9. Episode 9: Enter Ranger(1)

It had been at least three days since the Plantars left the last town, but three days of travel was about to pay off. They were almost to the beating heart of Amphibia, the capital of their land, Newtopia. It had been a long journey, but soon Anne and the Plantars would arrive at the city of the newts and hopefully find the answers they were seeking. The reason why Anne has her powers, how she and her friends arrived in Amphibia, and how they were going to get back.

Inside the fwagon, Anne and Sprig were sitting at the table. Sprig was holding a map, looking over all the places they had traveled to along the way and walking a line with his fingers right to the center of the map. “Do-do-do, Newtopia! I can’t believe it! It’s been a long journey, but we’re finally almost there!”

The young frog child was obviously excited, he, his sister, and grandfather had never traveled to any place outside of Frog Valley. And now, they were about to head into the capital of Amphibia, a bustling metropolis. Despite all this excitement, Sprig noticed that Anne was less excited. She looked a little disappointed as she held a photo of herself and her two friends.

“Anne?”

“Huh?”

“I…thought you’d be more excited about this? We’re almost to Newtopia, the place where we can get some answers, maybe.”

Anne sighed as she said, “Don’t get me wrong, Sprig. I am excited that we’re almost there, but we’ve been traveling all over Amphibia for weeks, and even with all these Fallen attacks, I haven’t found one trace of Marcy. I mean, if Sasha’s here, then she has to be here too. We’re the only three humans in this world, you’d think she’d stick out just as much as I do. But we’ve found nothing.”

Sprig tapped his fingers on the table, he scooted closer to Anne and slowly pointed his finger towards Sasha’s image. “Maybe that’s a good thing? ‘Cause your last friend was kiiiiiinnndaaaaaa – totally evil!”

Anne lightly batted away Sprig’s hand as she frowned a little. “Hey! Look, Sasha and I are going through a rough patch, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care about her. And, yeah, wanting to side with Grime and kill Hop Pop was…bad, like really bad. But that doesn’t mean she’s evil. Besides, Marcy is completely different from Sasha. She’s harmless…to everyone other than herself.”

Sprig raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Anne zoned out for a moment as she remembered all the times that Marcy almost got hit by something, tripped over something, ran into something or someone, and overall just not paying attention to her surroundings.

“She’s the one who got me into Kamen Rider stuff, I mean, she’s the literal definition of a living encyclopedia of Kamen Rider knowledge. Not only that, she’s super smart, probably a genius in the making, also super oblivious, and insanely clumsy. Like, probably the clumsiest person alive,” said Anne.

Recalling all of Marcy’s near-death mishaps, and everything Anne did to protect Marcy, seemed to make bags appear under her eyes, accompanied by bloodshot eyes.

Sprig marveled at this and replied, “Wow, that must be horrible.” As he said this, he picked up a glass of water to drink, but somehow lost his grip on it.

Anne sighed heavily as she placed the photo of her friends on the table and looked down at it. “Back home, we were there to protect her. And not just from herself, but from other people, too. There were all kinds of jerks who wanted to make her do their homework because she was smart or wanted to pick on her because she was smart. Sasha would mostly be the one to keep said jerks from messing with her, because, well, she’s Sasha. And I was the one mostly keeping her from getting hurt by objects. But, here, in Amphibia, there are plants out here that’ll eat you alive, giant bugs, and animals!”

The Thai girl’s worry began to mount now that she thought about it.

“And she’s not that athletic either, compared to me and Sasha, she’s the least athletic of us! She can’t run too long, and she’s not strong enough to fight off most of the things out here. I…I just…”

Tears started to flow down her face as Anne imagined all the horrible ways that Marcy could die out in Amphibia’s wilds. And with the locals’ fear and general paranoia of beings like herself, unless Marcy managed to find someone like the Plantars to take her in, the people of Amphibia would just regard Marcy as a monster like they did Anne. In fact, Anne’s biggest fear on this whole trip was that she’d find Marcy, but it would only be either a pile of bones or a rotting corpse. Marcy might’ve died out there, alone, with no one to help her, wondering where she and Sasha were, crying out for them and her parents in her last moments.

“Anne!” Sprig exclaimed as he grabbed her shoulders. “Hey, Anne, look at me. She’s probably okay, you said she’s smart, so I’m sure she’s figured out some way to survive. Heck, she might’ve even found a family of frogs who took her in like we did you?”

Anne sniffled in response.

Sprig brought up the map and pointed out their path to Newtopia. “We’ve only been on one path to the capital, but there are other roads, other villages and towns. You can’t give up hope that she’s still out there.”

Anne took a few calming breathes; Sprig was right. Maybe it was just a coincidence that she and Sasha appeared in Frog Valley. Just because they teleported in relatively close distance to each other, that didn’t necessarily mean that Marcy was thrown into Frog Valley, too. Nor did that mean that she was transported to any place that was on the path that they traveled. Amphibia was a big cotenant, after all.

The Thai girl wiped her face and smiled at Sprig. “Thanks, dude, and sorry. It just all kind of hit me, y’know.”

“Don’t be sorry, after we get some answers in Newtopia, we can talk to Hop Pop about searching for Marcy next,” said Sprig.

Just then the hatch to the roof opened and Polly appeared. “You guys – come – it’s – I – not gonna believe – AH! – just get out here!”

Anne and Sprig glanced at each other for a moment before they followed Polly. Once topside, Anne and Sprig gasped at what they saw. In the distance they saw a huge city built not too far from the costal shore. A wall of shimmering white brick and mortar stood, protecting the city and the citizens within. There were ruins around the wall, showing that there may’ve been a greater structure or additions to the city a long time ago. From their position, they could see giant mushroom-like structures with red tops, along with other buildings that seemed to wrap around a tower structure in the center of the city.

Anne, Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly left the fwagon, walked to the edge of the hill, and gazed upon the splendor that was the capital of Amphibia.

“There it is gang, Newtopia!” Hop Pop declared. “If there’s a way to get you home, and figure out your powers, it’s in that city.”

“Well then, guys, let’s get down there!”

The Plantars and Anne made it to the shore, the group walked through the shallow water with Bessie and the fwagon right behind them. Polly floated on her back as the water was just deep enough for her to just comfortably float atop it.

“Ah, this is the life,” said Polly.

Her floating was interrupted when the polliwog bumped against a mound. Polly turned around and saw that the mound was in fact a deep hole in the ground. “Hey, what do you think made these holes?”

Hop Pop walked over to Polly and looked down into the abyss, knowing that it might stare back. “Mmmm, better not to ask. C’mon, let’s go.”

“I feel like this is going to come back later!” Polly stated as Hop Pop pulled her away from the hole.  

The group finally made it the city gates, now that they were up close, they could see the details. Golden murals flanked either side of the gates, with the gate itself made of a gold-colored metal, molded into the image of two newts in robes. Giant coral grew and creeped along the wall like vines, only adding to the beauty.

Anne stood before the gates, her heart pounding in excitement. After all the adventures and near-death mishaps, the powers she gained, and the battles with the Fallen. Finally, she was only one step away from getting some answers. “We’re here…YO! ANYBODY HOME!” she yelled.

A hatch opened at the top of the gate. A blue colored newt stuck his head out and looked down at the group of travelers. “You can’t come in here, Newtopia is closed.”

“SERIOUSLY?!” they exclaimed.

“Closed?! How do you just close a city?! And what do you mean by ‘closed’?! Are we talking ‘closed for lunch’ or ‘closed, closed’?! Details man?!” Anne asked.

“The city is closed to ‘closed, closed’ to all outsiders,” the newt clarified.

Sprig shook his head in disbelief. “What the hey-hey?! Why?! ‘Til when?!”

“Until the Barbari-Ants are gone of course,” he replied. “Good luck out there!”

The guard reached for the hatch but was having a bit of trouble reaching it. He stretched out too far and fell out, grabbing onto the handle of the hatch as he dangled over the tall, hundred-foot gate. The guard managed to get back inside, and just now remembered he had a hook for the handle of the hatch. He then used said hook to close the hatch and left the Plantars.

Curious, Anne turned to Hop Pop and asked, “What’s a ‘Barbari-Ant’?”

Hop Pop shrugged. “Beats me, we don’t got them in the valley.”

Sprig scoffed at the absurdity for why the city closed its gates. “They closed the whole city because a few little ants?”

As if the cosmos took that as a challenge, a giant ant monster tackled Sprig from behind and threw him to the ground. The family gasped when they saw the creature. It was colored in varying shades of gray, with barnacle like growths on its abdomen and head. Upon its head, the Barbari-Ant had two long horns that resembled coral, which also glowed a bright neon orange. The Barbari-Ant chittered and chirped as it charged for Sprig again, snapping its pincers at him.

Sprig quickly used his hands and feet to block the pincers from slicing him up as he exclaimed, “BIG ANT! REALLY BIG ANT!”

There wasn’t time to think, just act. Anne called upon the power within her, and dashed straight for the Barbari-Ant. The Barbari-Ant didn’t have time to react as Anne elbow struck it in the middle of its face, making the creature back away from Sprig. The Barbari-Ant shook its head and screeched in anger at the human girl. Anne narrowed her glowing gaze at the Barbari-Ant and zig-zagged around the creature and delivered a spinning roundhouse kick to its thorax, throwing the Barbari-Ant back. The Barbari-Ant was knocked back to the hole in the ground and immediately retreated into it.

