̘͑a̶͔͘ẗ̷͕́ ̴͈̅a̶̙̎f̵̄ͅt̷͈͛ë̷͈́r̶͓̔ ̶͓͌s̶̢̽p̶̘̕ẻ̵͉ñ̶̡d̶̲͌ì̵̧ṇ̸̾g̵̦̏ ̷͕̍s̶͝ͅo̶̜̾ ̴̤͆m̸͓̃u̵̗̽c̴̛͉h̶̬͂ ̵̯́t̴̖͌i̸͚͆m̴̬̊ë̶̠́ ̸̣́ẅ̵͍ǐ̷̯t̶̏ͅh̸̛͚ ̸͚̚m̴̜͛ȩ̸̔?̴̘͋"̴̣̕ ("True. However, can you say that after spending so much time with me?")
"What are you talking about?!" Witch demanded.
[Alpha \A/ Creation, Now.]
"̷̺́Ṡ̵͚è̷͈ë̴̖ ̷̝̋f̴̣̍o̴̪͒r̷̛ͅ ̶̺͆y̵͔͝o̶̡̚u̶͉̓r̸̲͘s̸̥̓e̸͖͌l̴͖͂f̵̻͊,̴̼̃ ̵͉̇h̷͓̀e̴͕͛r̸͉̕ô̴̱é̴̜s̴͎̈.̴̖͝ ̷͖̃S̴͉͊e̶̼͒ẹ̷̑ ̵͌͜t̶͖̂h̶̝͂e̸̳̚ ̷̧̓c̵̨͐o̴̼͠n̵̦̊s̸͔̃e̴͙̅q̷̥͌ü̷ͅe̴̞͋n̶̛̬c̷͕͌ẻ̸̥s̸̳̽ ̵̭̊o̶̗̾f̸̨̏ ̴̽͜y̷̺̑ỏ̸̙ṳ̷͝r̶̰̒ ̸͍̕d̷̼͘i̸̮̿ḽ̸̍ḷ̷̉y̵̟̓d̶̡̋ä̸͕́l̷̲̑l̶̛̲ẙ̷͜i̶̖͘n̴̮̈́ḡ̷̜ ̴̟͠w̴͕̓i̶̱̅t̶͙́h̶̤̎ ̶͚͝m̵̓͜é̴̪,̷̪̓"̶̼͘ ̸͈̅ ("See for yourself, heroes. See the consequences of your dillydallying with me,") Inquisitor proclaimed as he waved his hand through the air.
Witch and Heka were preparing for his next attack to hit, but that wasn't he was doing. Four large holographic screens appeared outside the barrier, and each one was labeled with the name of a different town on the Boiling Isles. Sciatica, Palm Stings, Diaphrallows, and lastly…Bonesborough. What Witch and Heka saw on those screens made them gasp in utter shock and horror. Each town was under attack by Coven Phantoms and Super Coven Phantoms, thankfully it didn't appear that any of them were Hybrid Coven Phantoms, but that was of little comfort at the moment considering those Phantoms were strong enough to cause a lot of damage on their own. And from the looks of it, they already were.
"What…What's going on?!" Witch shouted. "WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
"̶̙̑O̵̡̓h̷̟͋,̶̻͌ ̵̘̈́d̸̠̀ē̵̟a̶̫͛r̴͍̈́ ̷͍͂ḧ̵́͜è̶͕r̵͔̎o̵̜͗.̸͖̇ ̸̧̈́Ĩ̷̹ẗ̴͍'̷͉̄s̵̟̎ ̴̟̇n̴͈͊ö̶̘́t̶͖͆ ̴̩͘ẅ̴̖h̶̝̏ă̴͓ṯ̸̒ ̵̙̽Ĭ̸͉'̴̫̆m̴̠̑ ̵̲͛d̸͛ͅo̷̟̕i̵͚̕n̶̪̈ģ̸̈́,̴̦͌ ̴̦̀i̵̺̔t̸̞́'̷̗́ś̴̱ ̴̡͘ẁ̶͓h̵̪̑à̷͜ť̸̞ ̵̖͛y̸̮̿ȍ̵̻u̴͚͆'̴͚̾r̴̰̊ẻ̴̗ ̵̟͂d̶̹̀o̷̦̍i̶͉̎n̸̘̓g̶̠̍,̶͕͂"̵̞͝ ("Oh, dear hero. It's not what I'm doing, it's what you're doing,) Inquisitor mocked.
"LUZ, LOOK, THE BONESBOROUGH MONITOR!" Heka yelled as she pointed to it.
Witch turned her attention to it, and her eyes widened as she saw both herself and Heka standing atop Hexside as Crusader battled the monsters below.
{People of the Boiling Isles. As of today, I'm through playing hero for you all. You've all been helpful in my research to create my new Phantom army, and these past few months have allowed me and my partner to grow even stronger by battling those test subjects. Now is the time. Kamen Rider Witch, and Kamen Rider Heka, hereby declare our supremacy over the Boiling Isles!}
(A Few Minutes Earlier…)
The fair was still going strong as the people laughed and took pictures with the KRC and HAS members who were cosplaying as Riders. Meanwhile, the testimonials were still going in the background, with half of the crowd standing and listening to each person who appeared on the holographic screen. This time it was Boscha.
{I was possessed by one of those jacked up Phantoms, and it made me go…crazy. To put it mildly. But Boscha Barbtalone is no one's puppet! I broke free from that monster! Oh, and Witch and Heka helped too, I guess.}
The next one was Willow.
{Witch has saved me and my friends multiple times. Which I guess is both a good and bad thing when you say it out loud. Guess we're kind of danger prone. But at the same time, it's because they protected us and everyone else that we don't have to live in fear. I'm sorry, but I will not and cannot believe that Witch or Heka are creating these new Phantoms. They've had our backs, so I'll have theirs.}
After that was Amity.
{My mother was almost transformed into a monster, but Witch and Heka prevented that from happening. And it was because of Witch that we're all even still here. The monster that terrorized the Boiling Isles, causing suffering to even other Phantoms, the being known as Grom the Fear Bringer. When my girlfriend and I defeated Grom months ago, we found out that he had returned but as a Phantom and threatened to plunge the Demon Realm into a never-ending nightmare. Just like back then, we cannot let our fear consume us, we have to stand up and believe in ourselves and in our heroes.}
Next were the twins.
{Ed and I were in a bind because of those Phantoms. They attacked someone I cared about, and then they came after me and my brother.}
{They were doing their best to turn us into one of them, but Witch and Heka stopped us from turning into monsters, and then kicked their monsters butts!}
{So, if you're hearing us, Witch, Heka, just know that the Blight siblings have your back!}
Amelia appeared after the twins.
