Back at the House of Justice, Bria knelt on the cold stone floor, her shoulders trembling as the sounds of the distant battle echoed through the empty halls. Around her, the Children of Oscura gathered in uncertain silence, their faces a mix of confusion and fear.
For four long years, Bria had devoted herself to Empress Oscura. She had prayed, preached, and rallied, believing in her Empress' glorious return. A return that would restore her as the rightful ruler of the Boiling Isles. But today had shattered everything she thought she knew.
The trial had opened her eyes to a truth she did not want to accept: Oscura wasn't here to reclaim power. She wasn't the goddess they had believed her to be. Instead, she had denounced herself as a monster, admitting to the suffering and destruction she had caused. Bria's faith, so firmly built on worship and righteousness, now crumbled into doubt and regret.
Her Empress had begged for forgiveness, not worship. And in doing so, she had forsaken the very people who had clung to her as a symbol of salvation.
"What have we done…?" Bria whispered, her voice hollow.
The cultists glanced nervously at each other, unsure of what to do next. The weight of Luz's — Oscura's — words lingered over them like a storm cloud. Then, breaking through the crowd, Geo shoved his way forward, his face twisted with anger.
"Bria! What the hell are you doing?!" Geo barked, his voice sharp.
Bria barely looked up, her expression weary and lost.
"What's the point, Geo?" she said quietly. "All this time…we thought we were following her will. But we never truly understood what she wanted."
"So what?!" Geo scowled. He threw his arms out, his frustration boiling over. "I told you she's gone soft! To hell with Oscura! If she doesn't want to rule the Isles, then we will! I didn't waste four years of my life worshipping her for nothing!"
Bria's eyes widened, and she forced herself to stand.
"We can't do that!"
"Yes, we can!" Geo snapped back, stepping closer, his voice lowering into something dark and persuasive. "Our people need a leader, Bria. If Oscura's too weak to claim the throne, then we'll do it ourselves. You're the Head Priestess for Titan's sake! They'll follow you." He grabbed Bria by her robes, bringing her to eye level with himself. "The Oscura we all worshipped is gone! But her legacy lives on with us! With you!"
Bria pondered for a moment, and finally, her brow furrowed. She took her hands, wrapped them around Geo's wrists, and tore them away from her, forcing Geo back. The Head Priestess of the Children of Oscura glared in the direction where the sounds of battle were taking place.
"That girl…Luz…she's not Oscura. She may look and sound like her, but Our Empress' spirit no longer inhabits that body…"
Bria's mind flashed back to when she spoke to Luz, and her anger rose as she realized she had been deceived. All of that girl's actions, it all made sense now. She had been playing them all for fools, and Bria felt like the biggest fool of them all.
"We will do as we should've done: we will take back the Isles for our fallen Empress! I don't care what it takes! We'll take Luz Noceda, and use her to bring back Our Empress! Until then, we shall make this world ready for her true return!" Bria turned to her followers and flared out her arms. "CHILDREN OF OSCURA! IT IS WE WHO SHALL DEFINE THE FATE OF THE BOILING ISLES! AND WHEN THE DUST SETTLES, THIS WORLD WILL SEE US AS ITS SAVIORS! WE SHALL FIGHT! WE SHALL CONQUER! AND WE WILL DESTROY THIS MENACE THAT HAS COME TO OUR WORLD! FOR THE GLORY OF OSCURA!"
The cultists erupted into cheers, their conviction re-established as they now prepared themselves to take the fight to the monsters.
"AND ONE MORE THING: IF YOU SEE OSCURA – LUZ NOCEDA – TAKE HER! UNHARMED IF YOU CAN, INJURED IF YOU MUST! WE SHALL HAVE OUR ORACLES USE HER AS A VESSEL TO RESURRECT OUR EMPRESS!"
The cultists cheered louder, even more invigorated than before. Bria glanced back toward the battle and narrowed her eyes.
'You'd best prepare yourself…Luz Noceda…!'
The Riders had destroyed a large chunk of the Jyamato army but, much to their dismay, many more Jyamatos remained.
"Uuuuuuuuuuggggggggggghhh," Soaron groaned. "They just keep coming!"
"It's Terra. She's respawning them just as fast as we destroy them," Newtonne pointed out.
"Then we need to stop screwing around with these things, and go for the source," Red-Pan proposed.
"Sorry, children, but that won't be happening." The Riders trained their gazes to the source of the voice. Adrian walked out from the horde of Jyamatos, strutting confidently towards them as he chuckled the entire time. "I'd say we've built up the suspense long enough. It's time for this show to reach its climax!"
"Great, we gotta deal with him now?" Mirage groaned loudly. "Look, we've dealt with enough fodder. Why don't you just step aside, and save yourself the trouble?"
Adrian dismissively flicked his clawed hand.
"Confident, aren't we? You do realize I was once the Head of the illustrious Illusion Coven, don't you?"
Honey got into a fighting stance as her robotic arms trained their weapons on Adrian.
"Is that supposed to scare us?"
The half-witch, half-plant monster grinned maliciously as he answered, "It should…"
Within seconds, Adrian disappeared.
"Where'd he-ARGH!" Kata suddenly cried out as his armour sparked from a sudden blow that came out of nowhere.
"Marco! AAAAH!" Joy screamed as she was struck next.
Kurma was not taking any chances as they constructed a rotating circle of rapiers to prevent whatever was attacking them from getting too close. Unfortunately, that proved to be a futile effort as they suddenly felt something wrap around their throat and hoist them up into the air. The fox-themed Rider gagged as they tried to pry off whatever it was that was constricting around their neck.
"Masha!" Newtonne cried as she hurried to assist.
"Hold on!" Mirage shouted as he jetted towards Kurma. Using his Raise Sword, he swiftly flew close to Kurma and slashed at the air. A cry of pain rang out as Kurma was dropped, landing on their ass as whatever was constricting their neck came loose. Once they were released, Kurma saw Adrian's vine-like tail lying on the ground in front of them.
"What the hell was that?!" Kurma coughed while getting back on their feet.
"An invisibility spell," Mirage stated.
"Clever, but let's see how you handle this," Adrian's disembodied voice taunted.
In the blink of an eye, the Riders were surrounded by multiple copies of Adrian. The Riders quickly regrouped, forming a circle with their backs facing each other. While the Riders from the Human Realm were on edge, the Riders of the Boiling Isles were not as frightened by this development.
"Ugh, really? They're just illusions. There's nothing to be afraid of!" Red-Pan declared.
"Seriously?" Kurma retorted. "I almost got choked out by that guy! I haven't unlocked that kink yet, and I sure as hell don't want him doing it!"
"...Your kinks aside, illusion magic has no substance," Red-Pan explained. "They're not real. They can't hurt you."
"Technically, she's right," Honey begrudgingly agreed. "The real Adrian is hiding among them."
"Oh, good. Then that means we get to shoot and blow up everything around us to flush him out," Soaron grinned viciously.
"Do you really think it will be that easy?" one of the clones responded.
Adrian quickly broke from the ranks and charged straight for Soaron. The avian-themed Rider didn't bother to move, merely crossing her arms. Surely he wasn't stupid enough to attack with his real body right off the bat. However, before he could strike, Mirage descended from the sky and landed in front of Soaron. The moment the monster brought down his claws, they clashed against the illusionist's Raise Sword.
"What the hell?!" Soaron exclaimed when she saw the claw make contact.
Mirage pushed back against the hybrid, making him stumble backwards as he jetted forward and stabbed the creature right through the heart. He then reversed his grip on the sword, twisting the blade, and slashed through the foe's body. The body's two halves fell and exploded a moment later, but Mirage didn't let his guard down as he got back into a fighting stance.
"Wait, you killed him. So why are they still here?!" Red-Pan noticed, looking at the Adrian copies surrounding them.
"Because this a-hole mixed in real clones along with illusions!" Mirage informed.
All the clones chuckled mockingly.
"He's right."
"I did create copies of myself."
"Both physical–"
"–and illusionary."
"Gotta keep you young ones on your toes."
"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
That was unexpected. Now all the Riders were on edge. There was a chance one of these clones was the real Adrian, but there were so many, and not all of them were just hollow illusions.
"Wait, Gus, how did you know that one was a real clone and not a fake?" Newtonne asked.