“YEAH! IN YOUR FACE, ANT!” Anne shouted.

Suddenly the ground started to rumble, prompting Sprig to ask, “Uh…do you guys feel that?”

Just then several Barbari-Ants burst forth from the ground, six in total, some sported the neon orange coral horns, while a couple of them had neon blue coral horns. The giant ants started to surround the Plantars and the fwagon, forcing Bessie to retreat into her shell, for all the good it would do her.

“Okay, if that’s how you want to play it!” Anne made her hands motions to summon her Driver. A spark of lightning went off around her waist, and from it appeared the Driver.

“Wait!” Hop Pop exclaimed.

“What?! Why?!” Anne asked.

“If you change now, you’ll fry us and Bessie!”

“What are you talking abou – oh – I forgot…”

In the heat of the moment, Anne had forgotten that they were standing in water. She would be fine, but the Plantars wouldn’t. Anne briefly considered jumping onto the roof of the fwagon, but she knew that any subsequent attacks might harm Bessie due to her electrical energy. Unfortunately, that moment of hesitation allowed the Barbari-Ants to surround them, effectively cutting off her options.

However, just was it seemed Anne was going to be left with little options, a bag was thrown from atop the walls of Newtopia. That bag struck the water around  Anne, the fwagon, Bessie, and the Plantars, releasing a thick black substance that resembled oil. Seven more of those sacks were thrown, creating a semicircle of black oil in front of them. Anne looked up just in time to spot a flaming arrow fly overhead and strike the black oil substance that floated atop the water. That substance ignited and created a literal fire wall in front of them. The raging flames scared the Barbari-Ants as they burrowed underground and retreated as fast as they could.

The group looked on as the flames died out, wondering who could’ve done that. Their eyes were drawn to the walls of Newtopia, where a shadowy figure stood tall and overlooked the area below. That same figure shot an arrow with a rope attached to it.

“Hop Pop, can I get a crossbow for my birthday?! Please, please, please?” Polly asked.

At that moment the arrow struck the front right wheel of the fwagon, startling Hop Pop a bit. “Eh…we’ll talk.”

The shadowy figure hopped off the wall and began ziplining from the top of the wall and down towards them. The kids gasped in awe of the figure’s amazing skill.

“That’s one cool newt,” Hop Pop commented.

Right about then the rope snapped and the figure who saved them fell right into the water.

“Oooh,” Hop Pop and Sprig groaned.

“Didn’t stick the landing,” Polly added.

But none of that mattered to Anne, as right before the figure hit the water, she caught a glimpse of them. It didn’t look like a frog, a toad, or a newt, they looked…human. Anne pushed past the Plantars, and said, “It…It can’t be…”

The person who saved them rose from the water and coughed a bit from the sudden fall. After getting their bearings the unknown figure said, “Ookay, so, Newtopian rope can hold an average human girl for…uuuuhhh…2.3 seconds.”

The voice was female, and her hair was black in color. She wore a navy-blue cloak with fur lining around the collar and shoulders. She had leather armor on her chest, a crossbow mounted onto her right arm, and a tattered green skirt. “Maybe I could reinforce the rope with Iron Spider silk to increase the tensile strength…?”

Anne shook her head, covering her mouth as tears started to form in her eyes. “M-Marcy?!”

The female figure paused when she heard that name, more so, when she heard a familiar voice. The figure turned around and removed her hood, revealing her second best friend, Marcy Wu. The young Chinese girl’s eyes widened when she finally took notice of who called her name. “Anne…?”

“MARCY!!!” Anne shouted as she ran towards her.

“ANNE!” Marcy replied right before Anne tackle hugged her and threw them both to the ground. “Anne…is that really you?!”

Anne continued to cry as she said, “Marcy, I can’t believe it!”

“You! Me! Here?!”

“I know…I know! I missed you so much!” Anne hugged her lost friend tight, at this point afraid that if she let go that Marcy would disappear.

“Oh, oh Anne, I missed you, too!” Marcy replied as she returned the hug. “I didn’t know if I was the only one who came here, or if you were here, too!”

Anne kept crying tears of joy. “I was so worried about you, I thought you were…that you might be…!”

Marcy knew what Anne was going to say, she reluctantly broke the hug so that she could look Anne in the eyes. “It’s okay, I’m okay. I’m right here, Anne. You found me.”

“Thank God, thank Frog, thank the universe…” Anne sniffled.

Marcy wiped some of Anne’s tears away before hugging her friend again.

While this was going on, Hop Pop and Polly looked on, happy that Anne had finally found her third human friend. However, Sprig was less excited as he squinted his eyes and crossed his arms.

After a minute or more of hugging, Anne finally managed to tear herself away from Marcy and allow the two of them to stand up. She held out her hands and helped Marcy up as she said, “Look at you! Look at this outfit! You’re like some amazon warrior queen, or something!”

A small blush appeared on Marcy’s face. “I know, I know, right? It’s nuts!” Marcy, in a fit of excitement, pointed her crossbow arm at Anne. “This is real!”

Anne jumped a little when the very sharp arrow was pointed at her face. “Yeah, very real!” Anne slowly pushed Marcy’s arm away from her face.

Marcy chuckled nervously and disengaged her crossbow. “Sorry, sorry, just really excited to see you. But – Ugh! – Isn’t this place wild?! What an adventure! Man, I’ve really grown out here, Anne, coming into my own, leveled up! No more clumsy, klutzy Marcy! I mean, can you believe it?!”

Anne looked down and pointed out, “Your cape’s on fire.”

Marcy’s gaze fell to her cape and in a panic, she ran around in a circle as if trying to escape it. Prompting Anne to say, “Don’t swing it around!” Thankfully, Anne manage to calm her friend down long enough for her to grab the cape and dip it into the water to put out the fire.

“So, Anne, who’s your friend?” Hop Pop asked.

“Note to self, nonflammable cape preferred,” Marcy noted as she wrote it down in her journal. 

“You guys, meet Marcy!”

Marcy looked up from her journal and gasped when she saw the trio of frogs in front of her. “Oh my gosh, who are these cuties!” Marcy gasped and asked, “Are they your surrogate frog family? Did they find you and take you in? AH! I love the found family troupe! Gosh, this is like the hero in my favorite game, ‘Vagabondia Chronicles’! The GREATEST JRPG of all time! Have you played it do you wanna play it do wanna borrow it? Just say the word and I’ll lend you my copy. Man, it will change your LIIVVVES!”

Feeling a little uncomfortable, Sprig said, “Uh, Anne.”

“Yeah, the Plantars here took me in. The one you got there is Hop Pop,” said Anne.

Marcy nodded and vocalized that she heard what Anne said, all while taking a tape measure and wrapping it around Hop Pop’s head. “As I thought, sixty-two centimeters.”

“Yep, all brain.”

Marcy made a few notes in her journal and commented, “Judging from the size of your cranium and flecks of sediment, you’re from Frog Valley, right?”

Hop Pop gasped at Marcy’s analysis. “You can tell all that from my head?!”

“Oh, Anne. I’m so jealous you found a farming community. I’ve been studying Amphibia history, and farm culture is super underappreciated in my opinion. You’re the backbone of society and do not get enough credit for it.”

Hop Pop was shocked, no one had ever said that about farmers, ever. So shocked was he, that for a moment, Hop Pop’s mind shut down and all he could say was, “Hub, bub, bub, bub. Hub, bub, bub, bub…” This of course led to him losing strength in his legs as he fell backwards in a swooning way and right onto Polly.

“Get off of me!” Polly exclaimed as she shoved Hop Pop back up to standing height.

The elderly frog took Marcy’s left hand into both of his own and shook it gratefully. “Thank you!”

Marcy’s eyes darted to Polly, which now grabbed her attention as she moved past Hop Pop. “Hey, a polliwog!”

“Hi!” Polly greeted.

Marcy, apparently not respecting personal space, grabbed Polly and hoisted her into the air, using the sun to peer through her and spot the developing legs inside Polly’s body. “ Hmm. I’d say those legs should be coming in in about…bub, bub, bub, buh…two months, give or take.”

“AH! Can I get it writing?!” Polly asked.

“Oh yeah, absolutely!” Marcy put Polly back on the ground and wrote down her prediction before handing it to Polly. The little tadpole gazed upon the written promise of her legs appearing. “Thank you!”

Marcy shifted over to the eldest son of the Plantar family and said, “Oh! And hi there. Wow. I’ve never seen a frog your color before. You’re not poisonous, are you?”

Marcy extended her hand towards Sprig for a handshake, and as Sprig shook her hand, he replied, “Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not.”

Marcy’s expression fell. “Wait, really?”

“Yeah, I literally actually don’t know.”

Marcy politely retracted her hand and said, “I will iodine that later.”

Anne walked closer to Marcy and asked, “So what about you, Mar-Mar? Have you been in Newtopia this whole time?”