{These pair of Phantoms manipulated me and tried to make me fall into despair by tricking me into falling in love with them. They were sick and vile monsters for doing such a thing. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Witch and…Boscha. Both of them helped me when I needed it most. So, thank you, Witch. And…Thank you, Boscha.}
Boscha was among the crowd, she had paused to listen to Amelia's testimonial, and she felt a heaviness in her heart. It was nice to hear Amelia thank her, but considering her current situation, she was mostly alone now. Still, it was nice to hear that.
Meanwhile, Willow was looking around the fairgrounds for Luz and Amity but couldn't find them anywhere. Skara had joined her in looking for their friends, but she was just as unsuccessful.
"Did you find them?" Willow asked.
"No, and they're not answering my messages on their Scrolls either," said Skara. "I don't like this, Willow. Emira said that she hasn't seen Viney, and Luz and Amity went to go find her, but now they're gone."
Willow was definitely not liking any of this. It seemed too coincidental that Viney would disappear, and right after Luz and Amity went to look for her, they disappeared too. They weren't answering their Scrolls not from her, and not from Skara.
"Something must be wrong. Luz and Amity wouldn't just up and leave without telling us. And if they did, it might be you-know-what related," said Willow.
"Or they decided to sneak away to make out?" Skara suggested.
Willow blushed and retorted, "Yeah, that's something you might do."
Now Skara blushed as she replied, "Guilty."
The Plant witch sighed as she placed her hands on her hips. "At this point, I'm hoping that's what they're doing. Nobody's Scroll has gone off about a Phantom attack. So, maybe…"
Just then, a flash of yellow light went off in the direction of the supply tent. Willow and Skara ran in that direction, and when they arrived, they were shocked to find an unconscious Viney on a bed of Abomination slime. Behind her was Witch's magic circle, which after depositing Viney disappeared.
"VINEY!" Willow and Skara exclaimed as they rushed to their friend and teammate's side.
"Is she okay?" Skara asked.
"She's breathing, but I don't see anything wrong with her," Willow observed. "Go and get Emira, she knows some Healing magic!"
"Right!"
Skara hurriedly got up and rushed off to find Emira. Willow stayed by Viney's side as she tried to assess the situation.
Viney came out of Luz's magic circle, and she's unconscious. Something bad's happening if they didn't come back with her, Willow thought.
"VINEY!" Willow looked up and watched as Emira and Skara ran towards them. The eldest Blight sibling skidded on the ground and stopped next to Viney as she looked over her girlfriend. "What happened to her?!"
"I don't know. Luz's magic circle appeared and Viney came out of it," Willow explained.
"But Amity and Luz didn't come out with her?" Emira asked.
Willow shook her head.
Emira drew a spell circle and cast a simple diagnostic spell over Viney. After a few seconds, Emira released a sigh of relief. "Viney's okay, nothing's broken and I can't detect any internal injuries. She's just unconscious."
"Willow, what's wrong?" Skara asked as she noticed the serious expression on her girlfriend's face.
"We need to stop the fair. Shut it down! Something bad's going on and this feels too well timed to have it be just a coincidence," Willow stated.
Emira and Skara nodded in agreement.
"I'll stay with Viney, you two get to Gus and have him shut this thing down!" Emira stated.
Skara and Willow broke off as they headed in separate directions. Hunter was busy wiping off all the mess the children had drawn on his face. As he finished cleaning his face, Hunter noticed Willow running at a frantic pace towards the stage. Curious, but mostly concerned, Hunter raced off to catch up with his Flyer Derby captain. Flapjack changed into his staff form, allowing Hunter to use his dashing ability. With that, he was able to catch up to Willow and head her off.
"Whoa, Captain, what's wrong?" Hunter asked.
"Cal – Hunter, move! I need to get to the stage quickly! We need to shut this fair down!" Willow stated.
"Wait, what? Why? What's going on?" Hunter asked.
However, before Willow could even get the chance to answer, everyone's Scrolls went off at the same time. They quickly took them out and noticed that there was an alert going out to all residents of the Boiling Isles. Apparently, there were multiple Phantom attacks happening in at least three different cities, at the same time.
"A Phantom attack?!"
"Three different ones!"
"That's never happened before!"
"They're attacking three different towns!"
"Did it mention anything about Heka or Witch being at them?!"
"No! And no word on that Crusader guy either!"
Hunter looked up at Willow and asked, "Is…Is this what you were talking about?"
"…No, somehow, I feel it's about to get a lot worse," Willow dreaded.
Her feelings of dread were proven correct as a scream tore through the crowd. Everyone turned in the direction of the scream and watched as multiple Coven Phantoms started heading their way. A small army of them, led by the Super Abomination Phantom.
"Sometimes, I hate it when I'm right," the Plant witch lamented.
"Captain, focus on getting the people to safety, I'll take care of the Phantoms!" Hunter exclaimed as he readied to go and transform.
"Wait!" Willow shouted. "Take out the bigger Phantom first! If that one manages to possess someone…!"
Hunter understood, the bigger one was strong, but he believed he could take it down without too much of a struggle. However, if it managed to merge itself with a civilian, it could become vastly more powerful and more dangerous. He had already encountered more than one of those and felt firsthand how strong they were. And unfortunately, much to his displeasure, he lacked the means that Witch and Heka had to exorcise the Phantoms from the possessed. Better to take them out quickly before it became a true threat.
"Understood, Captain," Hunter acknowledged.
With his instruction given, Hunter dashed away until he was sure he was out of view from everyone else. Hunter had Flapjack dismiss himself and pulled out his Driver ring.
[Driver Appear, Now.]
A flash of green light went off around Hunter's waist as the Arcane Driver was summoned. Hunter slipped on his transformation ring and scanned the ring as the Driver released its power.
"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 appeared underneath Hunter as it rose and transformed him into Kamen Rider Crusader. Now donned in his armor, Crusader rushed out into the fray. He knew had to take down the Super Coven Phantom first, but he still had to protect the civilians either way. With that in mind, he quickly took one of his armament rings and scanned it.
[Crow Scythe, Now.]
A purple and black crow manifested before him, and then quickly transformed into his scythe weapon. Upon grabbing it, Crusader summoned the max ten construct clones of himself. With a mental command, he had each of his clones spread out and begin defending the people while he saw to the bigger target. The clones immediately went to work and attacked the smaller Coven Phantoms, despite being construct copies, they carried over the same abilities the Crow Scythe had, allowing them to bypass any of their created defenses as the clones slashed through one Coven Phantom after the other.
Crusader approached the Abomination Coven Phantom, the goopy monster turned its attention to Crusader as he drew closer, ignoring a bystander that was more than likely about to get possessed. Crusader slashed with the Crow Scythe, sending a crescent energy wave straight towards the Super Abomination Phantom. The creature split itself in half, allowing the crescent to harmlessly pass through it before joining back together and rushed at the Rider.
"Don't think because you're an Abomination, that you're immune to getting hurt!" Crusader shouted.