"I'm…uh…" Mirage hesitated.
Honey sighed.
"Gus, this isn't the time to be modest! He's a prodigy illusionist. One of the best – if not the best – illusionists on the Boiling Isles. If things were the same under Belos, Gus probably would've become the next Head of the Illusion Coven."
"This is great. You can call out which ones are fakes and which are real," Soaron realised.
"I'll do my best. Don't forget, he's part Jyamato now. We don't have any idea how that'll affect his magic," Mirage pointed out.
"In that case, go back into the sky, call out the fakes with a bird's eye view, while the rest of us take them out," Red-Pan ordered.
Mirage glanced in Red-Pan's direction, giving her a glare from under his helmet.
"A: I was going to do that anyway. And B: I don't take orders from you, Boscha."
With that said, Mirage took off and was now hovering in the sky above them.
"Let's give ourselves some breathing room first!" Joy announced as she began strumming on the Beat Axe.
[TACTICAL THUNDER!]
As Joy strummed the Beat Axe, an electrifying melody echoed through the battlefield. Thunderclouds swirled ominously overhead, crackling with energy before unleashing a rain of lightning bolts. The thunderous strikes came down with pinpoint precision, obliterating the enemy clones and triggering an explosive chain reaction.
Honey stood firm in the chaos, her Gigant Blaster raised and fired a relentless volley of glowing energy bolts, each blast erupting like miniature fireworks across the battlefield. At the same time, her other robotic arm swung the Gigant Sword in wide arcs, unleashing crescent-shaped blades of energy that cut through rows of clones like a hot knife through butter.
Nearby, Red-Pan summoned a massive spell circle glowing with fiery intensity. From its centre, she conjured a gigantic fireball that blazed like a miniature sun. She tossed it high into the air, her Boost Armour's jets igniting as she leapt after it. With an explosive kick, Red-Pan sent the fireball streaking toward the ground like a comet, smashing into the horde of clones and erupting in a fiery shockwave that scattered them all like leaves in a storm.
Soaron followed up seamlessly, slamming her fist into the earth. The ground trembled as a surge of flames roared outward, spreading like a living inferno before erupting into towering volcanic geysers of fire that engulfed the advancing clones in a hellish blaze.
Kurma took a more calculated approach: with a flourish of their hands, they conjured up constructs of gleaming cannons and whirring Gatling guns. The air shuddered as Kurma unleashed a hailstorm of energy bullets, the continuous roar of gunfire mixing with the sounds of shattering glass and exploding clones.
A few clones broke out of the explosions and charged straight for the Riders, but Kata, Newtonne, and Red-Pan were ready to intercept.
"The three heading for Masha are real!" Mirage called out.
Red-Pan dashed towards Kurma, igniting the exhaust ports of her Boost Armour. She drew another spell circle, creating more fireballs. However, instead of shooting them, Red-Pan thrust her fists into the burning spheres. Intercepting the clones, she unleashed a furious barrage of rapid-fire punches, using the fireballs as boxing gloves to strike the Adrian clones in the face, gut, and sides over and over again. She brought her fists together, transferring the left fireball to the right, merging them into a larger one before throwing a devastating haymaker at the centre clone. The impact created an explosion that destroyed all three simultaneously.
"For the record, I'm still pissed about you blowing me up," Red-Pan reminded.
"For the record, I enjoyed it!" Kurma replied cheekily.
"The two heading for Joy are real, too!" Mirage called out.
Kata dashed in Joy's direction, designating himself as her protector. The clones started their assault by creating thorny vine whips from their left hands and throwing them in both Riders' direction.
"Marco!" Joy shouted. "Here's another boost!"
[Rock Fire!]
Joy held out the Beat Axe, and Kata knew what she meant. The hawk-themed Rider dashed towards Joy and touched the Beat Axe first with his hands, followed by jumping into the air and lightly tapping the weapon with both his feet. Once he landed, Kata's fists and feet were ablaze. When the whips approached, he struck the first one with his flaming fist, setting the vine ablaze, and doing the same with the second when he kicked it with his left foot.
The Adrian clones were forced to use their claws to cut off the vines or risk getting set on fire, but Kata wasn't done yet. Before the clones realized it, he was already in front of them. He ducked low and kicked upwards with his right foot, sending the first clone high into the air. Before the other could react, he threw a flaming uppercut and sent that one up with it as well.
Joy strummed the Beat Axe again just as Kata jumped, rising higher until he was above both of them.
[TACTICAL FIRE!]
The flames on Kata's feet surged up his body and joined with the flames on both his hands. As soon as they did, Kata flattened his palms and formed the flames into large hawk-like wings that flared out with embers dancing in the air. He kicked himself into the air with the power of the Boost Armour, making him rapidly ascend before slashing the air with both of the flaming wings on his arms. The fire wings struck both Adrian clones, slicing them across the abdomen before Kata passed by them, leaving the clones to explode in the air. Once he landed, Joy ran up to him.
"High five!" she held out her right hand. Kata chuckled and the two shared a high-five.
"The one heading for Willow is fake, the one on the right and left heading for Sasha are real, the middle one is fake too!" Mirage announced.
Newtonne nodded and readied her sword as she focused her attention on the clones coming from the right and left. The newt-themed Rider brought her right hand to her Driver, sheathing and unsheathing the blade on the Buckle once.
[WISE SWORD STRIKE!]
Newtonne's sword glowed bright green as she dashed forward, becoming an emerald whirlwind as she swiftly cut up the Adrian clone on the right, before moving to the one that was on the left and doing the same to it. Bright streaks of green appeared on the clones' bodies before they exploded a second later. Newtonne rematerialized and watched as the two illusion clones kept running towards Honey and Soaron. But she turned her back on them, readying herself for the next wave.
"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
"AAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
Screams were let out as the other Riders turned their attention to Honey and Soaron. Sparks rose into the air, jettisoned from their armour as the two supposedly illusions used their claws to strike Honey and Soaron repeatedly. The two clones energized their claws, and slashed once more, creating brilliant streaks of black and blue energy, causing an explosion that sent both Riders straight to the ground.
"SASHA!"
"WILLOW!"
The two clones raised their claws for the killing blow, but Red-Pan immediately appeared at Honey's side and delivered a spinning thrust kick to the chest of the clone, sending it flying in the opposite direction to barrel into its fellow clones. Kurma ceased their barrage and swiftly formed a barrier around Soaron just as the monster's claws came down. Once they were stopped, Kurma jumped into the air, created two rapiers, and descended from the sky, slashing with both and forming a glowing 'X' across the clone's chest before it exploded.
Once both clones had been dispatched, Red-Pan looked up into the air, directly at Mirage, and yelled, "WHAT THE HELL, PORTER?! YOU SAID THOSE WERE FAKE!"
Mirage was confused. He was certain of it. He could see the magical makeup of the illusion clones.
"T-They were – are! I-I-I don't understand it! I swear, I wasn't lying!"
The Adrian clones began their mocking laughter again, drawing Mirage's ire.
"GRAYE! WHAT DID YOU DO?! TELL ME!" Mirage demanded.
"People may consider you a 'prodigy', but it seems you don't have enough imagination to see what more you can do with an illusion. It's all a matter of putting a layer of magic over my illusions to give them some form of substance," Adrian boasted.
"Shit, he made solid light holograms, like the ones from Cosmic Frontier!" Newtonne realised.
"What's that?" Mirage asked, sounding curious.
"A sci-fi show that's been getting a lot of attention now, thanks to the new spin-offs," Newtonne explained.
Mirage shook his head in disbelief.
"That's not possible! That would require a ton of magical energy to maintain for an extended period of time! And considering you have so many made–!"
"That's if I was an inferior witch. Some witches indeed have greater magical energy than others, and such a technique would be taxing on even a master illusionist, but since my metamorphosis, my magic is nearly boundless! I'm now a one-man theatre troupe! The director!"
"The players!" the clones added.
"And the stage crew!" another group of clones finished.
"I can finally bring my vision to life!" Adrian proclaimed. "And you, 'heroes', are in my show now!"
"Dang, he's a theatre kid," Soaron grumbled. They were just so overly dramatic.
Mirage landed, grumbling at this unforeseen turn of events.