“Oh well–!” Marcy gasped as her eyes fell to Anne’s waist. The Chinese girl rushed towards Anne and dropped to her knees in front of her. “ANNE, IS THIS WHAT I THINK IT IS?!”

Anne was a little embarrassed to have Marcy on her knees in front of her like that. “Is this what?!”

“YOU HAVE A METAMORPHRING TOO?!” Marcy exclaimed.

“Wait, a what?”

Marcy stood up and explained. “Your Driver, that’s what I named it! The MetamorphRing! I can’t believe you have one, that means you’re a Kamen Rider, too!”

Anne rubbed the back her head as she chuckled a little. “Oh, that’s actually a cool name. Leave it to the resident Kamen Rider expert to – Hold up, did you just say ‘too’?!”

Marcy squealed in delight as she jumped up and down. “Wait right here, you have to see this!” Marcy backed away a few paces, leaving a sizeable gap between herself, the Plantars, and Anne. Mary closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again, they glowed a bright green color.

Anne, Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop gasped in shock when they saw that, but it wasn’t over.

Marcy made a few hand gestures, a gust of wind whipped around Marcy, and around her waist appeared her very own MetamorphRing. Marcy crossed her arms to form an “X” and flared her fingers out as if they were wings. “Henshin!”

The Chinese American pressed on the two devices on either side of the MetamorphRing. An emerald wind dome appeared around Marcy, completely obscuring her body from view. Anne hurriedly put her hands on the front and back of her skirt as the whirlwind generated from the transformation almost made the garment fly up. When the transformation was over, Anne gasped.

Marcy was now taller, and older. She wore dark green armor, with neon green lines that went down the middle of her chest plate and sported the same black upside-down triangle stone. Her pauldrons were gold in color, with wispy lines to represent the wind element of her form. Both arms from the wrist to the bicep were covered in that dark green armor, with the neon green lines running along the sides. Another pair of glowing neon lines appeared around both of her thighs.

The helmet visor, unlike Anne’s, was “V” shaped and glowed green, with the helmet itself a dark green color, and the mouth area colored gold. She wore a silver cloak, the hood was raised and kept up via a glowing horn crest, the cape itself was attached to the chest plate via two gold-colored buttons. In Marcy’s right hand, where her arm mounted crossbow was, she now held a crossbow gun. It was the same matching dark green color, with two gold-colored arms on either side, gold colored sight was at the tip of the weapon, and a wheel attachment was at the back.

“Oh…my…God…Marcy, y-you’re a…a Kamen Rider?!”

“Yep! I am the swift winds of justice, Kamen Rider Ranger!” Ranger stated as she struck a heroic pose and caused a small gust of emerald wind to blow outwards.

Anne’s skirt was almost blown up, prompting Anne to say, “Please, please, stop doing that! I don’t want to flash the Plantars!”

Ranger looked a little embarrassed and said, “Sorry, sorry, my bad! Wow, that was almost a classic anime cliché.”

Anne slowly walked closer to Marcy; this was the first time she was looking at someone else in Rider form. Whenever she transformed, she had an idea of what she looked like, but she never took a moment to really look at herself in a mirror when she was transformed. Now she could see how it actually changed them, Marcy was taller, and looked older, even her voice sounded older.

“H-How is this possible?! When did this happen?!” Anne asked.

“Oh, this happened like day one when I got to Newtopia. A Fallen appeared in the city and tried to kill me, it was messing up the city trying to get to me. I couldn’t stand how everyone was getting hurt because of me, so I sucked it up and confronted it. Next thing I knew, the MetamorphRing appears and then – BANG – I’m a Kamen Rider!” Ranger explained.

“From my calculations, my body has aged at least eight to seven years, putting me at around twenty or twenty-one. I assumed this is partially due to the immense amount of power and strain that this would put on our bodies, so in order to compensate, we’re aged up to a point that our bodies can handle this power without hurting us. Also, it seems my base form is related to an elemental force. I assume yours is different?”

Anne slowly nodded. “Y-Yeah…it’s lightning. Whenever I transform my, uh, base form is lightning.”

Ranger danced in place. “I knew it, I knew it! So, there’s an elemental base form theme! I bet you’re super-fast, too? How much have you used your electrical powers? Can you discharge lightning or are you only limited to boosting your speed and damage output when you attack?”

“Uh…I haven’t really thought about that or tried to figure that part out. But mostly I’ve just been able to run fast and hit hard,” said Anne as she tried to process this.

“Ah, that tracks. And what’s your weapon? Mine’s Squall Sniper.” Ranger held up her weapon. “It takes in the air molecules around it, condenses them, and then shoots them out in the form of an energy bolt. The Windmill – that’s the wheel on the back – allows me to control how powerful the shots are. One turn will knock you on your back, two turns will pierce armor, and three turns will blow something up on impact! Wanna see?!”

Anne carefully pushed the Squall Sniper down. “Nnnnot right now. But to answer your question, no, I don’t have a weapon. I mostly fight with my bare hands, using my Muay Thai.”

Ranger rubbed her chin with her left hand as she hummed in contemplation. “Interesting, I get a weapon in my base form, but you don’t. Maybe it’s because your powers are better suited for hand-to-hand combat. I know I’m better at sniping and mid-range fire.” Ranger stood back from Anne and cancelled the transformation, returning her to normal as a flash of emerald light went off. “So, Anne, show me! Let me see what your Rider form looks like! Oh, have you named your Rider form?! If you haven’t I’d love to name it!”

Anne reached out and placed her hands on Marcy’s shoulders. “Marbles, calm down. First off, I can’t transform here because we’re standing in water, and if I do, I’ll literally electrocute everyone.”

Marcy looked around and just remembered that they were standing in ankle deep water. “Good point.”

“And as far as my name…I call myself Kamen Rider Amp.”

Marcy gasped. “Anne that’s perfect! Amp, like the unit of electrical current, and Amphibia! It works on two levels!”

“I know right? But how did you come up with ‘Ranger’?” Anne asked.

“Oh, oh, okay! Oh, my gosh! Remember that game I tried to get you and Sasha to play? Creatures and Caverns?” Marcy asked.

Anne blinked and answered honestly, “No.”

Marcy waved it off. “It turns out newts are just like Cephalons.”

Anne shifted her eyes away, still confused.

“From ‘Shadows of Xel’noth’! Anyway I just role-played like your typical artificer/rogue and the next thing I know…Boom…I’m the Chief Ranger of the Newtopian Knight Guard! Hence where I got my name, Kamen Rider Ranger!” Marcy once again struck a heroic pose.

Polly glanced to her family and asked, “Were those words? I think they were words, but I’m not sure.”

“Hold on, you’re a not only the Chief Ranger of the Newtopian Knight Guard, but you’re also a Kamen Rider?!” Sprig asked.

Marcy nodded happily. “Yep, and aside from the Fallen that have tried to kill me, it’s been all kinds of fun!”

“So, the Fallen have tried to attack you in Newtopia?” Anne asked. “They’ve attacked us a few times while we were on the road.”

Marcy cupped her chin upon hearing this news. “Interesting.”

Anne shook her head, this was so much, but right now there was another matter that needed settling first. “Mar-Mar, can you get us into the city? We tried going through the gate, but they won’t let us in.”

Marcy leaned on Anne’s right shoulder and said, “Unfortunately, those gates will stay closed until the Barbari-Ants are defeated. Luckily, we have a plan! C’mon!” Marcy shot a crossbow bolt and swung away.

“Hop Pop, birthday, make it happen.”

Anne was so giddy she could barely contain herself. She had finally found Marcy, and at Newtopia. And what’s even crazier, she was a Kamen Rider, too. Of course, she is, why wouldn’t the biggest Rider fan this side of LA become one after getting magically isekai-ed? Still, that raised a lot of questions. If Marcy got Rider powers, and Anne had Rider powers, did that mean that Sasha got them, too? And how long has Marcy been able to control her powers for? It wasn’t until recently that Anne had learned how to gain control of them, but Marcy seemed to fluidly transform and act normally when in her Rider form.

Questions aside, Anne was just so happy that Marcy wasn’t dead somewhere out in the wilderness. How many nights had she awoken in the middle of the night because she had a nightmare that she found Marcy’s dead body out in the woods? How many times did she dream about finding Marcy, only to be too late to save her as she reached out for Anne for help? She never told this to Hop Pop, not even Sprig.

Of course, she was worried about Sasha, but she knew Sasha was strong and crafty, and knew she could defend herself. Or manipulate someone into either helping her or commit murder. Okay, that last part was a stretch, but point is, Sasha can fight. Marcy…she’s never fought anyone who wasn’t behind a screen.

As Marcy led them, Anne couldn’t help but ask, “Mar-Mar, how long have you been able to use your powers?”

“Oh, let’s see, I’ve been in Newtopia going on four months now, soooo…four months,” said Marcy.

“Wait, what?! You’ve been able to go Rider since we first got here?!” Anne exclaimed.

“Yeah, I mean I didn’t know I could do it right away. A Fallen attacked the city, and before I knew it, I just felt that I could. It was totally weird, but INCREDIBLY FUN!” Marcy declared in delight.

Sprig walked a little closer and asked, “Huh, that’s certainly strange. Anne didn’t get her powers until after we left Frog Valley.”