The Super Abomination Phantom released multiple tentacles at him, each one forming an arrowhead tip to impale Crusader with. The avian Rider threw the Crow Scythe into the air as he switched out his ring and scanned a new one.
[Dash, Now.]
Just as the tendrils were about to strike, Crusader's body shimmered with golden light as he disappeared from sight. The Super Abomination Phantom was confused, but its confusion turned to anger as all its tentacles were swiftly sliced off. Crusader reappeared, having retrieved his Crow Scythe. The Super Abomination Phantom screeched as it made more of the tentacles and launched them again. Crusader dodged the first three, using the power of the still active Dash magic ring to avoid three of the tentacles as they slammed into the ground where he once was. Another five attacked him from different angles, but Crusader swiftly slashed the air in a circle, creating a ring of cutting light that expanded and sliced off the tentacles before they could reach him.
The Super Abomination Phantom released another screeching shriek as it retracted the tentacles and wove them together into two large tentacles with two massive, spiked maces at the ends. The slime monster raised the left mace up and brought it down like a hammer. Crusader dashed away, easily getting around the attack. The Super Abomination Phantom continued to slam its maces, trying to hit Crusader. But the avian Rider kept advancing towards it, preparing to take it down. The slime creature screeched and made several sharp spikes appear on its body. The Super Abomination Phantom expanded like a puffer fish and fired all the spikes in multiple directions.
Crusader jumped into the air, avoiding the spikes, but as he did, he sent a mental command to his clones. The construct Crusader clones received the command and hurriedly spun and swiped their scythes through the air to deflect the spikes that were heading towards some of the civilians. Thankfully the construct clones were able to block or deflect the majority of the spikes towards the trees, the walls of the school, or the ground. Crusader removed the Dash ring and slipped on his finisher ring as he scanned it.
[ ENDING STRIKE, RIGHT NOW! ]
The Crow Scythe's blade glowed with purple colored energy. Utilizing the effects of the Dash ring, Crusader slashed downward, creating a large energy crescent. Crusader dashed again, appearing on the left and released another crescent. Crusader repeated this, appearing on the right, front, and back, and launching more energy crescents. The Super Abomination Phantom realized too late that its escape routes were cut off as all five of the crescents converged on its position and struck the Super Abomination Phantom at the same time. An explosion erupted on impact, obliterating the Super Abomination Phantom.
"And that's it for that," Crusader said to himself. No sooner had Crusader said that the ground started to rumble and shake. Huge walls of rock rose from the ground, creating a giant wall which encircled the school, Grudgby field, and part of the forest. That's when Crusader saw the Super Construction Phantom burst forth from the ground, and as it did, the behemoth of a Phantom created huge walls of rock that surrounded the entire campus, preventing anyone from leaving, at least from the ground. "Oh, great, another one?!
"CRUSADER!" The avian Rider heard the familiar voice and looked up as he spotted Willow flying in on Clover, stopping just above him as she hovered in place. "The walls are cutting off our escape from the ground!"
"Okay, in that case, have anyone who has staff start flying people to the other side of – LOOK OUT!"
Crusader dismissed his Crow Scythe and dashed towards Willow. He swiftly grabbed ahold of Willow just as the Super Bard Phantom swooped in and almost took her head off. The two of them hit the ground and rolled along the grass for a few seconds before stopping.
The avian Rider rose on his hands and knees and looked down at Willow as he asked, "Are you alright, Captain?"
"I-I am, thanks for the save, Hunter," said Willow.
Crusader got up and helped Willow back to her feet. Once he had, Crusader looked up and spotted the Super Bard Phantom, casually hovering over them as it peered down at them like a bird of prey.
"Looks like flying out of here is going to be difficult if that thing's up there."
The others flew towards them, keeping low so as to not draw the attention of the Super Bard Phantom. Skara hands were shaking as she gripped her staff, remembering the time she had gotten possessed by another Super Bard Phantom, and nearly destroyed everything.
"Okay, so we're between a rock and a hard place, literally," said Gus.
"How are we supposed to get out?!" King asked.
"I'll attack that flying Phantom, and while it's busy with me, you all try to get as many people over the wall as possible! Fly them out or see if there are any Construction witches here who can make a hole in the wall," Crusader ordered.
"Where are Luz and Amity?! Shouldn't they have already jumped in and taken care of these guys?!" Emira asked as she used her magic to keep Viney secured to her staff.
"We haven't seen them at all. Maybe they're dealing with the other attacks going on?" Skara suggested.
Crusader was about to say something but paused when spotted two people standing at the top of the school. "Or…maybe they're here."
Everyone turned their gaze on the roof of the school, and there they saw Witch and Heka standing there and looking down on them. Heka snapped her fingers and a few crystal balls hovered around them, with a few others to capture what was going on down below.
"People of the Boiling Isles. As of today, I'm through playing hero for you all. You've all been helpful in my research to create my new Phantom army, and these past few months have allowed me and my partner to grow even stronger by battling those test subjects. Now is the time. Kamen Rider Witch, and Kamen Rider Heka, hereby declare our supremacy over the Boiling Isles!" Witch announced.
"We've played hero long enough. It's time for a change, and we're here to deliver that change. Whether you all like it or not. We will reign supreme over the all witches and demons of the Boiling Isles and turn this land into our personal kingdom!" Heka added.
"WHAT?!" Crusader barked.
"That's not Luz, there's no way it is!" Willow exclaimed.
"And no way Mittens would say something like that!" Edric insisted.
"Right now, we're conducting attacks on a few different cities across the Boiling Isles. But we thought we'd make our debut here, since this is the town where we first made ourselves known," said Witch with a cheerful tone.
"Naturally, we're broadcasting this, so there's no denying the obvious," Heka announced. "And honestly, I find it insulting that the Emperor tried to counter us by creating his own Kamen Rider." Heka looked down at Crusader, and the male Rider could feel her smirking at him condescendingly. "A Rider, might I add, who's vastly inferior to our power."
"Heh-haahaha, that's an understatement! He couldn't even handle my power, but what else do you expect from a cheap, knockoff of the original? We're always going to be more powerful than him. No matter what he does," Witch mocked from her perch.
Crusader clenched his fists as he growled with indignation. And in his anger, he quickly scanned three rings one after the other.
[Eagle Lightning Wing, Now.]
[Falcon Shield Wing, Now.]
[Raven Talons, Now.]
All three armaments appeared on Crusader as he launched himself on a direct path for where Witch and Heka were. However, before he could even reach them, the Super Bard Phantom intercepted him and released a powerful sonic screech. Crusader quickly raised his spherical shield as the sonic energy waves crashed against his barrier, which unfortunately started to show cracks forming along its surface. The shield couldn't take anymore as it shattered apart, sending Crusader into a tailspin. Crusader flared out both of his wings, creating a counter force to stop the tailspin and correct himself.