"I'm sorry, guys… I-I should've…I just didn't…" he apologised.
Honey rose to her feet, and after collecting her weapons, stood beside Mirage and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's not your fault, Gus. He did something that should be difficult for even a high-level illusionist to pull off, and he did in spades."
"Park's right on this one, Porter," Red-Pan chimed in. "There's no way that any of us could've seen this bullshit coming."
"Yeah, but we still have a problem," Kurma reminded. "We still don't know where the real one is."
"Aaaand we have a sea of clones around us. Any ideas?" Joy asked.
Kata tapped his shoulder as he thought, and then he chuckled as a thought came to mind.
"Yeah, I got one."
"Care to share?" Soaron asked.
"Just follow my lead on this one." Kata strode out in front of the group to address Adrian. "I gotta admit, you are pretty skilled."
"At least you're wise enough to recognize talent, human," a clone smugly acknowledged.
"Mmm-hmm. Oh, trust me, I can. But just to clarify, all of you are the same right?" Kata asked.
"Naturally."
"We're all brilliant."
"And talented."
"Soooo, which one of you is the best?" Kata questioned.
"Pfft, that's an easy one," an Adrian clone scoffed.
"Surely, the answer couldn't be more obvious," another added.
"I AM!" the clones proclaimed at once.
This actually caused all the Adrian clones to glance at each other sceptically. Red-Pan and Soaron, being manipulators themselves, could see where Kata was going with this.
"But you can't all be the best, right?" Red-Pan inquired.
"Yeah, I mean, at least one of you has to be better than the others," Soaron pointed out.
Kurma smirked, having caught on to the plan.
"Well, personally speaking. I think it's gotta be the original Adrian. I mean, who else could create all these others?"
"That's right!" One of the Adrians broke out from the others and shouted, "And that's why I am the best, as I am the original!"
"The hell you are! I'm the original!" another Adrian argued.
"Ugh, would you two knock-offs stop bickering! Why did I even bother creating you if you weren't going to do as I directed?" a third Adrian complained.
"YOU AREN'T THE ORIGINAL!" the clones yelled.
The Adrians all started to glare daggers at one another, and soon their postures changed. Now, they were facing each other rather than the Riders. A second ticked by, and that was when all the Adrian clones started to attack. But instead of the Riders, they were attacking each other.
The Riders just gawked, stunned at how easily all the Adrians went from attacking them to each other. Explosions rang out around them, bodies shattered, and limbs were torn as the multiple Adrians relentlessly fought.
"I'M THE BEST!"
"NO, I AM!"
"SAYS WHO!?"
"SAYS ME!"
"YOU'RE JUST THE CAST AND CREW! I'M THE DIRECTOR! YOU MUST LISTEN TO ME!"
"How…did that…happen?" Joy asked in confusion.
"The guy's a narcissist so he can't stand the idea of anyone being better than him, not even himself," Kata explained.
"Knew a few theater kids yourself?" Soaron asked.
"Ooh, yeah."
"This would be so stupid if it wasn't so funny," Red-Pan laughed as she enjoyed watching the open melee between the Adrians.
"Should we attack or just let this play out?" Mirage asked.
Honey glanced back at the melee and smirked. "Nah, this is too fun not to keep watching."
Meanwhile, Oscura had regrouped with Gato as they fought the Jyamato horde together. With her Zombie Breaker, Gato cut through them with ease, her chainsaw sword cutting them to ribbons. As for Oscura, she figured out another way to utilise her Fantasy Armour's power.
"Alright, let there be light!" Using her imagination, picturing a clear image of the yellow light glyph, Oscura drew a spell circle. Within the circle, the light glyph appeared to create a blinding flash of light, causing the Pawn Jyamatos to recoil. Then, she clapped her hands and conjured multiple light glyphs which fired a barrage of lasers at them.
The few survivors managed to dodge the lasers and charged at Oscura but she had another trick for them.
"Chill out!" Next, she drew the blue ice glyph and slammed it on the ground, which made a sheet of ice creep across the ground, causing the Jyamatos to slip. They struggled to get back on their feet, only to clumsily slip and slide on the slippery surface. Snapping her fingers, Oscura made icicles burst out of the ground, impaling the Jyamatos with extreme prejudice.
"Argh!"
Oscura heard Gato's cry and saw her being knocked back by a Knight Jyamato before a Rook Jyamato blasted her, knocking her off her feet. Oscura quickly caught her beloved fiancée, setting her on her feet.
"You OK, mi amor?" Oscura asked.
"I'm fine," Gato grunted. Fortunately, her armour took the brunt of the blast.
"Then, it's my turn!" Drawing the green plant glyph, Oscura slammed it down on the ground. Vines burst out next, grabbing the two Jyamatos. They struggled to free themselves, but the vines held firm, the thorns digging into their skin.
Then, what appeared to be a monstrous Venus flytrap emerged from the ground, the vines revealed to be its tongues as it drew the two Jyamatos into its wide open maw before they snapped shut. With a wave of her hand, Oscura made the giant jaws descend back into the ground.
"Where did you learn that?" Gato asked.
"Saw it in a movie. And for my next trick! Flame on!" Oscura drew the red fire glyph and pointed her fingers like pistols at the Jyamatos, bombarding them with a barrage of fireballs. The fireballs struck, blooming into explosions that consumed them, reducing them to ash.
Gato smiled as she watched Oscura wield the glyphs like an expert. This was the magic she was meant to use, not the darkness the Philosopher's Stone had cursed her with. Just thinking of it made the witch's heart ache with disgust, as her actions in the past had denied her beloved this gift for so long. She shook off her guilt, reminding herself that they needed to move forward.
"Luz, there's still more of them!" Gato pointed as more Jyamatos were coming for them.
"Then let's wipe them all out!" Oscura decided, hitting the switch on her Fantasy Buckle.
[FANTASY STRIKE!]
Gato followed suit, squeezing the trigger on her Zombie Breaker.
[TACTICAL BREAK!]
A massive explosion rang out as a huge swath of the Jyamatos were obliterated by waves of sparkling violet energy, and crescent energy blades. When the flames died out, only Oscura and Gato were left standing, the area cleared of the Jyamato dregs as their true enemy loomed before them.
The Queen Jyamato, Terra, sat upon a large vine as she looked down at her foes. Despite losing so many of her Jyamato horde, she didn't look at all fazed by it.
"A pity, you killed all my children," Terra spoke with just a hint of cold amusement. "Or did you?"
Terra's eyes glimmered with an unearthly emerald light, her magic radiating in waves that pulsed through her veins. The glow seeped out of her skin, tracing every line and curve of her body like living veins of fire. The energy didn't stop there — it poured into the vine beneath her, rushing through its coiled length before surging into the earth itself.
The ground trembled, cracks spreading like spider webs as the power burrowed deep. Then, with a thunderous roar, the soil erupted. From the gaping fissures emerged the Jyamatos: monstrous Chimeras with twisting horns, hulking Behemoths that towered like mountains, sleek Wyverns unfurling jagged wings. Each new form burst forth in a storm of earth and roots: Rook, Bishop, Pawn, and even Knight Jyamatos.
'Told you we should have killed her first,' Luz's inner demon remarked.
'Keeping her attention on us instead of the people was our first priority! Like I told you, I'm not letting anyone die today! Not Amity, not my friends, not anyone!' Luz retorted.
'Does Boscha have to be included in that promise?'
'Ugh, that's something to deal with later.'
"Luz," Gato spoke.
"Yeah?" Oscura responded.
"This isn't going to end unless we take Terra out. She's getting better at controlling her powers. Not only did she create new types of Jyamatos, but she can spawn them almost instantly. This fight's going to drag on with us getting more tired and worn down while she just sits up there waiting for the right moment to finish us off," Gato explained.
"I know. This whole thing won't end unless we take out Terra, but she'll just keep making more Jyamatos to use as a shield," Oscura observed.
"True, and to that end, we need an opening."
Oscura felt uneasy, believing that she knew where her fiancée was going with this.
"You're… You're not suggesting…"
"Look, I know you don't want to use that Buckle. And given everything that's happened in the last few days, I understand why. That being said, I would never force you to use it. The last thing I want is for her to come out. If you want to use it, then it's up to you. But in this case, I'm suggesting that I punch a hole through their ranks so you can make a straight shot for that monster," Gato clarified.