Marcy gasped and looked back at Anne. “Anne, is that true?”

“Well, yeah, it is. It happened, like, right after we left the Ruins of Disaster. I got this really bad pain in my stomach. At first, I thought it was just something I ate, or it was a stomach bug or something. But then I started releasing electricity from body and it felt as if something wanted to come out of me. When I resisted, the energy built up and released itself via a lightning explosion. Thankfully I was far away from the Plantars when that happened.”

Anne wrapped her arms around her midsection, remembering those painful few days.

“The pain just kept getting worse the more I held it in, it got to the point that I felt like I might die before we got here. But a Fallen attacked us and I just finally accepted the feeling, and I henshin-ed for the first time,” Anne explained.

Marcy placed a hand on her best friend’s shoulder in a show of comfort as she said, “Oh, Anne, I’m so sorry that you had to go through all that. I’m sorry to say I didn’t go through that. I guess maybe because I just accepted the change right away is why I didn’t go through that?”

“Huh, maybe that’s why I couldn’t control myself when I first changed? I kept fighting it for so long instead of accepting it at the get go, but maybe if I had accepted the change, I could’ve been more in control of myself?” Anne pondered.

“In control? Anne, what happened to you?” Marcy asked. However, she quickly retracted that statement. “Oh, wait we’re here. Later on, we need to catch up. I have SO many questions for you.”

Anne giggled as said, “I don’t mind catching up, I missed you.”

Marcy blushed a little and smiled at Anne. “I missed you, too.”

Just then group arrived at a war tent, when they entered, they found a trio of robed newts currently in the middle of arguing. An argument that seemed to devolve into the three of them fighting each other.

“What up triple ‘B’?” Marcy asked.

The moment she said this the three newts ended their quarrel and made themselves more presentable.

“Ah, Master Marcy!” The purple newt, Bartley, greeted. He then noticed the additional guests that came with her and asked, “Oh, are you lost?”

“No, no, they’re with me. The Plantars travelled all the way here from Frog Valley,” said Marcy.

Hop Pop and Sprig launched their tongues at a couple of small, hovering flies and ate them. While Polly hopped onto the table and belched. Bartley squinted, but nonetheless greeted them. “Ah, welcome dirty peasants.”

Marcy then pointed her hand towards her friend. “And this is my friend, Anne. News flash, she’s a Kamen Rider just like me! Ow.” Marcy suddenly felt Anne’s finger poke her in her face.

Anne giggled and said, “Sorry, sorry, I just still can’t believe you’re here.” After saying this Anne proceeded to playfully pat Marcy on the head a few times.

The girls giggled a bit, but Marcy had to – reluctantly – bring it to an end. “Anne, c’mon, quit it.”

“Alright, just keep doing what you’re doing,” said Anne.

“Remarkable, can all members of your people turn into these ‘Kamen Riders’?” Branson, the blue-gray newt, asked.

“Nope, not really, so far it just seems like me and Anne are the only two.”

“Well then, on that note, Master Marcy, you’ll be glad to know we have agreed on a battle strategy,” said Bradley.

“WHAT?!” the other two newts exclaimed.

“We’ve agreed on nothing!” Blair exclaimed.

Marcy leaned on the war table and said to her subordinates, “Don’t worry guys, I think I got it figured out. Anne, do you remember when we studied insect migration patterns in biology class?”

“Nope!”

Undeterred, Marcy continued. “Well, since the weather warmed up, they’ve been moving deeper and deeper into Newtopian territory.” While Marcy was explaining this, Anne seemed to have the inexplicable need to keep touch Marcy’s outfit, as if to keep affirming to herself that her friend was in fact standing in front of her. “In fact, I predict a full-scale invasion is just around the corner. And because of this, the king has asked me to stop them before they turn Newtopia into a giant anthill!”

Marcy emphasized her point by smashing the model of the city with a model of a Barbari-Ant anthill.

Sprig caught that little nugget of information and asked, “Wait a second, you work directly for the king of Amphibia, and are a Kamen Rider, and the Chief Ranger?”

“Yeah-huh,” Marcy answered.

Hop Pop, displeased with the suspicious tone his grandson had retorted, “Sprig, behave yerself.”

“Huh, I know didn’t you guys even had a king,” said Anne in genuine intrigued.

“Well, duh, we’re not anarchists, Anne,” Hop Pop replied.

Polly blew a raspberry and added, “Speak for yourself.”

Marcy chuckled inwardly at the dynamic that Anne seemed to have the Plantars. She then took out her journal and continued her explanation of their strategy. “Okay, so the plan is we’re going to sneak behind enemy lines and drive the ant queen away. With her gone, the rest will follow.”

“Oh yeah, and how are we doing that?” Sprig asked as he crossed his arms, still suspicious.

“With these!” Marcy reached down and pulled up a belt that had golden brown mushrooms with yellow tops, and each one was secured onto it like a piece of ammunition.

Polly’s eyes widened as she recognized the mushrooms. “Boom Shrooms?!”

“Not quite, these are Stink Shrooms.”

Polly’s interest was lost, she had taken a liking to the more explosive variation of the mushrooms ever since she was introduced to them by Tritonio back during Combat Camp. “Oh, carry on.”

“They’re designed to release a particular pheromone that will drive the queen away. But we will have to fight our way through a horde of bloodthirsty ants.”

“My interest has been restored!”

“We’ll have to be extra careful, one wrong move and – WHOA!” Marcy leaned a little too much on the war table as the piece of furniture began to wobble and nearly flip over. Thankfully, Marcy managed to stop herself and the table from doing so. “Sorry, flimsy table.”

“Huh, question, why don’t you just transform and fight the queen head on? She can’t be that strong compared to a Fallen.” Sprig noted.

Marcy placed the figures back on the table and answered, “Well, yeah, it would child’s play for me to take out the queen and the rest of her colony, but they’re a vital part of the ecosystem for this region. I can’t just go and wipe them all out. No, this way, we get rid of them without having to wipe them all out. Will we have to take down  a few of them to do it, yes, but so long as the queen is alive and is driven away, she can start a new colony somewhere else.”

Anne was starting to get a little worried about this plan. Was it a comfort to know that Marcy had Rider powers? Yes. But as she was just reminded, Marcy was still Marcy, and while that was a good thing, it was also kind of a bad thing. Anne’s mind was already concocting various scenarios in which Marcy met her gruesome end at the pincers of the Barbari-Ants, or from their queen. She just got Marcy back, she couldn’t lose her now.

“Uh, Marbles, maybe you should sit this one out, it sounds pretty dangerous. You should let me and the Plantars handle this, we’ve done stuff like this all the time in the valley,” said Anne in a proud tone.

To emphasisize this, the Plantars and Anne struck and action pose.

Marcy scoffed at the idea. “C’mon Anna-Banana, I’ll be fine.”

“Anna?” Sprig asked.

“I’ve changed, remember, plus, I’m Kamen Rider Ranger.”

“Mmm-hmm, your cape’s on fire, again.”

Marcy raised an eyebrow and then looked back to see that, somehow, for some unknown reason, her cape had caught fire again. Bartley, Branson, and Blair panicked upon seeing the flames, but Anne quickly acted.

“Here, hold still!” Anne undid the clasp for Marcy’s cape and let it fall to the ground, where she proceeded to stomp out the fire. “See.”

Marcy rolled her eyes as she allowed Blair to replace her cape with a new one. “Okay, freaky accident aside, I got this Anne. Now, let’s get going! Mission engage!”

Anne sighed and followed Marcy, leaving the Plantars in the war tent. Now that the two humans were gone, Polly decided to ask her brother what was going on. “What’s your problem?”

“Me? Well to be honest my cholesterol has been a little–” Hop Pop began.

“Not you!” Polly interrupted and then pointed at her brother. “Frown-zilla over there!”

Sprig groaned. “C’mon you guys, surely you don’t trust this ‘Marcy’ person, do you?”

“I do,” said Hop Pop.

“With my life, actually,” Polly replied.

Hop Pop pointed towards the outside of the tent and added, “Look, Sprig, she’s clearly harmless.”

Sprig turned around and saw Marcy writing in her journal. As she did a flock of butterflies hovered around her, some even landing on her. Marcy finally took notice of the pink winged insects and giggled happily when she did. Despite this cute imagery, Sprig remained unconvinced.

“Okay, on the surface she seems harmless. But do you guys not remember Sasha?!” Sprig asked.

“Eh, I try not to,” said Hop Pop.

Polly thought for a moment, “Well now that you mention it…”

“Plus, I watched a little more of Anne’s ‘Kamen Rider Atlas’ show, and it turns out that there can be evil Riders, too! In the show, Atlas has an archnemesis named Kamen Rider Ouranos, who’s to say that Marcy’s not just pretending to be a hero just to get our guard down before she stabs Anne in the back! I say, we watch ‘Marbles’ like a pigeon hawk! That way, we’ll be ready in case she tries anything funny. Are ya with me?!”

“Still no,” Polly answered.

“Can’t say Ah agree, but you do you.”

“UGH! Fine! Thanks for nothing,” said Sprig as he stormed out of the tent.