The Super Bard Phantom headed right for him and was not planning on giving Crusader any room to breathe. The Super Bard Phantom released another sonic screech blast, but Crusader managed to dodge the attack at the last second and fired back with some lightning feathers. The Super Bard Phantom quickly turned to avoid getting hit and circled around to try for another attack. The red bird monster stopped its advance and flared out its wings. Strangely enough, the Super Bard Phantom started to vibrate its feathers. The air around Crusader began to hum, and a few seconds after, multiple explosions went off all around him, surrounding the Rider in a smoke cloud. Crusader fell out of the smoke cloud but stopped himself from falling too far.
Crusader growled; he had had enough of this monster. The Super Bard Phantom started to vibrate its wing feathers again, but Crusader quickly erected a spherical barrier around the Super Bard Phantom. The beast's vibrations were caught inside of the barrier and as a result, the explosions that were meant to hit Crusader were caught inside of the barrier instead. And due to the enclosed space, the multiple explosions were condensed and magnified inside of the barrier. The barrier released as the Super Bard Phantom released a squawk of pain. Crusader placed his finisher ring back on and scanned it.
[ ENDING STRIKE, RIGHT NOW! ]
Crusader's Eagle Lightning Wing glowed as he fired several lightning feathers at once. At the same time, Crusader the Falcon Shield Wing glowed and created a spherical barrier. He launched the barrier into the air and managed to capture all the lightning feathers that were fired earlier. Once inside, the feathers began rapidly ricocheting along the walls of the sphere, bouncing at an incredible rate of speed to the point that the inside of the sphere glowed bright yellow as electricity surged along the surface of the sphere. Crusader's left Raven Talon boot glowed with violet energy as he flew high into the air and met with the sphere, once aligned, Crusader spun around and kicked the sphere of energy with his right boot. The sphere was instantly launched, flying swiftly towards its intended target
The combined attack reached the still disoriented Super Bard Phantom, and as it drew closer, the sphere grew bigger and swallowed the Coven Phantom whole. Now the beast was trapped inside of ball of electrical energy, getting electrocuted with each passing second. Crusader spun around once again and slashed the air with his glowing left Raven Talon boot. The action launched a large violet crescent as it sailed through the air and sliced through the lightning ball. The result created a chain reaction that detonated the sphere and took out the Super Bard Phantom.
"EVERYONE, GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!" Crusader ordered.
With the aerial threat taken care of, everyone began assisting the with evacuating the area. Gus, King, Willow, Skara, Emira, and Edric, before they started assisting, paused to look back at the scene. More specifically, Witch and Heka who were staring straight at them. All of them had glaring looks on their faces, they knew in their hearts that these were not Luz and Amity. They refused to believe that their friends, their family, had turned to evil. They had to be imposters, or at the very least they had to be mind-controlled. The Super Construction Phantom bellowed out a roar as it summoned two huge rocks from the ground and hurled them at the still floating witches.
[Hornbill Drill, Now.]
[Roc Buster, Now.]
Just before the huge boulders could hit the retreating witches, Crusader flew ahead of them and jetted forward, now wielding his Roc Buster gauntlet and Hornbill Drill weapons. Crusader flew past them, cocked back his left fist, and struck with the Hornbill Drill. The drill spun out, and created a spiraling energy cone around itself as it pierced through the first boulder and shattered it into pieces. The second boulder was fast approaching as Crusader cocked back his right fist, allowing the canister at the top of the gauntlet to rise as it charged for an attack. Once the second boulder had arrived, Crusader punched the boulder with the Roc Buster. The canister slammed down like a hammer and fired a burst of magical energy that shot through the boulder and broke it apart from the inside out, blasting it to dust.
Crusader kept flying forward, aiming directly for the Super Construction Phantom. This time he cocked back both of his fists and punched forward with both of them. The avian Rider struck the Super Construction Phantom right in the chest with both of his weapons at the same time, causing the monster to release a roar of pain as it was thrown onto it back with a huge "BOOM!" upon impact. Crusader rose to his feet and shot back into the sky, now at the same height as Heka and Witch as they stared at him.
"You were okay with your monster attacking them?!" Crusader accused.
Witch shrugged as she crossed her arms. "Can't expect everyone to take you seriously if you're not willing to get your hands dirty."
"And more importantly, can you afford to be talking to us when you still got a bigger issue to deal with?" Heka asked as she pointed down.
As soon as Heka said that the Super Construction Phantom reached up with one of its arms and grabbed Crusader by the lower waist. The beast snatched him out of the air and slammed him down into the ground. The giant roared and began punching the spot where Crusader was repeatedly. Thankfully, Crusader formed a barrier around himself to guard against the onslaught, but it was not a permanent solution as each strike was just pushing him further and further into the ground itself. Crusader had to time this right or else he'd risk getting his body broken. The canister on the Roc Buster rose again, charging for another strike. Crusader cocked back his right fist, watching the intervals between each of the Super Construction Phantom's punches.
At the last second, just as the last fist hit his barrier, and the next one approached, Crusader dropped the barrier. Once it was gone, Crusader punched forward just as the Super Construction Phantom's next punch came. The two fists slammed against each other as the canister came down and released its energy. The result created a shockwave that blasted its fist back and threw the behemoth Super Phantom off balance as it stumbled about. This allowed Crusader to fly out of the hole in the ground and scan his finisher ring yet again.
[ ENDING STRIKE, RIGHT NOW! ]
Crusader dashed towards the still stumbling Super Construction Phantom, getting right under the beast. The Roc Buster glowed with pent-up energy as Crusader rapidly ascended and struck the monster in the gut with a powerful uppercut. A blast of energy was released which shot the monster right into the air, carrying it higher and higher. Crusader took off, ascending even higher than the monster as he put himself right in the flight path of the incoming Super Construction Phantom. The Hornbill Drill glowed brighter as a huge construct drill formed around it. Crusader flew down with that construct drill spinning rapidly as streaks of magical energy wrapped around it. The two were on a collision course as the drill hit the back of the Super Construction Phantom, while the earlier energy discharge was still pushing against it from the front. The two attacks converged in a pincer attack before releasing a large explosion, ending the Super Construction Phantom.
Crusader flew through the smoke cloud, now that the monsters had been defeated, it was time to deal with Witch and Heka. He didn't care if he didn't stand a chance, he wasn't about to allow those two to do as they pleased with the Boiling Isles. Heka looked ready to attack, but Witch raised her hand, telling her not to do anything as she stepped forward. Witch removed her ring and put on her own finisher ring as she scanned it. At the same time, Crusader took out his ring and scanned it as well.
[ VERY NICE! KICK STRIKE! FABULOUS! ]
[ KICK STRIKE, RIGHT NOW! ]
Witch's magic circle appeared under her as she entered her stance. Crusader's right foot began to glow with emerald energy as he flipped around and extended his foot as all his armament weapons glowing and adding power to the kick. Just as Crusader closed in, Witch spun around and threw her kick to meet his. The result created a powerful flash of light, followed by an explosion that shattered the crystal balls around the battlefield.