"Amity, if you do that, and I go after her, you'll be alone! Let's regroup with Amara and Lumina at least. The four of us together should be able to–"
All of a sudden, fireballs, beams of light, boulders and icicles rained down on the Jyamatos, causing multiple explosions to go off, destroying some of the creatures. Abominations rose from rivers of slime and began engaging with the Behemoth Jyamatos while sonic energy waves blasted from musical instruments, breaking apart or slicing up the Jyamatos that were in range.
Gato and Oscura searched for the source of the attack. To their shock and slight dismay, it was the Children of Oscura, led by Bria and her cult's Elite Four.
"You've got to be kidding me," Gato griped.
"Oh, this is not happening right now!" Oscura complained.
The cultists began engaging directly with the Jyamatos, and the plant monsters turned their attention to the new combatants.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! GET OUT OF HERE! YOU'LL GET YOURSELVES KILLED IF YOU FIGHT THOSE THINGS!" Oscura ordered.
"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ORDER US!" Bria snapped back.
Oscura and Gato watched as Bria came marching towards them with a fierce look in her eyes.
"You lied to us! You gave us false hope, and to what end!?" Bria shouted.
"Bria, I'm sorry!" Oscura apologised. "I didn't mean to do that! But now isn't the time–!"
"No! Now is the time!" Bria interrupted. "We shall vanquish this monster and have the entirety of the Boiling Isles witness that we are right! We shall rule!" She clenched her hands into fists as she glared at Oscura directly, her eyes now flowing with fresh tears. "I shall carry on Empress Oscura's legacy! Even if she is gone, I will not allow her to be forgotten! I will bring her back!" She pointed sharply in Terra's direction. "And the first step is killing that monster!" She then pointed at Oscura. "The second will be taking you and resurrecting our true Empress! If that fails, then I shall carry on in her name!"
"Bria, you need to listen to me! That's no ordinary monster! You guys can't beat her!" Oscura warned.
"WATCH US!"
Bria quickly drew a pair of spell circles and slammed her hands against the ground. An eruption of dirt and rock rose, forcing Gato and Oscura back. Next, Bria used her spell to make a pillar of rock burst out from under her feet, launching her into the air like a catapult, throwing her over multitudes of Jyamatos. She drew more spell circles, pulling huge boulders from the ground below and making them fly into the air beside her. Once Bria was in the range of the Queen Jyamato, she waved her hands over the boulders.
One of them flew under her, acting as a platform. The other six hovered in a circle above the Queen Jyamato. The witch motioned with her hands, and the six boulders glowed brighter. A moment later, the boulders began shooting sharp pieces of shrapnel-sized stone straight at the Queen Jyamato, like a high-powered Gatling gun, but a thousand times over. The barrage struck Terra at Mach speed, forming a cloud of dust that obscured her.
Bria drew another spell circle and ripped another boulder from the ground. She energized it with magical energy, as it rose high into the air, and then commanded it to fall straight down on Terra. The boulder plummeted like a meteor from the heavens. Upon impact, it went off in a massive explosion.
Many of the Jyamatos were caught in the blast, either blown apart, incinerated, or thrown in different directions. The cultists took this opportunity to push forward and take out as many as they could.
The High Priestess of the cult panted heavily from her efforts but smirked as she believed she had at least dealt the monster a critical blow.
"For…the glory...of...Oscura..." she exhaled.
However, that thought was short-lived as a burst of energy dispersed the dust cloud. The Children of Oscura froze in their tracks and gaped at the Queen Jyamato. Her vine had been destroyed, but Terra herself didn't have so much as a scratch on her. She dusted herself off as she glared up at Bria.
"Tch. So, Oscura's little followers have decided to throw their hats into the ring as well? Fine then."
Terra crouched low and jumped straight up into the air. As soon as she was level with Bria, she transformed her right arm and swung it in Bria's direction. Multiple vines rushed towards the High Priestess and wrapped around her body as they tore her off her floating boulder.
"Those imbeciles in the council should've killed you lot! You're nothing but weeds, and my new garden has no tolerance for such pests!"
The Queen Jyamato thrust her arm downward and slammed Bria straight into the ground, the violent impact making a crater as Bria let out a cough of pain, the air being knocked out of her lungs and almost rendering her unconscious.
Terra landed a few feet away, and sneered when she saw that Bria was getting back up, thanks to a healing spell. It was a good thing Bria had studied up on Healing magic as she did not want to get taken out of the fight so soon.
"Stubborn little weed, aren't you?" Terra raised her right hand as vines began to form within her grasp. The vines spiralled and elongated, forming a spear with a thorn as the spearhead. Terra poured her magic into the spear, causing it to shine with an ominous green glow. "Let's see you get back up from this!"
Bria could only watch helplessly as Terra hurled the spear in her direction. The High Priestess was still recovering from the rough landing, and couldn't think enough to cast a shield spell. All she could do was close her eyes and await her death.
Suddenly, the roar of a speeding motorcycle echoed in the air, followed by the sickening sound of flesh being pierced. Bria winced, thinking she had been hit. But when she touched her chest, Bria realised she was unharmed. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped in horror.
Standing before Bria was Kamen Rider Oscura, with the spear meant for the former now lodged straight through the latter's chest.
"B-Bria…" Oscura groaned.
"W-What…why…?" Bria was speechless.
"LUZ!" Gato screamed as she ran towards her wounded fiancée.
Oscura dropped to her knees, her armour vanishing as she was forced back to her civilian form. It was here that they could see the extent of the damage: the spear had gone right through her chest, which was bleeding profusely and Luz was coughing up blood. Gato managed to reach her and got down on her knees beside her beloved as she held onto her.
"Luz, you're gonna be alright!" Gato assured her
"I'm sorry…mi amor…" Luz groaned.
"Don't talk! J-just save your strength!" Gato tried to cast a healing spell, but the spell circle shattered as soon as it came into contact with Luz's body. The witch's eyes widened in horror when she saw the black and red static appear all over Luz's body. "No! No!"
"Looks like...this is Game Over for me..." Luz weakly spoke, feeling her strength leaving her.
"No, Luz! You're not gonna die on me, you hear me!? I won't let you!" Gato cried in despair. "Please, just stay with me! Stay with me!"
Bria was still in shock. This was the last thing she expected. Luz Noceda had just saved her life, using her own body as a shield. It… It didn't make sense.
"W-Why… I-I don't understand…! I…" Bria stammered.
Luz managed a small smile as she looked at her.
"Bria…I'm sorry. You… When I was Oscura…I was in pain… I… I saw how devoted you were…and…I foolishly encouraged you…made you…seek my approval… So much happened… And I… I never got to set things right…all those years ago. Bria…I'm not a goddess…I'm just a girl… A girl who was…suffering…a girl who wanted to make…everyone suffer, too…and then I went mad… I may have had good intentions…at first…but towards the end…I only wanted to destroy it all… But that's not me anymore… What you saw…the good that I did do…was the glimpses of the old me…the real me I've…b-been trying to become again…"
Bria started to weep. She didn't understand why was she feeling this much sorrow.
"All I wanted…was to help you all…" Luz continued.
"Help us?" Bria questioned.
"Because…I knew…you weren't evil…just misguided and...going down…the wrong path…the same as me… I… I just didn't…didn't want you all to suffer like me…" Luz coughed up more blood as her body started to go numb. "Amity…mi amor…forgive me… I know…I said I didn't want…anyone to die…but…it looks like I broke my promise…ha…ha…"
"Luz, please! Just stay with me! Please!" Gato pleaded desperately, her shoulders shaking.
"Please...let me see your face...Amity..." Luz requested.
Gato nodded and undid her transformation, her armour disappearing. Luz weakly raised her right hand and caressed Amity's left cheek.
"I'm so...sorry...sorry for everything," Luz apologised. "Adios...mi amor..." She offered Amity a warm smile before closing her eyes.
"No, Luz!" Amity protested. "Luz!"
[Mission Failed!]
Luz's ID core cracked completely before the black and red static fully consumed, her body and Driver disintegrating before Amity's eyes, leaving behind her Buckles which clattered to the ground. Amity kept grasping at the air as if trying to hold onto her beloved. But no matter how much she tried, she could no longer feel Luz. Not her warmth, not her presence.