When he got outside, he saw Anne leaning against a rock as she watched Marcy play a bit with the butterflies. Sprig noticed the happy smile on his surrogate big sister’s face, a smile he hadn’t seen on her since that time when she first saw Sasha. Sprig did understand why Anne was so happy to see her friend again, but at the same time, he was afraid for Anne. He remembered how much she hurt after Toad Tower fell, having just found her friend again, only for said friend to help scheme with the toads to kill his grandfather.

From what Sprig was able to piece together, Sasha wasn’t a good person. Especially when she was ordering Anne around, and how Anne seemed to just cower before her, in spite of the fact that Anne and even Sasha herself called each other friends. Sprig didn’t have a lot of friends, Ivy notwithstanding, but he knew enough about friendship through Anne to know that friends don’t order their friends around like that. Anne was already hurt by one of her friends betraying her, and the last thing Sprig wanted was for Anne to have to go through that again. Anne was a strong girl, but he wasn’t sure if she could handle having another of her friends backstab her. And if Sprig had it his way, Marcy wasn’t going to get the chance.

I’m watching you, Marcy. Always watching.

Marcy led Anne and the Plantars to a Barbari-Anthill, she had her noise in her journal the entire way though. Fortunately, she managed to tear her eyes away from her journal long enough to see the entrance. “Okay guys, we’re here. Anna-Banana, let’s suit up!”

Anne looked around to make sure that they weren’t standing in anymore more water. As far as she could tell they were on dry land, and it was at least a ten-foot distance between them and the water. “Okay, Marbles, let’s do it!”

“Oh my gosh, oh my gosh! Our first duo henshin! This is so cool!” Marcy exclaimed in a giddy tone.

Anne chuckled at her friend’s enthusiasm, but she had to admit, she was feeling giddy about this, too. Marcy and Anne’s eyes shifted to green and blue respectively, a gust of emerald wind swirled around Marcy’s waist while a circlet of lightning did for Anne. In a flash, both girls were wearing their MetamorpRings. After executing their hand movements, both girls exclaimed together, “Henshin!”

Wind and lightning domes covered both girls, and in a matter of seconds, Anne and Marcy had been transformed into Kamen Riders Amp and Ranger. Sprig had to admit, that was cool to witness.

Ranger glanced over to Amp and gasped in awe. “Oh, wow, Anne, you look great!”

“You think so?” Amp asked.

“Yeah! And that red scarf is like a total homage to the first Kamen Rider, Alpha!”

Amp grabbed ahold of her red scarf and examined it. “Huh, you know what, you’re right. That’s weird, right?”

“Not at all, it’s epic!”

“So, I guess this makes me the Secondary Rider, right?”

“Why would you think that?”

“Well, you got your powers first, and I just recently got mine.”

Ranger tapped her chin for a moment as she mulled over Amp’s words. “Not necessarily, I mean by canon logic, yes. But this is our story, Anne. Who says there only has to be one main Rider?”

Amp put her fists against her hips as she smiled under her helmet. “You know what, you’re right.”

Ranger nodded and continued, “Alright, now let’s head in and drive out these ants!”

Ranger was about to enter the hole but was stopped suddenly by Amp. “Hey, why don’t you let me go first, just to be safe.”

“Uh…okay?”

Amp nodded and jumped down the hole, with Ranger following close behind.

“Well, down the hatch,” said Hop Pop as he jumped into the hole, while cradling Polly in his left arm.

Sprig brought up the rear, with Bessie and the fwagon following. “Alright, Bessie, we’re about to be betrayed. Probably. If we’re not back in three hours, send for help.” Bessie’s response was to open her mouth and fit it over the top of Sprig’s head. “Good girl!”

Amp and Ranger landed at the bottom, followed by Hop Pop and Polly, and finally Sprig. “Alright, let’s go!” Ranger declared.

“Hold up!” Amp stated as she grabbed Marcy by the shoulders. “Stay behind me.” Amp took the lead, she may not know what awaited them, but if anything was going to hurt Ranger, it’d have to go through her first. “Okay, if we can just stay in this formation – Marcy!”

“This is going to be a cinch guys, trust me. I know these tunnels better than anyoooooooooonnnnnneeee!” And just like that Ranger walked into a hole.

Amp focused her power and dashed straight for her friend, she reached out and grabbed Ranger’s cape at the last second, and with a swift pull, dragged Ranger back up before she could fall any further.

“Heh-heh, thanks,” said Ranger. “Note to self: do not step in holes.”

Amp sighed. “Marcy, seriously, please, let us handle this. You’ll be safer at the back.”

“I gotta say, I do feel pretty safe back here.” Just as Sprig said that a Barbari-Ant popped in out of nowhere and grabbed him with its pincers.

“SPRIG!” They exclaimed.

“Why me?! Why’s it always me!” Sprig cried as he was covered in the insect’s green slime secretions and dragged off into another tunnel.

“Alright guys, fight mode!”

“On it!” Hop Pop and Polly stated in unison.

“Yeah, on it!” Sprig replied.

Amp looked down in surprise that Sprig was back and seemed alright. “Wait, you got away?”

“Yeah, I kicked ‘em,” said Sprig.

“Okay, then. On that note, Marcy, I want you to stay close. Marcy?” Amp looked to her right and noticed that Ranger was already on the attack.

Ranger spun the Windmill once and jumped into the air. The hero of wind pulled the trigger and unleashed a barrage of energy bolts at the Barbari-Ants, each hit pushed the ants back upon impact, showing how Ranger’s weapon worked as she described it to them earlier. With acrobatics that would make an Olympian gymnast green with envy, Ranger air jumped, landing on the ceiling of the tunnel. Through her visor, Ranger was able to pick up on multiple targets at once, her eyes darting from one to the other. She gave the wheel two spins, and then started firing again as she vaulted off the ceiling. The green light arrows sailed through the air and pierced through the Barbari-Ants’ heads and legs, taking down some while disabling others. Try as they might, Ranger was just too nimble for them to catch as she swiftly weaved, ducked, and jumped, practically dancing around them.

Amp remembered what Ranger said about not killing all the Barbari-Ants, so she tried to restrain herself a bit. One of the ants came at her with its pincers, but Amp caught them in both of her hands. Using her enhanced strength, Anne lifted the Barbari-Ant and threw it into a group of its fellow ants. Another one came at her from the left, but Amp used her speed to dash away from the attack. She then jumped up into the air and brought down her right foot into an ax kick, striking the Barbari-Ant in the head. There was an audible crack as its exoskeleton fractured before inevitably falling to the ground, unresponsive. More Barbari-Ants started to come into the tunnel, forcing Amp to mode change in her Spike Form. Now armed with her Sting Striker, Amp was able to smack the giant ants away, for the ones that got too close to the Plantars, she would stab through their thoraxes or heads to take them down.

As strong as they were, the number of Barbari-Ants was increasing as their breathing room was shrinking by the minute. Ranger struck her foot against the ground hard, using her enhanced sight and vision, her helmet was able to create a kind of sonar vision that allowed Ranger to see through the rock and sediment. She spotted neighboring tunnel, and Ranger spun the Windmill three times. Ranger held the trigger as energy built up at the muzzle. After a couple of seconds, a ball of emerald light shined at the barrel of the weapon. Taking careful aim, Ranger fired the bolt, it then struck the wall she was looking at and exploded, blowing a hole right through to the other side.

“Guys, this way?!” Ranger exclaimed.

The Plantars retreated while Amp took up the rear and kept the rest of the creatures at bay. Once she saw that they were through the hole, Anne switched to Poison Form. She fired a beam of plasma at the floor, creating a ring that bubbled and exhumed a toxic odor to the ants. Amp went through the same hole, and after, she fired another poison plasma blast at the top of the hole, dissolving the rock and causing the rest of the solid matter to fall and block the way.

Before Amp could ask if everyone was alright, Ranger was on her in a second and started spouting off all manner of questions. “OMG, you already acquired your Second and Third Base Forms! What that some kind of corrosive energy beam? And the one before that, you were all spikey, and you had a weapon, that had to be your strength form, right? Oh, oh, can you use your Trinity Form yet? Also–!”

“Marcy!” Amp interrupted, causing Ranger to stop. “I get that you have a lot of questions, but we need to focus on the mission. And what did I say about staying close?!”

“What do you mean? I was providing fire support, my current stats don’t exactly lend well to close combat like you, so I’m better at a distance than up close,” Ranger explained.

Amp was about to rebut that explanation, but upon taking a moment to think over Marcy’s words, she knew she was right. Ranger’s abilities seemed better suited to long range attacks, being up close puts her at a disadvantage with her Squall Sniper. “…Sorry, you’re right…still, just watch yourself, okay?”

Ranger nodded, albeit a bit confused. “Alright then, let me get our bearings right quick.” The green clad Rider got down on one knee and placed her left hand against the ground. The sonar vision in her helmet displayed the tunnel system of the Barbari-Ants, it was intricate, and complex, but not to her. “Okay, we just need to head down this tunnel, take left, a right, a right again, and then it should be a straight shot to the queen’s chamber.”

Sprig raised a brow and asked, “How do you know that, exactly?”