The Super Oracle and Illusion Phantoms nodded to each other, their work had been done here, so now it was time to pull back. The Super Illusion Phantom used its ethereal tails to wrap them up and wipe them from sight as if they were never there to begin with.
(The Mandible…)
Witch and Heka watched all this transpire with shock and horror. Not just the fighting that was going on at Hexside, but the destruction that was taking place in the other cities. The lesser Coven Phantoms were destroying businesses and homes as the Super Coven Phantoms took the lead and attacked multiple people who dared to get in their way.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Witch yelled.
"̷̻̓I̵̢̋'̷̯̔v̷̨̑è̸̙ ̸̤̈́s̵̤̍i̶̡̍m̷͎̌p̸̻͊l̵͚͆y̴̭͆ ̶̨̅s̵̗̊h̶̠͂ỏ̴̗w̷͙̒ñ̴̝ ̸̦̽t̷̞͝h̸͉̾ě̵͈ ̷̺̂p̶̖͊ē̶̝o̶͔̕p̴̪͘l̶̩͑ẽ̴̝ ̸̰̈́t̶͓͐h̴͉͘ẻ̴̪ ̶̘̓ẗ̷̮́ŕ̴̮u̸̕͜e̶̖͆ ̷̱̂e̸͍͒n̵̪̅e̴̹̓m̸̞̑y̵̛͇ ̵̭̅t̸̖͂h̷͈̄e̸̋ͅÿ̶͇ ̸̡̃s̶̻͝ḧ̸̗́o̴͔̍û̸̺ľ̷̢d̷̜̚ ̵̖͝f̵̨̐ė̴ͅa̶̜̚r̸͚̎,̶͇̔"̸̥̊ ("I've simply shown the people the true enemy they should fear,") Inquisitor answered.
"Luz, we can still stop this! We just need to break through this barrier! After that, I'll go to one city, and you go to another, we'll stop it all!" Heka assured.
Witch wasn't sure if they could do that, and even if they did go, after what the fake Witch and Heka said, would the people even welcome their help? Or would they attack them for what they supposedly did? As these thoughts began to rattle around in her mind, the glow of her Wonder Style ring started to flicker. Inquisitor noticed this and decided to push a little more.
"̴̙̊E̵͇͌v̶͈͝ȇ̵̦n̷̜͂ ̷̢̀i̷͖̿f̴̬̏ ̷̠͠ẏ̵̟o̷̞̽u̶̼͆ ̸͈͝d̷̗͂e̷̘̿f̵̻̿ë̷̠́a̶͍̒t̵̫̏ ̴̨̑m̵͚̒e̴̜͗,̵̻̅ ̵̱͌a̷̔͜ñ̵͔d̶͉̿ ̶̢̀b̴̭́r̷̹̄o̴̮͌k̶̺͆e̵̓ͅ ̵͍̈́m̴̦̆y̵̮͒ ̶̈́ͅḅ̶͝ǎ̴̼r̶̠̽ŕ̴̞i̵̝̕e̵͕̅r̶͉̊ ̶͜͝t̷̗̀ö̶ͅ ̴̢̚ṟ̵̍ǔ̷̧n̴̲̚ ̵̜̏ö̸̭́f̸̕͜f̷͇̿,̸͉̽ ̵̬͘ĩ̶͖t̸͔̃ ̷̠̈w̵͍͑o̸̭̊n̶͉͝'̸̞̓t̵̯̎ ̵̫͋m̷̧̄á̷̱t̵̬̕t̴̮͗ę̸͝r̸̥͊.̷͇̐"̸̱͑ ("Even if you defeat me, and broke my barrier to run off, it won't matter.")
"And why not?!" Heka asked.
"̷̻̇B̴̡̍e̷̲͗c̵̗͑a̶̯͆ü̵̜s̴̯̓e̵̻͘ ̸̱͐t̶̛̩h̴͓̅ę̸̔ ̸͓̎d̶̟̏ȁ̶̹m̷̟͝a̸̪͋g̸̫͊ě̶̞ ̷͕͐ḧ̶̬́a̷̪̔s̵̮̓ ̵̙̚a̶̺͛l̷̟͂r̴̝͝e̴̞͠ả̸͙d̸̝̾y̸̠͐ ̸͔̕b̷̳͛é̵͉e̶̫̐n̷̦͊ ̵͓͗d̸̟́o̷̗͝n̴̙͛ẹ̷͘.̸̥̒ ̷͈̊F̷̪̅r̷͗ͅo̴͍͊m̸͔̄ ̷͇̽t̵̜͝h̴͙̎e̴͚̋ ̵̗̽m̸̮̚ŏ̴̝m̸͎̈ȩ̸̛n̴̡͒t̷̞͒ ̶̻̈́y̷̡͠o̸̱̅ú̶̩ ̸͖̕l̴̘̕ę̴̐f̴̟̐t̵̩̉ ̶̹̅B̴̜͝o̴̥͋n̸̛͖ĕ̴̦s̷̤͑b̴͙̕o̸͖͒r̷͇̔ȯ̵͈u̷̹̚g̷̢͒h̶͘͜,̸͕̂ ̵̟̌t̸̜͘ǒ̵͚ ̴̈́͜t̷̻̂h̴̢̓ë̶́͜ ̵̰͆t̶̲͛i̸̤̿ṁ̴̖e̸̖̔ ̶̟̀ỷ̶͇õ̸̰u̶͜͠ ̸͙̈s̴̤̃p̴̮̔ȅ̷̗n̴̙͋t̴̢̀ ̶̢̓f̵̰͂i̶̱͛g̵͉͘h̴̙̓t̴͘͜ĭ̶̺n̶͈̕ğ̸̥ ̴̦͆m̵̥̚e̴̠͊,̷̛̦ ̸̗̃ȁ̴̫ľ̵̝l̸̯͐ ̷̛͜o̵̺͐f̸͈̈ ̷̝̓ţ̶̋h̸̬̒i̸͎̅s̸̛̳ ̷͙̅ḧ̸̩́ä̷́͜s̵̤͑ ̴̪͗a̴͈͘l̷̦̏r̷̩͋e̸̯͆ä̷͉d̷̥̈́y̶̛̝ ̵͔͌t̸̨͆r̵̤͛ǎ̸̠n̵̙͛s̷͌͜p̷͙͝i̶͔̓ṛ̴̆e̷̝͝d̷̻̄,̸̞͗"̸̞̊ ̶̯̌ ("Because the damage has already been done. From the moment you left Bonesborough, to the time you spent fighting me, all of this has already transpired,") he informed.
"…What…?" Witch gasped.