She was gone. Forever.
Bria broke down into a sob, feeling heartbreak. Only now did she understand what Luz was trying to do, and it took her death to make her finally understand.
"LUUUUUUUUUZZZZZ!" Amity screamed.
Back at the Noceda residence, a framed picture of Luz when she was a little girl suddenly fell off the wall, causing the glass over the photo to crack.
"Oh, no," Camila went to pick up the picture and saw the crack that marred her daughter's face.
Meanwhile, in the Desire Temple, Tsumuri monitored the battle with steely focus, her eyes darting across multiple screens that displayed the Riders in action.
She wasn't supposed to feel invested — her role demanded impartiality. Yet, watching the Riders fight, she couldn't help but silently root for them. They were the first and last line of defence against Terra the Queen Jyamato and her monstrous horde, and Tsumuri knew better than anyone what failure would mean.
Her gaze locked onto Oscura and Gato, their movements a perfectly coordinated dance of power and precision as they fought side by side. For a fleeting moment, it seemed like they might turn the tide.
But then Bria and her cultists stormed the battlefield, their fanaticism driving them to interfere. What followed unravelled too quickly: a flash of green, the arc of a spear, and then…stillness.
Tsumuri froze. On the largest screen, Oscura crumpled to her knees, the deadly spear piercing her chest. Time seemed to slow as the vibrant energy of the battlefield dimmed, leaving only the sight of Luz Noceda — the brave, determined Rider — dying in Amity's arms.
"No…" Tsumuri whispered, her voice trembling as the screens continued their relentless broadcast.
Her hands shook as she glanced down at the tablet before her. The status display updated with an unforgiving finality, the bold red letters glaring back at her:
[LOSE]
The room felt suddenly colder. Luz's name sat beside the word, stark and unrelenting, like a death knell.
Tsumuri's throat tightened, and for a moment, she couldn't breathe. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not her. Not like this.
"Luz…" she whispered as if saying the girl's name might somehow bring her back.
She looked back at the screen, where Amity's anguished cries pierced through the chaos. Tsumuri's usually composed demeanour cracked as a single tear slid down her cheek, unnoticed.
Forcing herself to look away, she clutched the tablet tightly, her knuckles white. She swallowed hard and turned her attention to the remaining Riders still in the fight.
'This can't be over,' she thought, her resolve hardening. 'It can't.'
Lumina froze, her entire body going rigid as she received the notification on her HUD.
"No…" she whispered, the word escaping her lips like a breathless plea. "No, no, no."
This… This was not supposed to happen.
Luz Noceda was not meant to die. She was supposed to be the hero of the Boiling Isles, the one who always rose from the ashes, no matter how hopeless things seemed. And yet, she was gone, her life was taken by Terra Snapdragon.
For a moment, Lumina couldn't hear the chaos of the battlefield. The world dulled around her — the roars of the Jyamato, the distant cries of the Riders — all of it faded into a sickening silence. All she could see was the stillness where Luz once stood, the final sparks of light extinguished, her hero gone forever.
'She was supposed to survive. She was supposed to win.'
Her chest burned, anger boiling up to meet the grief that threatened to crush her. If Luz had only used the Oscura Buckle… If she hadn't hesitated… If Terra hadn't—
Lumina's fists clenched, her knuckles turned white as her entire body began to tremble. She gritted her teeth, her jaw tight with fury. Tears pricked the corners of her eyes, but she refused to let them fall.
"She was supposed to be the one to save us," she hissed under her breath, her voice low and trembling with rage.
From across the battlefield, Terra loomed, her monstrous figure a mocking presence. She stood tall, victorious, with Luz's blood on her hands.
Lumina's glare hardened into something sharp and deadly. Terra would pay.
The cries of the Jyamatos broke the silence as a group of them rushed toward her. Lumina barely registered them.
Her breathing quickened, her body vibrating with raw, unbridled fury. She let out a shriek — a primal, anguished sound that tore through the battlefield like a razor's edge. In a flash, she transformed, assuming her quadrupedal Owl Beast Mode.
The Jyamatos lunged, but she moved faster, her wings spread menacingly. With a shrill, predatory cry, she descended upon them. Claws flashed, slicing through their flesh, ripping them apart like paper. The battlefield was a blur of shadow and blood as the Owl Beast tore through the horde, leaving nothing but shreds and dust in her wake.
And then, she turned.
Her wings beat against the air, lifting her high above the carnage. The wind howled around her as she set her golden gaze on Terra, her nemesis.
Lumina's voice cut through the chaos — guttural and filled with venom.
"TERRA!" She flapped her wings once, and the ground cracked beneath her as she launched forward, a blur of feathers and fury, heading straight for the Queen Jyamato. "YOU'LL PAY!"
Mirage, Honey, Red-Pan, Joy, Kata, Soaron, and Newtonne all received notifications on their Spider Phones at the same time. They quickly took them out while the Adrians were still arguing and fighting amongst themselves. But when they checked their phones to see what the notification was about, their eyes widened with shock.
Luz Noceda/Kamen Rider Oscura [LOSE]
Honey's hand was shaking as she stumbled about, but Mirage managed to hold onto her, despite the fact that he too was shaking with grief.
"This… This isn't happening right…? H-Hey…G-Gus…please tell me this is just Adrian messing with our heads," Honey begged.
"N-No…it… It isn't," Mirage sobbed.
Soaron and Newtonne couldn't believe what they were seeing. After everything they had been through, they couldn't believe that Luz had just… Just died.
"No… No, not her!" Soaron shouted, in denial. Another girl she cared about had died.
"Luz…oh, God…no," Newtonne wept.
Joy and Kata were having flashbacks to when Penn died, and now they had the misfortune to experience the death of another competitor.
"Again…just like last time," Kata angrily growled.
"We couldn't stop it…" Joy sobbed.
Red-Pan clenched her Spider Phone in her hand, nearly breaking it as the screen cracked.
"Damn you…human…"
Kurma was silent. They shook, not with sadness, but with rage. Luz, their sister-in-law-to-be, was dead. All they could think about was seeing Vee's sorrow-stricken face, and hearing Camila's cries for the loss of her daughter.
"Huh, I was planning on killing her slowly, but then she goes and does a silly thing like that," Terra sighed in disappointment after witnessing Luz's demise. She knew where she ended up: right in Archimedel's garden to become fertiliser. "Oh, well. The main event is over. Guess all that's left is to clean up so I can start work on my lovely garden."
Amity stood up, keeping her back turned to Terra as her body began to glow. In her right hand was Luz's FeverSlot Buckle and in her left was her Abomination Buckle. The youngest Blight slowly turned her head in Terra's direction, her eyes burning a bright purple as tears streamed down her face. Once she had fully turned in Terra's direction, she inserted both of Buckles into her Driver and summoned forth a massive wave of Abomination goo.
Amity had the wave rise high into the air as she jumped up with the wave and cried out, "HENSHIN!"
[ABOMINATION! HIT! FEVER ABOMINATION!]
In a flash of golden light, Amity had transformed back into Kamen Rider Gato but now in a full Abomination Armour — Fever Abomination. Only now, the golden eyes of her helmet were burning with the same violet light as her own.
"TERRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
[READY…FIGHT!]
Luz felt as if she were sinking underwater, the weight of despair dragging her down into an abyss. Suddenly, a cold, iron grip seized her arm, yanking her upward with such force that she tumbled to her knees, coughing violently as she gasped for air.
"What were you thinking!?" a familiar voice hissed, dripping with venom.
Luz blinked, struggling to focus as she looked up. Standing over her, regally garbed, was Empress Oscura, her eyes blazing with fury.
"Wha... What happened?" Luz stammered, her mind reeling as she tried to piece together the fragments of her memory.
"You got us killed, you idiot! That's what happened!" Oscura snarled, her voice echoing in the strange, abstract realm that surrounded them.
Luz's eyes widened as she took in the alien landscape. They stood ankle-deep in a pool of black water, which seemed to stretch out endlessly in all directions. Above and below them, iridescent structures twisted and spiralled, forming a surreal canyon of impossible geometry. Black cubes floated lazily from the pool below to another that defied gravity, hanging ominously overhead.