“Oh, well, my Rider form enhances my senses, primarily my sight and hearing. And with the armor, I can create a sonar map of the entire area in my head, kind of like how a bat can see in the dark with sound,” said Ranger.

“Hmm,” Sprig hummed, still suspicious.

Just then the group heard a blood curdling screech that echoed through the entire tunnel system. Amp and Ranger readied themselves for a fight while the Plantars took shelter behind the two heroes.

“Mar-Mar what the heck was that?!” Amp asked.

“I-I don’t know, I’ve never heard the Barbari-Ants make that sound before! Hold on…” Ranger used her sonar vision again, mentally following the path of that noise as it took her all the way into the queen’s chamber. “Something’s wrong.”

The tunnel began to rumble, and not long after that, several of the Barbari-Ants began to erupt out of the ground, causing the Plantars and girls to scream from their sudden appearance. Amp and Ranger prepared to fight the insects, but for some reason, once they emerged, they ignored them completely and headed straight for where Ranger had detected the noise.

“What the heck are they doing? Why aren’t they attacking us?” Amp asked.

“I fer one think that’s a good thing,” said Hop Pop.

“Normally, you’d be right. But like I said, something is wrong. I think the ants are angry, they’re heading right for the queen’s chamber.”

Ranger, against Amp’s suggestion to stay close, broke away from the group and began heading in the same direction. Amp watched as Ranger bound from one wall of the tunnel to the next, bouncing off the walls like a ball bearing in a pinball machine. Damn, she’s fast!

Amp leaned down and hoisted Sprig, Polly, and Hop Pop in her arms. “Hold on!”

Before they knew it, Amp had dashed away, weaving in and around the Barbari-Ants as she tried to catch up to Ranger. This environment slowed her down a bit, so Ranger was able to get further ahead thanks to her agility. But eventually, Amp and the Plantars were able to join up with Ranger, who was standing at the mouth of the entrance. The queen of the Barbari-Ants was dead, its body completely ravaged and torn apart, and the culprits were standing right there in the center, surrounded by a growing mountain of Barbari-Ant corpses. All three assassins had black armored chest plates that had the image of thirteen eyes molded onto them, indicating they were Fallen.

All three of them were humanoid beetle creatures and looked the same aside from their colors. They all had an exoskeleton that gleamed like polished obsidian, on their left arms they had a four-foot-long stinger-like blade that they used to pierce the exoskeletons of the Barbari-Ants with deadly precision. Their right arms were a little different, attached to their shoulder pads was a kind of armored sack that seemed to grow larger, and connected to that was a set of veins that ran down its right arm into what looked like the muzzle to a cannon that grew out of the top of their right arms. The creatures had yellow glowing compound eyes, and two antenna each, but the lower half of their faces was humanoid, and when they opened their mouths, all one could see were rows of sharp teeth. Two of these Fallen were colored black and yellow, and black and red, but the center Fallen was colored black and orange.

The left yellow Fallen stabbed another ant in the head, when it did, the group could see something flowing through the exposed veins on its left arm. The ant quickly shriveled up and died on the spot, while whatever it sucked out of the Barbari-Ant was stored into the sack on its right shoulder. Another of the Barbari-Ants came in to avenge its fallen comrade and their queen, but the Fallen saw this and aimed its cannon arm at the ant. Within seconds the Fallen fired something from its arm, that something pierced right through the Barbari-Ant, this was accompanied by a sizzling sound before the ant fell to the floor dead.

The other two Fallen were doing the same thing, stabbing, extracting, and then firing. They repeated this process over and over again, and with each discharge the blasts that came from their cannons was just as strong as the last, not only did it pierce through them, but it exploded after a few seconds of being exposed to the air.

“The Fallen killed the Barbari-Ant queen?!” Polly exclaimed.

“They must’ve come looking for us, and crossed paths with the queen,” said Amp.

“Well, so much for my Stink Shroom plan…” Ranger looked upon the new threats for a moment and immediately figured out what they were. “Anne, those are oogpister beetles!”

Amp and the Plantars looked at Ranger in confusion.

Ranger noticed their confusion and clarified, “Bombardier Beetles! They’re a type of beetle that feed on ants, extracting the ants’ formic acid and storing it up for their use to deter predators from eating them! These Fallen are just like them, see, they’re using their left spear-like stinger and extracting their acid, storing it in the sack on their right shoulders and firing it from that cannon on their right arms!”

“You seem to know a lot about these Fallen,” said Sprig.

“Oh, well, I’ve noticed that most of the Fallen that I’ve combatted are based off mammals, birds, reptiles, and insects,” said Ranger.

“Believe me, Sprig, if there’s anyone who could possibly identify something like that, it’d be her,” Amp added.

Sprig crossed his arms; he still didn’t trust her.

“Okay, I’ll handle this! Marcy stay here and watch the Plantars for me!” Amp ordered.

“What?! Anne wai–!”

Amp dashed away before Ranger could protest, the hero of lightning dashed straight down the middle at the two Bombardier Fallen, but the orange one saw her coming and aimed its high-pressured acid cannon right at her. The orange Bombardier Fallen fired a high-powered stream straight for her, but Amp managed to dodge the attack just before it could hit, however, that attack only drove her into the path of the yellow Bombardier Fallen’s acid blast. Amp fell to her knees and arched her back as she sled right underneath the attack, narrowly missing the acid stream. Once she was clear, Amp got back to a standing position, but was once again forced to dodge as the red Bombardier Fallen fired its stream.

Dammit! They’re not going to give me an opening! Alright, let’s fight fire with fire!

Amp jumped into the air and pressed down on her right hip device, changing into Poison Form. The hero of lightning covered her hands in the poison plasma and slashed the air above her. The corrosive poison sliced through several stalactites and caused them to rain down on the three Bombardier Fallen. Amp’s plan was to force them to break up their firing formation, once she did that, she could pick them off one by one with her Poison Form. However, that plan was rendered useless as the red and yellow Bombardier Fallen fired at the falling rocks, sniping them out of the air with great precision, while the orange one took aim at her and fired.

Amp waved her hands around and created a barrier of corrosive poison just before the stream hit. She gritted her teeth and dug her heels into the ground as the highly pressurized stream of acid struck against her poison shield. After the other two were done destroying the stalactites they joined their third and concentrated their fire on Amp. The three streams of acid combined hit Amp like a freight train, sending her flying all the way to the other side of the chamber as she struck against it. Her shield came down, and as a result got splashed by some of the acid, sparks flying off her armor as the result of the damage by multiple explosions. The Bombardier Fallen trio fired again, pelting the area where Amp landed several times with acid shots.

“ANNE!” Ranger shouted as she raised her Squall Sniper to fire at the monsters. Her finger hovered over the trigger, but she stopped.

“What are you doing?! You have to help her!” Sprig exclaimed.

“I can’t…!”

Sprig furrowed his brow at the “hero” and took out his slingshot, Silver Bolt 2.0. “If you won’t help her, I will!”

The pink frog child hopped straight up and away from the boulder that they were taking cover behind. Sprig heard the protests of Hop Pop, Polly, and Ranger, but he ignored them. Ranger may be a Kamen Rider, but she wasn’t a hero. She was just going to stand by and watch three Fallen kill Anne without lifting a finger. Sprig wouldn’t let her down, he was her friend, and if there was anyone Anne could trust to have her back, it was him.

Sprig gathered a couple of rocks and loaded them into his slingshot, he hopped one more time into the air and took aim at the red Bombardier Fallen’s eye. The sharp piece of rock whistled as it cut through the air and struck the Fallen in its compound eye. While the Fallen was made of tougher stuff, the impact of the sharp rock was enough to cause it a little pain as it hissed and chittered in irritation. Sprig did it again, aiming for its second eye, and hit the target dead on. The red Bombardier Fallen stopped its attack and looked around for the one who dared to get in its way, that’s when its gaze fell on Sprig as he landed on the ground. The red beetle monster pierced a wounded Barbari-Ant’s body and extracted its acid. Once it did, the Bombardier Fallen fired its pressurized stream.

Sprig underestimated the speed of which the stream could fly, as it was already halfway towards him as a second just barely passed by. Everything happened in slow-motion for him, he could hear his family screaming for him to run, but it was already going to be too late. Sprig closed his eyes at the last second, praying that the acid shot would be a quick and painless death. However, death did not come for him, instead it was a girl in a green armor and wearing a silver cape.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!” Ranger screamed as she took the direct hit from the monster.

Sprig opened his eyes and watched as Ranger used her back to protect Sprig from the attack. Sparks flew from her back armor, and exploded, forcing Ranger to brace against it to keep from falling. The red Bombardier Fallen cut off its stream, granting Ranger a chance to fire a shot straight for it. She only had time to roll the Windmill once to grant her a blowback shot, which hit the red beetle square in the chest and sent it flying backwards. Ranger took this chance to scoop up Sprig into her arms and jump back towards the rock where the Plantars were hiding.

Ranger panted from the effort but managed to ask, “Are you okay?”

“You…You saved me?” Sprig asked astonished.

“Well, yeah, that’s what Kamen Riders do! Saving lives is part of being a hero of justice!” Ranger declared.

“Then why won’t you go and help Anne?!”