"̷̨̌Ĩ̷̢ņ̴̎ ̶̲͋o̴̥̓t̶͓͛h̵̬͠e̸̹̽r̷̦̉ ̷̪͑ẅ̸̘́o̶̻̊r̴̳̓d̶̗̈́s̴͙̓,̶͚̀ ̶̡̌'̸̖̀h̶̤̓e̸͔̍ṙ̴͉o̶͚͐e̵͓̎s̷̛͈'̷̘̂,̸̰̌ ̸̳̓ÿ̴̦o̶͈̐ũ̴̪'̷̨̈r̴̥̃è̶̬ ̴̑ͅą̸̅l̸̟͝r̷̻͛e̶̜͝a̶͖͛d̶̉ͅy̶̜̍ ̵̬̉t̸̝̍ō̸̼o̸̰̊ ̸͍͑l̸̝̇ă̵̯t̷͍͗e̶̟͊.̶̞̐"̷̖̒ ("In other words, 'heroes', you're already too late.") Inquisitor snapped his fingers, and now the screens showed the damaged cities, and the people who were left struggling to sift through the remains. "̴̱̊S̴̖͊ę̶̍ë̴̥ ̷̲̑f̷͈̏o̴͙̅r̸͖̒ ̴̭̂y̸̬̿ǫ̴̎u̷͖͌r̶̖̄s̸̤͆e̴͎͠l̴̤̽f̷̥̋.̵̬͘"̴́͜ ̶̼͌ ("See for yourself.")
Witch and Heka looked back at the monitors, which now showed the destruction of the different towns in real time. The people were sifting through the rubble, while some were being carried out to Healing Coven Hospitals. Each person, man, woman, and child, all had sullen, angry, and confused looks on their faces as they gazed upon the remnants of what was once their homes and businesses.
{Why would Witch and Heka do this…?}
{They were supposed to be heroes!}
{They were never heroes! They were playing us all along!}
{Haven't they toyed with us enough?!}
{We can't trust either of those two! I hope the Emperor takes them down!}
{Yeah! I hope she gets petrified like the other Wild Witches!}
Witch's eyes widened as tears flowed down her face. She wasn't there for them, she promised to protect the Boiling Isles with her power. And yet…she couldn't do anything to stop what had happened. Heka couldn't believe this either, they had been played. A trap had been set and they walked right into it. Just then, the Wonder Style ring's light flickered more and more. And that's when it stopped flickering and went dull. Witch's form changed, the Wonder Style armor shattered around her and reverted Witch back to her default Light Style form.
"LUZ!" Heka cried out.
Inquisitor crossed his arms, sighing as he nodded his head and turned his back to the two heroines.
Heka growled as she turned around and pointed her MaguScepter at Inquisitor. "WHERE THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!"
"̵͈̏I̴̲̓ ̵͍̓h̴̻͘a̶̻͘v̶̺̒e̵̽͜ ̸͉͊n̷̫̚ö̵́ͅ ̶̜͑ḿ̶͇ȯ̶̪r̸͙͝ė̴̺ ̷̰̓b̶͔̊u̸͙͑s̵̯͌i̶̘͝ṅ̵̗ẹ̷͘s̴̬͆s̶̤͝ ̵̼̓w̶̺̿i̷̙̓ṱ̴̕h̴̺̑ ̷͈͐t̴̢̋h̸̨̽ê̶̟ ̵͖̈́t̵̝̀w̶̰͐ô̷̥ ̴̺̒ö̷͇f̷̡̈ ̴̢̈y̴̤͌o̸̤̊ȗ̷̞.̵͉͂ ̵̢͑Ỷ̸̱o̷̭̕ụ̶͌r̸̲̽ ̸̻̾t̸͚̅i̸̛͜m̸͇̿ḛ̸̓ ̶̘̓o̴̹͝f̵̳̋ ̶̡̾p̸̘̌r̴̩̽e̷̠͑ṭ̵̄e̴̡̽ṋ̸͠d̸̨̈́i̷̼̒n̶̘͆ĝ̴͖ ̸̠̈t̸̞͘õ̵̖ ̴͇̓b̷͈͝ȩ̶̈ ̶͚́h̶̞̚e̶̚͜r̸̟̔ȍ̵̝ë̸͇́s̸͔̓ ̸̤̒ì̷̫s̵̪̐ ̵̰̅ŏ̷̩v̵͎̄ę̵̍r̶̺̾,̷̯̀"̷̝́ ("I have no more business with the two of you. Your time of pretending to be heroes is over,") said Inquisitor.
Witch turned around; her eyes narrowed as tears still streamed down her face behind her helmet. "It…It doesn't matter! We're still Kamen Riders! We'll keep protecting the people from you and Belos, even if they hate us!"
Inquisitor glanced over his right shoulder, and although they couldn't see his face, they could certainly feel a mocking smirk being shot their way. "̵͍̒Ả̵̱r̸̼̔ẻ̵̟ ̴̩͐ỳ̶̙o̴̖͛u̵͙̾ ̴̦͌s̶̪̄û̶͍ř̶͈ę̴̂ ̶͎͒ó̸̢f̶̭̿ ̵͌͜t̶͕́h̴̙̔ḁ̵̆t̶̪̕,̵̤̊ ̷̩̕d̴̠̂ë̴̞ȧ̷͍r̷͓̆ ̵̨̆c̸͍̃h̴̫̕i̴̫̎l̷͖͑d̵̫̈?̴̤̈́ ̵͙̚T̸͈̾h̷̛̳e̵̦̓ ̴̠͠f̵͎̾a̸̤̒c̴̣̽t̸̢͠ ̸̟͘t̴̳̄ḩ̸̈́ă̶͎t̶̨͗ ̸̼͊t̵̫͘ḩ̵̾ā̵͙t̴̫͗ ̶̈ͅr̷͎͑í̷̢n̸̪͋ğ̷͜ ̵͔̂o̴̡͐f̵͚̚ ̷̪͐y̴̛̪o̷͓̕u̸͖͒r̶̥͐s̵̄͜ ̷̞͂i̴̛̞s̸͗ͅn̴̢̑'̸̝̆t̵̻͒ ̴̳̿g̸͚̈́l̵̯͆ỏ̵̙ẅ̴̥́i̸͎͝ņ̵͛g̵̃͜ ̵̘̄w̸͉̽i̵̲͑t̷̛̯ȟ̵͕ ̶̥͛ť̸͉h̶̘͝ẻ̶͓ ̶͖̔s̵͝ͅa̵̹͌m̴͍͛e̵̢͘ ̷͎̾r̸̛̟a̴̹̓d̸̼̐i̴̭͂a̴̺̓n̵͠ͅc̶͈͠e̷͎͝ ̴͖͝ả̴̱s̴͂͜ ̸̼̅i̸͔̅t̴̞̽ ̷̫̾o̸̰̓n̴̳̋c̶͇͆e̶̱͐ ̷͚̓d̶̫̈́ḭ̸̈́d̴̔ͅ,̷͍̎ ̸̨͑s̶͍̒p̵͔̀e̷͎͠a̸̤͠k̶̗̏s̴̱͐ ̴̖̈å̸̼ ̷̖̋d̷̢̚i̸͂ͅf̶̰̓f̸̤̽e̸͎̐ṛ̵̅ȇ̷͜ń̶̻t̴͎͋ ̸̨͝s̵͕͒ṫ̷͙o̴̱͐r̸̗͂y̶̺͋.̴̫̆"̵̢̍ ("Are you sure of that, dear child? The fact that that ring of yours isn't glowing with the same radiance as it once did, speaks a different story.")