"Where... Where are we...?" Luz whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Maybe we're in the 'Bad Place'," Oscura sneered. "It's missing the fire and brimstone, though." Her gaze hardened as she glared at Luz. "If you had used my power like I told you to, we wouldn't be here! And why, in the name of Azura, did you throw your life away like that!?"
"I wanted to save her!" Luz shot back, her voice cracking under the weight of her emotions.
"There were other ways that didn't involve getting us killed!" Oscura shouted, her patience fraying. "Did you really hate yourself so much that you had a death wish!? Well, congratulations, 'hero'! We're dead, and it's all your fault!"
Luz's eyes narrowed, her breath quickening as her anger boiled over. It wasn't just about dying — it was everything that Oscura had ever done, everything she represented. Luz saw her as the embodiment of all the trauma that had plagued her life.
"Maybe I wouldn't have had to sacrifice myself if you weren't always trying to control me!" Luz snarled, her voice rising with each word. "All you ever do is push me towards the darkness, forcing me to become something I'm not! You're the reason for all of this! You're the reason I've suffered!"
Oscura's expression twisted with a mix of rage and disbelief.
"Control you? Made you suffer? All I've been trying to do is make you strong! You're weak, Luz, and your weakness got us killed!"
"I'm not weak!" Luz screamed, her hands trembling as her fists clenched. "I'm tired of you treating me like a puppet, like I'm just some tool for your twisted plans! You've ruined everything! You've ruined me!"
Oscura took a step closer, her eyes narrowing dangerously.
"Ha! 'Ruined you'?! I'm the witch you always wanted to be! A powerful witch that no one could laugh at! That no one could push around! Someone who was respected!" Oscura poked Luz in the chest with each sentence. "Everyone laughed at us in the Human Realm! But even in a world filled with demons and witches, we were still an outcast! We didn't fit in anywhere! But all that changed when we got the power of the Philosopher's Stone! We had everything! And we can have that again!"
Luz shoved Oscura's hand away from her as she glared daggers at her dark counterpart.
"I have a better life now than I did when I was you! Mom accepts us! I have a sister, a fiancée, and a fun soon-to-be-enbi-in-law! My life is freakin' great! But that's not enough for you, is it?!"
"Because we could have more! We were destined for more! Something bigger and better than our boring life! Just like Azura! Just like the other Luz! It's painful to see you just being 'content' when you can have your cake and eat it too!" Oscura hissed.
"Oh, please, just admit it! You're just jealous!" Luz accused.
"WHAT?!"
Now, it was Luz's turn to start poking Oscura as she went on.
"I don't know how, but until now you've just been a voice in the back of my head! And now that you can think and feel, you want what I have! That's all this is! You can't stand that I'm happy! That I got it without needing you! The mere fact that I was able to pick up the pieces and have a life worth living, all of it, without Y! O! U!"
*SMACK!*
Oscura's hand just slapped Luz right across the face. The Latina was stunned for a moment, but then slowly turned her head back towards her dark side.
"Huh, did I strike a nerve there?" Luz asked knowingly.
"A nerve? Hah!" Oscura laughed. "As if! You need to wake up, Luz! The only reason you can be the person you are now is because of me! Without me, you'd still be the snivelling nerd, crouched in a corner, and Amity wouldn't even give you the time of day!"
*SMACK!*
The sound of a hand striking skin echoed loudly in the unknown space around them. Oscura's head had turned to the right as Luz huffed in anger, her right hand stinging with the pain of striking her dark persona.
Oscura turned her head in Luz's direction and smirked.
"There she is. There's the scared little girl who's afraid of the dark."
"You've had this coming a long time, you bitch," Luz stated.
"Oh, I've been waiting just as long for this moment," Oscura retorted.
Silence hung in the air for a lengthy minute. A cube rose from the waters around their feet, dripping with the strange water. When the last drop fell from the cube, hitting the waters below, it was the signal both of them were waiting for.
Without warning, Luz lunged straight for Oscura, barreling right into her midsection, sending both women into the waters below with a loud splash. Luz rose and prepared to punch Oscura in the face, but the Empress of Darkness reached up and grabbed Luz by her hair, causing the Latina to shout in pain. Oscura yanked violently and turned the tables on her.
Oscura was now on top of Luz, and she began punching her across the face. She cocked back her fist for another blow, but just as she threw the punch, Luz caught Oscura by the wrist. The Latina retaliated, striking Oscura in the stomach once, twice, three times. Oscura gasped in pain, which allowed Luz to buck her dark counterpart off and away from her.
Luz rolled off her back and swiftly sprang to her feet. Oscura, clutching her stomach, managed to get back up as well as she took off her cape and tossed it away. Luz charged in again, throwing another punch. Oscura weaved around the punch and backhanded Luz across the face. The blow managed to make Luz stumble, but not for long. She quickly planted her feet, twirled around, and threw an elbow strike right into Oscura's chest.
Oscura groaned in pain but was not deterred as she thrust both of her hands out, grabbed Luz by the head, and slammed both of their foreheads together. Funnily enough, they both yelped in pain as they stumbled away from each other. A ringing sound persisted in their ears as stars danced in their eyes.
"Oh, fuck! That was stupid!" Oscura yelled.
"Ugh, no one wins in a headbutt," Luz added.
The ringing and disorientation stopped after a moment, at least enough for the two women to regain their bearings.
"Okay, new rule: no more headbutts," Luz proposed.
"Agreed," Oscura concurred.
With their agreement made, both girls resumed their melee, charging for one another, their fists raised. The two met in the middle where they each threw a punch at the same time. Luz's punch curved around Osucra's fist, allowing her to land a blow against Oscura's cheek. Almost simultaneously, Oscura's punch had weaved around Luz's fist and nailed her in the face in a cross counter. Their punches made them stumble back a few steps before Oscura lunged and barreled into Luz.
Falling together, Luz and Oscura began punching and kicking at each other wildly. Hair was pulled, skin was scratched, and the two of them were at this point devolving into a couple of wild animals trying to kill each other. This went on for a minute and a half before they managed to get back to their feet.
Luz and Oscura both had scratch marks, bruises, and bloodied lips. Both women spat some blood out, never once letting their hard gazes falter from each other.
"You don't know when to quit, do you?" Oscura huffed.
"I can say the same to you," Luz retorted.
"Why don't you just admit you need me? You've always needed me!"
"I don't need an evil bitch like you in my head! But it hardly matters now since we're dead anyway!"
"Because of you! Your stupid need to 'atone' is what got us here!" Oscura ranted. "Congratulations! We're dead! I should've tried harder to take control! Then none of this would've happened!"
"At least I won't have to worry about you harming Amity or the rest of my family! This place might be Purgatory or the Bad Place. Who knows? But wherever here is, at least you're trapped here with me!"
"Great plan," Oscura scoffed. "So, everyone will die back in the land of the living, and you definitely won't be able to see Amity in whatever afterlife she gets sent to! Did you stop to think about that, genius?!"
Luz clenched her fist as her glare intensified.
"Again, something I blame you for! If you had just gone away after the other Luz and Anne defeated you, I wouldn't be in this mess!"
"You know, here's a thought: maybe this place is a kind of junction? A place for people who have two souls. Maybe if I take you out here, I can go back and put things back in order," Oscura suggested.
"Over my dead body!"
"Exactly!"
With renewed vigour, Luz and Oscura readied to duke it out once again.
"Okay, that's enough of that now."
Suddenly, the light glyph appeared in front of Luz and Oscura and released a blinding flash that stopped them in their tracks. The light continued to shine, and as it did, all the damage they had done to each other was healed. When the light finally dimmed, Luz and Oscura slowly opened their eyes and were shocked to see what had stopped them.
The being before them looked a lot like King, but older. He had leathery wings on his back, a bathrobe with a shirt that read 'Bad Girl Coven' on it, and a pair of pyjama pants that had multiple copies of the four glyphs printed onto it. He had a skull that resembled King's, but with longer fangs and horns. A thick beard grew from under the skull, and his right eye had an empty socket. Well, not completely empty. There was a worm-like creature sticking out of it, which disturbingly resembled Hooty for some reason.
"K-King?" Luz and Oscura asked at the same time.
"Haha, sorry, no. But he does get his good looks from me," the strange being corrected.