“She asked me to watch you guys…and I do want to go and help her, but you’re obviously important to her, and I…”

Now Sprig understood, she didn’t fire earlier because it would’ve drawn the Fallen’s fire, and with the speed of those acid streams they would’ve cut through the rock and hit the three of them easy, and even if they didn’t get hit directly, the resulting explosions would’ve done them in. Ranger would’ve gotten away in time, but they wouldn’t have. Sprig chastised himself inwardly for his reckless actions.

“Go help Anne! We’ll be fine, she needs you!”

Ranger nodded and quickly leaped into action; she spun the Windmill on the Squall Sniper three times and took aim. She jumped straight into the air and fired a single energy bolt that struck the ground where the Bombardier Fallen were standing. The resulting explosion threw them in different directions, effectively ending their barrage on Amp. Ranger hurried to where Amp was, worried that the acid might’ve burned through her armor, but thankfully, when she arrived, she found that Amp had shifted into her Spike Form. Even though Spike Form had a high amount of defense, the constant barrage did do some damage.

“Anne, are you okay?!” Ranger asked.

Amp tore herself out of the wall and said, “Been better. But what the heck are you doing?! I told you to stay with the Plantars!”

“I did, but they said I needed to help you! And I happen to agree with them, you can’t beat them on your own!”

Amp clenched her fist as she retorted, “I can! If I go Trinity, I can overwhelm them easily!” Amp made to engage the form, but she stumbled and caught herself before she could fall over.

“You can’t go Trinity right now, you took too much damage, and changing now we’ll just exhaust you! We have to work together!”

“NO!”

Ranger growled angrily as she shouted, “WHY?!”

“BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO LOSE YOU, ALRIGHT?!”

Amp’s words echoed in the hollow chamber, making Ranger look at her with surprise.

“I just…I just found you and…and I don’t want to lose you…I can’t…”

Ranger gently placed her left hand on Amp’s shoulder, making Amp look up at the green colored Rider. “You won’t lose me, Anne. Never again. You found me, and I have no intention of leaving you. Now, will you fight with me, so we take out these Kaijin?” Ranger retracted her left hand and held it out for Amp.

Despite both their faces being covered by helmets, Amp could feel the smile coming from Ranger. With a sniffle, Amp clasped her left hand with Rangers, solidifying their alliance. The Bombardier Fallen got the chance to regroup, they were still a little disoriented from the attack, but managed to get back in formation.

Ranger released Amp’s hand and struck a fighting pose as she declared. “I am the archer of the winds, Kamen Rider Ranger!” Ranger nudged her head towards Amp. “Anne, you do it to!”

“Wait, you mean pose?”

“Uh, yeah! It’s Kamen Rider 101!”

Amp sighed, but then chuckled as she did a pose as well. “Uh, the lightning brawler, Kamen Rider Amp! That good?”

“Eh, we’ll workshop it.”

The Bombardier Fallen readied to fire, but Ranger was quicker on the draw as she fired two explosive blasts right in front of them, kicking up a dust cloud from the resulting explosion.

“Anne, I’ll separate them, and you pick them off!”

“Roger that!”

Ranger leaped into the air, somersaulted, and then fired multiple energy bolts at the trio. The Bombardier Fallen scattered to avoid the attack, the dust cloud from the explosions obscured their view of one another, and the Riders. The yellow Bombardier Fallen readied to fire at a moment’s notice, but that wasn’t soon enough as a pair of blue glowing eyes shined from the dust. The monster saw the glow at the last second, but it was too late as a glowing neon green energy spear pierced through the smoke and pierced it right through its chest. The dark halo appeared over its head as the yellow Bombardier Fallen exploded.

The red Bombardier Fallen was still trying to look for either of the two Riders, but its head quickly turned in the direction off the explosion, sensing that one of its own was just destroyed.

“You shouldn’t let yourself get distracted!”

Ranger came skidding out of the smoke, like a baseball player sliding into Homeplate. She had switched her Squall Sniper to armor pierce as she fired multiple shots in rapid fire succession. Each bolt embedded itself against the exoskeleton of the Fallen, but she was aiming for someplace specific. The sack around its right shoulder was getting reddled with glowing spikes of green light, and finally, after one last shot, the sack burst open, spilling the acid onto the ground.

Ranger took her stance as she aimed with the Squall Sniper, a whirlwind kicked up around her as her center horn fanned out, splitting into six sections. The neon green lines on her armor glowed brighter as a mass of energy gathered at the muzzle of the Squall Sniper. “Tornado Shoot!” Ranger pulled the trigger and fired an energy bolt that spiraled into an emerald tornado. That tornado struck the red Bombardier Fallen’s chest, grinding against the armor and its exoskeleton for a few moments before finally piercing through and destroying the Fallen on the spot.

Ranger and Amp looked at each other from across the room and said in unison, “And then there was one!”

The orange Bombardier Fallen fired a shot at Amp, but she quickly shifted back to her default Lightning Form, dashing away at the last second and reappearing a few feet away from the monster. Ranger jumped into the air, spun around, and landed right next to Amp. The rider of wind ditched her Squall Sniper as she entered an attack stance, Amp did the same, and as they did this, each Rider’s respective symbols appeared beneath their feet. Azure lightning and emerald wind raged around them as they charged up their powers. Amp’s horn crest fanned out along with Ranger’s, their glowing lines shining with their respective color and power.

In perfecting unison, Amp and Ranger jumped straight into the air, flipped once, and shot straight for the last Bombardier Fallen. The beetle monster fired one last stream of acid at them, releasing any and all restraints as it tried to kill them both in one shot. However, that was proving to be easier said than done, as Amp and Ranger descended, the wind and lightning of their Rider Kicks mixed together, creating a pseudo shield that pushed against the stream and burned it away.

“CALAMITY KICK: TEMPEST STRIKE!” Ranger shouted.

Amp and Ranger continued forward as they both made contact with the Bombardier Fallen. Their combined kick sent the monster sailing to the far end of the chamber, throwing it into a complete tailspin. Amp and Ranger landed on the ground, just in time for the monster to crash against the wall of the queen’s chamber and explode magnificently as both Riders rose to their full height, eyes glowing brightly as their crests returned to normal.

Sprig, who had been watching this all of this unfold had only one word to say, “Trustworthy…!”

The two Riders cancelled their transformations, leaving Anne and Marcy to fall onto their backs, panting from the exhausting fight that they just had.

“‘Calamity Kick: Tempest Strike’? Did you just name our Rider Kick?” Anne asked.

“Well, yeah, I called mine the Calamity Kick, mostly because those monsters keep saying ‘Calamity of Mind’, so I just named it that. But it looks like you have a similar kick, so we’ll share the name, mine will be the wind variant and yours the lightning variant,” Marcy explained.

“Huh, guess it makes sense, but where did the ‘Tempest Strike’ come from?”

“Well, you have lightning and I have wind, storms, y’know?”

Anne couldn’t help it, she laughed hard enough that it echoed in the chamber, which prompted Marcy to laugh as well. After a minute of laughter, Anne reached out with her left hand and took hold of Marcy’s right. “I’m sorry for not believing in you earlier…”

Marcy blushed and replied, “Anne, it’s okay. We’ve both grown, and this is the first time you’ve seen me since we got here. I understand you want to protect me, but I’m a Rider now, I can fight – and have fought – Fallen on my own. But I’m not saying no to having my best friend team up with me to fight them.”

Anne nodded and released Marcy’s hand, much to her disappointment. When she sat up, she saw the Plantar’s arriving to their location.

“Anne, Marcy, that was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my life! And I’ve seen a lot since we left the valley!” Sprig exclaimed.

“You two totally kicked that thing into oblivion! Literally!” Polly added.

“Heh, seems you two make quite the team,” said Hop Pop. “So, I guess that means mission accomplished?”

Marcy sat up and said, “Not quite, the Barbari-Ants won’t leave, not after that. They’re vengeful and will try and seek out the enemies that killed their queen. They should be coming with reinforcements any minute now.”

Silence hung heavy in the air.

“WHAT!!!?”

“But no worries, I still have the Stink Shrooms, so all we gotta do is plant these babies around the chamber and let them go off.”

“But you just said they’re vengeful, do you really think they’ll leave for good even with the Stink Shrooms?” Polly asked.

Marcy got up and walked to a nearby boulder, she bent down and grabbed something, and then showed it to everyone. “They will if they want to save their next queen.” The object that Marcy held was an egg, but not just any egg, a queen’s egg. “I spotted this little one during the battle and hid it, I’m so glad that it made it through.”

“I get it, we give them the egg, set off the Stink Shrooms, and they leave without ever needing to come back,” said Anne.

“Exactly, vengeful though they are, if they know a queen egg is alive, they will drop everything, even their vendetta, to ensure the security and safety of the egg. Anne, plant the egg near that tunnel, Mr. Plantar, Sprig, Polly, help me lay down the Shrooms!”