Witch looked down at her left hand, and just now noticed that her Wonder Style ring's vibrancy had dulled in comparison to her other transformation rings. Heka couldn't take this anymore as she ran forward and jumped into the air. The golden Rider dismissed the MaguScepter, put on her finisher ring, and inserted it into her Driver.
[ LET'S GO, KICK STRIKE! ]
Heka's left foot blazed with golden flames as the construct head of Bast roared, opening its large mouth in preparation to bite down as soon as Heka landed the kick. Inquisitor swiftly replaced his Alpha Creation ring and put on his finisher ring before scanning it.
}[ JUDGEMENT! ENDING STRIKE! UNDERSTOOD! ]{
Inquisitor's right foot glowed with dark crimson energy as he twirled around and threw a thrust kick into the air. Both the golden Rider and Dark Rider's kicks hit at the same time. A sphere of magical energy formed around them as their dueling powers clashed. Witch saw the battle taking place and tried to scan the Wonder Style ring. However, no matter how many times she tried, the Wonder Style ring would not respond.
I…I can't use my Final Form…I…I can't use Wonder Style anymore…
The nexus of power that was created between Heka and Inquisitor's kicks started to grow bigger and bigger until the power could no longer be contained. An explosion of magical energy erupted between their kicks and shot into the air as a column of gold fire and crimson energy. These two powers struck the barrier that had kept them all contained, but even the barrier couldn't withstand that release of power before the entire thing shattered to pieces and dispersed into particles of shimmering light.
Heka skidded across the ground before coming to a halt in front of Witch. Meanwhile, Inquisitor stood amongst the cloud of smoke, but then he slowly retreated. The only thing they could see were his glowing red eyes as a flash of red light went off. When the smoke disappeared, so had Inquisitor, leaving Witch and Heka alone on the Titan's skull. Heka turned around to face her lover, but she didn't know what to say at this moment.
"Luz…"
"Let's…Let's head back."
"…Right."
[Connect, Please.]
Witch summoned her magic circle, and once opened, both her and Heka stepped through it.
(2 Days Later…)
To say things were a chaotic mess would be an understatement. The attack on Sciatica, Palm Stings, and Diaphrallows, all three of these cities were devastated. Some had been seriously injured, while property damage was high. Bonesborough was spared, as the initial attack was only done by three Super Coven Phantoms and a handful of Coven Phantoms.
There were still debates on Penstagram and in public on whether or not what happened was really Witch and Heka or just people pretending to be them. However, due to the destruction that was caused, and the amount of people who were hurt, not many were willing to accept any other point of view when it came to Witch and Heka's standing as heroes. The atmosphere at Hexside was mixed as well. Even as Luz and her friends sat and ate their lunch, the tension in the school was high. Many had berated the HAS and KRC for putting on the event a couple of days ago, an event that was meant to celebrate Kamen Riders, the heroes who protected the people. But in the end, it was those "heroes" who caused destruction and pain to a lot of people on the Boiling Isles in just one day.
Of course, even as they ate, it was an awkward experience. They could hear the other students speaking about Luz and Amity, well, their alter egos anyway. There were some kids who were just repeating what their parents were saying, others who had at one point been supporters of Witch and Heka had gone quiet, and others were quick to turn coat when they saw how the tides were turning and decided to jump on the bandwagon or be labeled an outcast.
"I can't believe Witch and Heka would betray us like that," said one student.
"Yeah, I always thought those two were suspicious. That whole 'protecting the people' and whatever, total griffon crap," said another.
Luz lowered her head as she listened to the students continue to bad mouth her and Amity. She tried to not let it show, but it was kind of hard to do when you know the person they're talking about was yourself.
"Seriously, we don't even know who's under that mask. Are they even a witch or demon? What if Heka and Witch have been Phantoms this whole time?"
"I wouldn't doubt it, you've seen how crazy strong they are. They really had us going."
Amity growled as she listened, along with Willow, Gus, and Skara who were getting agitated by the constant badmouthing from everyone. The lavender haired witch couldn't take it anymore and was about to get up and berate the ones who were talking, when…
"Oh, would you please shut up with that mess!" The kids who were talking went silent and turned their heads in Boscha's direction. "You're all so eager to talk crap about them. When not too long ago some of you were saying how cool they are and whatever. Nice to see how easily you guys are duped."
The other students paused, even Luz, Amity, Willow, Gus, and Skara were surprised to hear Boscha come to the defense of Witch and Heka.
"Wait, so you're saying all of that was planned? That it wasn't them?"
"I'm not saying it was or wasn't them. All I'm saying is it just all seems a little too well planned out for it to be just some random attack. I may not be some evil genius or whatever, but even I can tell when someone's boasting and putting on a show. And those two were putting on a show. Why? I don't know. There are way easier ways for them to have done what they did. But, hey, that's my opinion at least," Boscha stated.
Luz smiled a little after hearing Boscha's words and went back to her meal. The others decided to let it go as well. They doubted this skepticism was going to stop anytime soon.
{People of the Boiling Isles. It saddens me to make this announcement, but it would seem our suspicions were correct.
The Kamen Riders, Witch and Heka, have shown their true colors. We can no longer rely on them. In fact, it's not too far a stretch to say that we must now consider them our enemies, and a threat to the Boiling Isles.
Fortunately, we still have one Kamen Rider who will fight for us and defend us. My Golden Guard, Kamen Rider Crusader.}
The crystal ball showed Belos on his veranda, and as he said those words, Crusader walked up and stood to his right.
{The Day of Unity is not too far away my people. Hold fast, for our utopia will soon come, and we can begin a new age free of the malevolence of the Phantoms and their creators, Witch and Heka!}
The broadcast was cut off. Eda was leaning against the archway, while King sat in Luz's lap, with Amity sitting next to her. Skara and Willow were sitting on the love seat, while Gus was pacing the living room back and forth as he tried to figure out something to counter all this negative publicity. La Lechuza was perched on the back of the couch, just above Luz's right shoulder. While Bast was sitting on Amity's left. Both Phantoms had furrowed brows as they listened to all what the Emperor had to say.
"Okay, this is bad, but it's not too late to try and counter this! Right?" Gus asked.