Luz and Oscura's eyes widened with realization. This couldn't be who they were thinking it was. For him to say something like that, it couldn't be any other person, could it?
"Are you… Are you King's dad?!" Luz gasped.
"Indeed I am," he acknowledged.
"Ho…ly…Titan," spoke a stunned Oscura.
"Yes, that would be me as well."
Luz and Oscura were understandably afraid right now. The Titan of the Boiling Isles was considered a god, the giver of life and magic. And right now, these two were standing in his presence.
In Luz's mind, this solidified that this really was Purgatory, a place of judgment. All the things she had done, all the lives she took, it was time for her judgement, and the god of the Boiling Isles was here to make her pay for her crimes.
Oscura's line of thinking wasn't that far off either. She was Luz's dark side. If there was anyone who was going to be punished for everything that happened four years ago, it would be her. She did almost destroy the entire Demon Realm, which would've killed King as well. Just then a thought popped into Oscura's mind.
"H-Hold on…if you're King's dad…then… Then that means King's a Titan!" Oscura shouted.
"King's a Titan?!" Luz shouted as well. "Holy crap, King's a living god?!"
"Yes, yes, he's due for a growth spurt down the line. But let's put that aside for the moment. There's the matter of what's happening now, and what you want to do going forward," the Titan explained.
"So, is this… Is this… What is this place?" Luz asked.
"An in-between realm. A place that sits outside of the normal space, but also acts as a window into other spaces." As the Titan explained this, a cube rose from the waters and stopped in front of him. "These cubes let me see into other spaces. So, I know everything that's happened."
Luz gulped.
"E-Everything…?"
The Titan nodded as he released the cube.
"I wanted to stop Belos, and when I saw you, and how well you treated my son, I thought to take a chance on you, Luz, and showed you the light glyph. I wasn't sure if you could defeat Belos, but I had a feeling you could at the very least upset his plans. But I was disappointed when you lost the ability to use magic, including my glyphs. I had hoped to show you more, but that curse you were under would've only made your suffering worse. I was even more disappointed when you decided to use that forbidden ritual."
Luz averted her gaze from the Titan as she wrapped her right arm around her stomach, clutching at her left arm with her right hand.
The Titan turned his attention to Oscura, making the Empress of Darkness flinch.
"I saw your rise as well, Oscura. Despite your darkness, you did seek to right the wrongs of Philip Wittebane, to allow the people of the Boiling Isles to freely use their magic as it was intended. While I didn't agree with your methods, I did understand your motivation."
Oscura turned her eyes away from the Titan. Hot tears began to spill from her eyes as they flowed down her face. It felt good to hear that the god of the Boiling Islanders didn't see her as a monster, and that he did understand her intentions, even if they were extreme at the time.
"Wait…you said you were prepared to show me more of the glyphs back then. But it's only been recently that I discovered the other three glyphs… Were you… Were you showing them to me?" Luz inquired.
The Titan returned his attention to Luz and nodded.
"I did. When I saw your return, I wanted to see if you still had the spark inside of you. And you did. You found my remaining glyphs. Better late than never, right?"
"Hey…" Oscura started, making Luz and the Titan look at her. "The one who set me off, the Collector. Four years ago, he was the reason I snapped. Because of what he told me, I sought destruction over reformation. He helped me find a way to enter other worlds and wanted me to free him in exchange for his help. I need to know…what happened to him?"
Luz remembered the Collector, the child that told her of the other Boiling Isles where the other Luz became Kamen Rider Witch and was living the life she had hoped for. She had Set collect all of the mirror disks that allowed the Collector to contact people beyond his dimensional prison. With her power, Luz – or rather Oscura – had destroyed them all. She had always wondered what became of him, but at the same time, she was afraid to find out.
"The one you know as the 'Collector', is part of a race of celestial beings known as the Archivists. Their kind was responsible for the genocide of my people. It was because of them that King is now the last living Titan. In the final battle, I used my power to trap him in this very space. It cost me my life and trapped my soul in here as well. For centuries I've kept watch over him, my son and the people of the Isles," the Titan talked.
"So…I really did doom him to an eternity of loneliness?" Luz figured.
"What? Oh no, don't feel bad about that," the Titan reassured.
"What?" the two questioned.
The Titan waved his hand and revealed the prison that the Collector had been kept in. The cage was spherical, with a claw-like apparatus clutching a red orb at the centre. Dozens of broken pieces of rock floated around the sphere in an orbit as black stars and moons floated along the surface of the orb itself. After a moment, a shadowy figure appeared and angrily pounded against the sphere.
"DAMN YOU! I WILL GET OUT OF HERE! AND WHEN I DO, I'LL BRING THE OTHER ARCHIVISTS AND TEAR THAT RUNT OF YOURS APART LIMB BY LIMB! THEN WE'LL BRING HIM BACK TO LIFE AND DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!"
Luz and Oscura flinched in shock and fear upon hearing the pure venom in his voice. Strangely, the voice didn't sound like the child from before. It sounded older, like a man in their early to mid-twenties.
"Uh…that's the Collector?" Luz incredulously asked.
"Okay, now I don't feel so bad about trapping him forever anymore," said Oscura.
"No, this isn't the Collector, but another one of the Archivists. The Collector was a child god. Unlike his brethren, he cared about our race. He didn't care for his people's ways, and sought his own way by making friends and playing amongst the mortals. When he found us, a race of beings who not only lived long, but who had power equal to his, the Collector made his home amongst us, and we gladly accepted him. However…the others couldn't accept that."
The Titan used his magic to create an illusion, images of the Archivists doing battle with the ancient Titans.
"A war broke out between our two races. They couldn't abide the fact that there was another race of beings with powers that could rival their own."
"Tch, petty assholes," Oscura commented.
"To that end, one of them descended upon our world and tricked the witches and demons into believing that we Titans were monsters that were not to be trusted. This one was dubbed the 'Grand Huntsman'. He helped the newly formed Titan Trappers to develop ways of slaughtering us at ground level, while he and the rest fought us from the skies."
The images now showed the Titan Trappers snatching up Titan children, killing them, and wearing their pelts and skulls as they snuck in and killed more whilst wearing the faces of their kind. Luz had to look away as she couldn't bear to see young Titans that looked like King getting slaughtered like animals. Oscura watched the slaughter with rising anger, clenching her fists tightly.
"The battle was long and hard-fought, but in the end, I managed to pull an – as you kids say – 'Uno reverse' on them. They believed me to be the final living Titan. Thankfully, I hid King's egg far, far away from them, and made my final stand against the Grand Huntsman. And, as you see, it resulted in my death, and our souls being trapped here," concluded the Titan as he gestured towards the prison. "However, his followers were vehement in trying to locate my son, and to this end created disks that would allow the Grand Huntsman to communicate with them."
"Wait, what happened to the Collector then?" Luz questioned.
The Titan glanced up at the prison with a hard glare. "This foul thing murdered his own kin, for the sole crime of befriending us."
Luz went pale, imagining how the Collector must have felt when his own family decided to kill him.
"So, the 'Collector' that spoke to me wasn't the Collector at all, just the Grand Huntsman assuming his identity," Oscura concluded.
"Indeed. He believed that adopting the facade of his slain brother would elicit sympathy from others. They would lower their guard if they thought they were dealing with a child instead of a grown adult." The Titan turned towards Oscura. "In a way, what you did actually saved the Demon Realm. The Grand Huntsman didn't account for how conniving you were back then. He made the mistake of thinking he was dealing with a child, and in the end, he was doomed for it."
A loud pounding sound garnered their attention as they looked up at the spherical prison.
"YOU LITTLE BITCH! I SHOULD'VE MADE YOU RELEASE ME! IF I EVER GET FREE, THE FIRST THING I'M GOING TO DO IS GO TO YOUR WORLD AND TURN IT INTO MY PERSONAL HUNTING GROUNDS!" the Grand Huntsman howled threateningly.
Oscura crossed her arms and grinned at the trapped celestial being.
"Aww, are you mad because you pretended to be a child, and ended up getting tricked by one instead? Then stay mad, asshole! AHAHAHAHA!"
"Yeah, now I don't feel bad about that anymore. Sucks to be you, Huntsman!" Luz added.
"Nice."
"Thanks."