Everyone went to work, Anne ran the egg all the way to the tunnel, laying it down at least four feet into it. Hop Pop, Sprig, and Polly worked fast beside Marcy as she planted all the Stink Shrooms. The sound of the Barbari-Ants’ approach was getting louder now, like thousands and thousands of marching feet, rumbling through the tunnels around them. Anne, the Plantars, and Marcy gathered at the center of the chamber and waited. Polly was the first to spot the Barbari-Ants’ approach as one of them stopped in the tunnel that Anne and placed the egg in. The single soldier cast examined the egg for a moment, and then chirped as if recognizing the egg as a queen. The ants in that tunnel made way for that single soldier, as it carried off their precious cargo.

“Okay, part one done, how long until part two?” Anne asked.

“Three…two…one!”

All the Stink Shrooms that they had laid exploded all at once, filling the room with a sweet-smelling smoke. The Barbari-Ants took one whiff of it and immediately retreated as fast as they could out of the anthill for good.

“You know what, it actually smells pretty nice!” Sprig noted.

“Yeah, I mean it’ll liquify your lungs if you breathe too much of it, soooo…”

“WE’RE OUT!” Anne declared.

The group began running for their lives, again. As they did, Marcy looked over her shoulder at Anne and said, “Hey, thanks, again, for believing in me.”

“Of course, I should’ve done that from the beginning, and I’m sorry. You’re right, you really have changed,” said Anne.

Marcy smiled, but her elation was cut short when Hop Pop and Polly said, “Uh, your cape’s on fire, again.”

Everyone skidded to a halt as Marcy checked her cape, sure enough, it was on fire. “OH C’MON, I WAS IN MY RIDER FORM WHEN THE EXPLOSIONS WENT OFF!”

It took a minute, but the group of heroes finally made it back out of the Barbari-Anthill. Marcy triumphantly pumped her fists into the air and declared, “Mission success!”

Sprig turned to the human girl and said, “Marcy, sorry for all the suspicion earlier, I was just trying to protect Anne. You’re no backstabber.”

Marcy smiled at the little frog child and said, “Hey, I’m just glad you’re okay. It’s obvious that you mean a lot to Anne. Just like she does to me, I get it.”

“Oh, almost forgot!” Sprig went back to the hole and hoisted up the severed head of a Barbari-Ant. “You wanted this right?”

Sprig tossed the head in their direction, the impact caused the head’s gag reflex to activate, making it spew out some of its acidic spit, which landed on Hop Pop. The result of which burned away the top half of his clothes.

“Dang it, Sprig!” Hop Pop exclaimed. The others laughed at the embarrassing situation. “Oh, ha, ha.”

Just then a bell rang from the top of the wall of the city, followed up by the city gates opening wide now that the threat of the Barbari-Ants had been vanquished. The group walked up just as the gates opened, finally they were about to go into the city.

“Now, who’s ready to go to Newtopia?! And write up a detailed report,” said Marcy as she ran ahead.

“Yeah!” Sprig and Polly exclaimed as they followed her.

“Wait what?”

“A report?! Boo!”

Anne placed her hands at her hips and marveled at her friend’s growth. “Wow, Marcy hasn’t just changed. She’s flourished! I’ve never seen her so happy.”

While Anne was saying this, Hop Pop was busy trying to get changed. “Always impressive what people are capable of, isn’t it?” Hop Pop kept trying to get the sweater on but was having a bit of trouble. “A little help please?”

Anne walked over and pulled the sweater down for Hop Pop. Once that was done, they followed Marcy and the Plantar children. The bell continued to ring, announcing their arrival as the two humans and the Plantars now stood inside the great city of Newtopia. The architecture was far beyond anything that they have seen on their journey, statues made of bronze mounted atop marble pedestals, white brick structures the reflected the sun and made the city shine, and coral growing in an around those structures in such an intricate way it looked as if it was done on purpose. It was truly a place worthy of being called the capital of Amphibia.

“Whoa…look at this place!”

“Mighty impressive,” said Hop Pop.

“I want to touch everything!” Polly exclaimed.

Anne looked to Marcy and said, “Okay, this is like a city-city.”

The sound of marching caught their attention, when they turned in the direction of that sound, they were greeted by a battalion of the Newtopian Royal Guard. The Royal Guard surrounded the Plantars and humans, completely encircling them and preventing any means of escape.

“What’s goin’ on?!” Hop Pop asked.

“I didn’t do it,” said Polly.

The Royal Guard struck their spears against the ground in unison and parted as a they allowed a single female newt to come through. She was garbed in a beautiful, and most likely expensive, dress. She had light green skin and black hair, with some of it tied into a bun at the top of her head. This female newt exhumed an air of sophistication and authority, here mere presence commanding respect from those around her.

Marcy curtsied to the newt woman and greeted her, “Well met, Lady Olivia.”

“The king sends his greetings, Marcy. He trusts that you succeeded?” Lady Olivia asked.

Marcy took the severed head of the ant from behind her back and tossed onto the ground before all present.

Despite the barbaric nature of this, Lady Olivia was completely unfazed. “Ah, still fresh I see. Excellent work, as expected of the great Marcy Wu.”

“Oh, well, that mission went sideways real quick! We were attacked by some Fallen!”

“Oh my!” Lady Olivia exclaimed.

“But thankfully, my friend Anne also happened to be a Kamen Rider, too! And we kicked their butts!” Marcy declared. The young genius grabbed Anne by the arm and pulled her along to bring her closer to Lady Olivia. “It turns out she was transported here, too! But she was in Frog Valley this entire time!” Marcy dashed over to the Plantars and scooted them along so that they were standing next to Anne. “And these are the Plantars, they were taking care of Anne while she’s been here!”

Lady Olivia looked at the new human with scrutiny. She had heard about Marcy’s friends from the girl herself, but she didn’t expect to find out that said friend also possessed the same strange powers as Marcy did. “Well then, a friend of Marcy is a friend ours. Please do enjoy your stay here in Newtopia, Plantars, and Anne. This is an old city, but one steeped in history and splendor. Please don’t touch anything that looks important.”

“Hey look what I did!” Sprig exclaimed as he somehow found his way on top of the arm of a statue. An arm that broke off not a moment later.

Lady Olivia’s eye twitched as she tried to contain her frustration. “Do enjoy your stay.”

With that business concluded, Lady Olivia and the Newtopian Royal Guard left to return to the palace.

“She seemed friendly…ish,” said Hop Pop.

“Guessing being a Kamen Rider’s earned you some hero status, huh?” Anne asked.

“Eh, well, that and other things.”

Hop Pop could see that the girls were eager to catch up, and he could also see his grandchildren about to bombard the human teen with a crazy number of questions. So, he decided to nip that in the bud. “Polly, Sprig, give me a hand unpackin’ the fwagon, let’s let these two catch up a bit.” Hop Pop winked at the two girls and dragged his grandchildren away.

Anne and Marcy nodded thankfully at Hop Pop and headed over to a nearby fountain. Once there Anne and Marcy had a little talk about what all went on, mostly it was Anne telling as Marcy wanted to hear about what her friend has been up to.

“Sounds like you haven’t figured out a way back home either, huh?” Marcy asked.

“Nerp. You know…it’s funny. I was so worried about you, I kept imagining all these horrible scenarios in my head about finding you…dead in the middle of nowhere, alone and with no one to help you…But now that I’ve finally found you, and that you’re a Kamen Rider, and okay. I…I don’t know what I should now,” Anne confessed.

Marcy nodded in understanding. “I get what you mean. I kept wondering about you and Sasha, I was lucky enough to warp right into Newtopia. I searched the whole city thinking you two might be here, but you weren’t. There were some nights I had nightmares that you two were hurt or dying out there, but I knew you two would make it, you’re tough. On that note, we have to find Sasha, even if we find a way home, it’s meaningless if she’s not with us.”

Anne winced and hissed upon Marcy mentioning Sasha. “Yeah…I kinda already did find her. We fought.”

“Nooo. Was it bad?” Marcy asked.

“There was some yelling…some swords might’ve been involved, along with some explosions and a falling tower – Anyways, I don’t know where she is now, things are complicated,” said Anne. “So, what now?”

Marcy shrugged. “I don’t know. Usually, Sasha’s the one who comes up with the plans.”

Anne chuckled. Yeah, she always did. We always looked to her for leadership, to tell us what to do. But not now. “Marcy, I think it’s time we made our own decisions.”

Marcy started to feel invigorated by this. “Yeah, I mean we’ve made it this far on our own, right?! And we’re Kamen Riders now, so there’s nothing we can’t do! Anne, pose with me!”

“Again?”

“Yeah!” Marcy struck a power pose and said for all to hear, “I’m Marcy Wu, Kamen Rider Ranger!”

“And, uh, I’m Anne Boonchuy, Kamen Rider Amp!”

“And together, we’re going to find Sasha, and find a way home!” they said together.

They held that pose for a few seconds before laughing at themselves and ending their pose.

“Oh my gosh, I want to know everything that’s happened to you since you’ve been here! Do you have any photos?” Marcy asked.

“DO I!”

Anne immediately whipped out her phone and began showing Marcy all the things that tried to eat her and the Plantars on multiple occasions. The Chinese girl scooted herself closer to Anne, brushing her shoulder against her friend’s and blushing happily that she finally found her.

I’m so glad you’re here, Anne. Now…maybe I can finally tell you how I feel.