"I hate to disagree with you, Illusionist. But unfortunately, we have been outmaneuvered," said La Lechuza. "Belos had this thoroughly planned out. That man infuriates me to no end, but…I must respect his cunning."
Bast clicked her tongue indignantly. "Tch, we were played. He toyed with us, him and his Inquisitor. And I do not like being played with!" The black cat turned towards Amity and Luz and proclaimed, "I say we storm the castle and expose him for the liar he is! If there is any evidence to be found, it'll be in the one place he feels safest!"
Luz's mind immediately flashed back to the Alternate Demon Realm. Images of Alt Luz, of Oscura, filled her mind as she recalled the story of how Oscura stormed the palace of Emperor Belos in an attempt to free the Boiling Isles from his tyranny. The Latina started to shake; it was if the events of the Alternate Demon Realm were becoming a reality, but in a roundabout manner. Was this how she was going to become Oscura in this world? Was this her way of going down that dark path?
"Luz, are you okay?" King asked. "You're shaking."
"Oh, uh, yeah, yeah. I'm good." Luz assured. "And, Bast, even if that might be how we expose Belos, it'll only prove him right. It's not going to look good if we just charge in and attack him without any evidence that he's behind the Coven Phantoms, or the attacks. All we have is his word against ours. Attacking the palace, confronting him, will just make us look like the aggressors."
"And something tells me he's already got a plan if we do that," Amity added. "It works for him either way. If we do nothing, he's free to do whatever he wants. If we attack, I'm sure he'll have whatever he needs ready to make us the villains of the story."
"Well, what else can we do? I mean, this isn't right," said Skara.
"We know…Skar. But Belos was a step ahead of us, more than one step," Willow reminded.
"I still can't believe that Inquisitor guy just…just destroyed Viney's dad like that," Gus sighed. "I mean, the guy was a criminal, but he didn't deserve that."
Luz and Amity hated that part. They had Emira there when they broke the news to Viney, telling her of her biological father's death, and the apparent role he had played in setting up the trap that brought about the events that took place. Viney, understandably, raged for a few minutes about how her father was an "asshole", and how all of this was his fault. Then she began laughing about how he and her family didn't have to worry about him being a constant presence in their lives that they had to dread. And then…she began to sob. As much as he was an "asshole" Barlow was still her father, and despite how he treated her later on, he still cared for her. In a really messed up way, but it was there. And the really messed up part of all of it is that Viney wouldn't be able to tell her parents, otherwise she'd risk exposing Luz and Amity's identities.
"Listen, kids," said Eda. "I've been called a lot of things over the years. And a lot of them are a little too graphic for me to repeat to you. I know it's not exactly the same thing for you two, the people actually liked you, which is why this stings so much more for you. But either way, you can't let what other people think about or say about you hold you back. If you let this slow you down, then Belos wins."
Luz knew Eda was right, so she nodded vigorously. "I know. And I'm not. Belos is trying to weaken us, and with the Day of Unity getting closer. Whatever move is trying to make, he obviously wants us out of the picture. And I'm not about to give him what he wants."
Amity smiled as she added, "We'll find out what he's up to, and we'll stop it. Whatever it might be."
Willow nodded, so did Skara, Gus, and King.
"We're in this together," said Gus.
"We've got your back guys," Skara affirmed.
"You know we'll help out," Willow agreed.
Luz sighed; she was grateful to have friends like them. But at the same time, the fact that Belos went through this much trouble to frame them only made her more concerned about whatever the Day of Unity was supposed to be. And what's worse, her Wonder Style ring was still not working.
I'll protect them. No matter what he's planning, I'll keep my friends safe, and the Boiling Isles. I have to…
Meanwhile, at the palace, Hunter had entered the throne room, and bowed before his uncle.
"Hmm, what is it, Hunter?" Belos asked.
"My Emperor, I request your permission to launch a strike force on the criminals!" Hunter requested. "After everything they did, the people demand justice! We know where they are. Even if they are on alert for us, if they keep up their normal routines, we can hit them before they can retaliate!"
Belos regarded his nephew and smiled at him. "I admire your sense of justice, Hunter. And you are right to feel this righteous indignation towards those two. Many were hurt, and much was lost from their wicked deeds."
"Then–?!"
"But I must deny your request," Belos interrupted.
Hunter shook his head in confusion as he rose to his feet. "W-What? My Emperor, Uncle, why?! After everything they've done, we should punish them for their crimes!"
"And the time will come soon enough for their punishment. The Titan has spoken to me, Hunter. He knows of Witch and Heka's wickedness and is working Its will through the land." Emperor Belos rose from his throne and walked towards Hunter. Once he was standing before him, the Emperor placed his right hand on Hunter's shoulder. "When the time is right, and only when the time is right, will we deliver justice unto them. I've said this before, but it's no less true. The Titan has big plans for you, my nephew. Right now, you are a symbol, someone that our people can rally behind. If you rush in too soon and fall in battle, you'll crush the hopes of our people."
Hunter grunted, but he kind of understood what his uncle meant. Crusader was now the only Kamen Rider that the people of the Boiling Isles could trust, could look up to. If the human and Blight managed to defeat him, then there was nothing stopping them from taking over the Boiling Isles entirely.
"I understand, My Emperor. I promise, I will wait until the time is right," Hunter assured.
"There's a good lad. Your time to shine will be here sooner than you think."
Raine Whispers was diligently going over their tasks as the Head of the Bard Coven. But even so, the events that too place two days ago were not far from their mind. Raine didn't buy into what everyone saw, not for one second. For one thing, they trusted Eda, and there was no way Eda would care so much for a person who was willing to harm the world like that. Plus, their meeting with Luz beforehand at the Bard Coven Headquarters made it clear that the human was not the evil type.
As they worked, one of the bricks in the wall of their office opened. Raine saw this and got up from their desk to go to it. Once there, Raine noticed a mini-Abomination golem. The golem began reforming its body, forming short sentences.
[This is getting out of hand now.]
"I know, if Belos is willing to go this far to frame Witch and Heka, then he's desperate to see the Day of Unity through no matter what," said Raine.
[What is our next move then?]
Raine hummed as they cupped their chin and thought about it. "If we're going to get anymore information, we'll need to try a different approach."
[Perhaps we use that plan?]
"Hmm…dangerous. But if successful, we'll get everything we need. There's always option B if that doesn't pan out. For now, keep your ear to the ground. I'll contact you when I have the necessary ingredients and items for the spell," Raine explained.
[Understood. Watch your back.]
The mini-Abomination golem ceased its shapeshifting and returned to its original form before scurrying away and placing the brick back into place. Raine walked over to their window and peered out into the sky, a certain old friend not far from their thoughts, along with a certain human.
Eda, Luz, stay strong. Soon, this'll all end. Along with Belos' tyranny.
A/N: Well, that was heavy. Stay tuned for a "special" release on June 29.