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE, THERE ARE NO WORDS IN ANY LANGUAGE THAT COULD BEGIN TO DESCRIBE WHAT I WILL DO TO YOU! BUT FOR STARTERS, I WILL –!"
"Aaaaaaaand that's enough of that," the Titan interrupted as he waved his hand and made the prison disappear. "Yeesh, he's going to be pissy for a while. But back to the matter at hand."
"Oh…right…were you about to pass judgement on us?" Luz guessed.
"Judgement?" the Titan questioned, tilting his head in confusion.
"Yeah, isn't that why you're here? You're going to judge us, and send us to whatever version of Heaven or Hell we're supposed to go to?" Oscura clarified.
"Uh, no. That's not my department," he cleared up.
Luz and Oscura released a sigh of relief.
"But, then, why are we here?" Luz pressed.
The Titan used his magic to levitate Oscura and Luz over to himself and set them down.
"I brought you both here because I want to give you a chance to go back."
"WHAT?!" the two girls gasped.
"The Demon Realm is facing a crisis, one that could spill out into other worlds if not stopped. I have watched your battles in the Desire Grand Prix, and I have seen your life in the Human Realm. You've done well so far, Luz Noceda. You've been driven by a need to atone for your past sins, and while this other half of you hasn't been all that cooperative…"
Oscura crossed her arms and huffed.
"You two have fought hard to return the lives you took. And now, you're striving to bring back another. I can understand if you don't want to. You've given a lot. But if there's anyone who has a chance of defeating Terra Snapdragon, it would be you. So, I'm here offering a chance for you to return and end this battle."
"Wait… You mean… You can bring me back to life?!" Luz asked with hope in her eyes.
"Hold on!" Oscura interjected. "If you can do that, then it should be me who goes back instead of her."
Luz turned to her dark persona.
"Excuse me?!"
"Between the two of us, I'm the stronger one! And you know it!" Oscura snapped.
"If you go back, you'll destroy Terra, and then start on that whole 'I'm the ruler of the Demon and Human Realms' kick!"
"And why shouldn't I? I'll save the world! I should be rewarded! It's what I deserve!"
"You deserve to get your ass kicked! No way in hell am I letting you go back to threaten the lives of the people I care about!"
"Oh, you want to go again, Luzer?! Winner gets to go back!"
"Why not! That way, I won't have to hear you complain about it!"
The Titan immediately put himself between the bickering girls, keeping them separate as if they were a pair of misbehaving children.
"Okay, girls, I let you have your little fight earlier to get that out of your system. We're not doing that again."
"Well, she's definitely not going back!" Luz insisted.
"Oh, you bet your ass I'm going back!" Oscura argued.
"Bitch!"
"Asshole!"
The Titan groaned in annoyance. These two were like a couple of bickering sisters. But he knew something that would make these two stop their childish fighting, something that would even get them on the same page.
"By all means, girls, go ahead and have your fight." The Titan released the two and took a step back.
"Wait, so you'll let us fight to see who goes back?" Luz raised her fists.
"Great! Let's do it before he changes his mind!" Oscara eagerly prepared herself to fight.
"I mean, sure. You can waste time and fight to see who gets to go back. But in the meantime, the person you both love is hurling herself into danger as we speak."
Luz and Oscura paused as their eyes widened.
"AMITY?!"
The Titan smirked as a cube rose from the water. He grabbed the cube and flipped it around as it started to glow. The side that was facing Luz and Oscura acted as a screen, showing Gato battling Terra. She was fighting like a berserker as she hurled herself at the monster, throwing attack after attack at Terra in a futile effort to avenge the death of her beloved.
"Though you are darkness and light, there is still one thing that binds you both, one thing that neither of you can deny of the other: your love for Amity Blight."
Luz and Oscura's harsh glares softened a little as they glanced at each other. Even if they hated each other, that was a fact that neither of them could deny. For all of Oscura's darkness, Luz knew that her dark persona was just as in love with Amity as she was. Even though Amity would never accept Oscura due to their history, she still loved her.
Seeing that he had them on the same page, the Titan reached out with his right hand and coated it in magical energy. The glyphs floated around the sphere of energy, connected by tendrils of magic that sparked and glittered. Both Luz and Oscura looked upon the light that was presented to them, and then up at the Titan.
"If you want to save the girl you love, if you want to save the Demon Realm, then you will have to fight as one. Only together will you be powerful enough to stop Terra Snapdragon and save everyone along with everything you love. But I cannot force this upon you. As with everything, it all begins with a choice. And so, I give you this choice: Luz, Oscura, will you take this power and walk amongst the living once more? Or, if you wish, I can help usher you into the afterlife of your choosing. You have been through so much, and no one would fault you for deciding that you have done more than enough. So, what will you choose?"
Luz looked at Oscura, and Oscura looked back at Luz. The two locked eyes for what felt like forever as they contemplated the idea of working together. Their attention was drawn back to the cube, showing Gato getting hit by an attack from Terra, and how the rest of their allies were not faring any better.
"Just this once…" Luz said.
"For Amity's sake…" Oscura added.
Luz and Oscura reached out and grabbed ahold of the Titan's hand at the same time.
"We'll work together, and stop Terra!" the two proclaimed in unison.
The Titan smiled as he said, "Spoken like true heroes."
The light surged from the Titan's hand down the arms of both Luz and Oscura. That same light stopped at their waists and flashed brightly before transforming into matching Drivers.
[Driver On, Please.]
Luz and Oscura took a step back, recognizing the Drivers as the same one that the other Luz used to transform into Kamen Rider Witch. At the same time, another flash of light went off around both of their left hands, materialising rings. The ring on Oscura's finger was made of a dark metal while the one on Luz's was made from a shiny white metal. Both rings were fashioned into the form of a Rider helmet, but it didn't look like Oscura's helmet, nor did it look like Witch's helmet.
"Whenever you're ready, transform. You'll be sent back immediately. And when the fight's over, give my regards to Eda. Tell her I'm a big fan of hers," the Titan told them.
"Hold on!" Luz halted. "Isn't there something you're forgetting?"
The Titan tilted his head in confusion again.
"Ugh, your son, dingus! King! This could be your one chance to give him a message!" Oscura groaned in annoyance.
The Titan hummed as he thought. What could he say that would make up for all these years of not being there and only being able to watch him from afar? The Titan had an epiphany as he thought about the perfect message for them to relay to King. He beckoned for the two girls to approach him. Once they had, he leaned down and whispered his message into their ears. When they pulled back, Oscura rolled her eyes, sighed, but grinned. Luz giggled and wiped a stray tear from her eye.
"Oh, he's going to love that," Luz remarked.
"Corny as it is, yeah, he will," Oscura agreed.
The Titan nodded as his body began to break down into particles of light.
"Good luck, Kamen Riders…"
Luz and Oscura watched as the Titan disappeared, leaving the two of them alone.
"You realise, this might end up with you going back to being a voice in my head again, right?" Luz pointed out.
"And you realise, if that's the case, we'll be right back to where we started," Oscura returned.
"So long as you understand."
"Same to you."
Luz and Oscura, in a perfect display of synchronicity, turned the Hand Authors on their WizarDrivers into the transformation position.
[Shabadoobie Touch to Henshin! Shabadoobie Touch to Henshin!]
"Never thought I'd hear that again," Luz smiled.
"Heh, how nostalgic," Oscura grinned.
Luz and Oscura struck a pose, their movements perfectly synced as they cried out as one, swiping their hands across their Drivers:
"HENSHIN!"
[Light, Shine!]
[Fire, Burn!]
[Plant, Grow!]
[Ice, Freeze!]
[Darkness, Now!]
[Aurora, Please!]
The light, fire, ice, and plant glyphs appeared on the water's surface, creating a diamond pattern as aurora light formed in the centre. That same light erupted, becoming an aurora pillar that filled the abstract space with multicoloured light. Within that light, a black bird and a white bird appeared, standing in the same spots that Luz and Oscura stood.
The two birds flew within the pillar as they spiralled around each other. Gradually the black and white birds melded together and an explosion of aurora light erupted within the space, pushing back the strange waters of this realm. The light coalesced into a sphere before shooting up higher into the abstract space. A second later, that same light vanished from the in-between world, leaving only glowing feathers of aurora light to drift down to the waters below.