27. Episode 27: The Temple of Strength(1)

Sasha Waybright was a bit of a lonely girl growing up. She was loved by her parents, but for some reason she could sense something was off about them, call it a child’s intuition. She did not have many friends, so she often spent her time at the playground playing by herself. Since it was so close to their neighborhood, Sasha was allowed to walk to and from the playground on her own, plus the area was safe enough to do so.

Every time Sasha went to the playground, she would often see two girls playing there. Both were of Asian descent, with one having a darker skin tone than the other, and a larger volume of hair. Little Sasha would sometimes just hang back and listen to them and watch them. The other girl who had short black hair would sometimes say things that did not make a lot of sense to Little Sasha, but it seemed the other girl with the big hair did not get it either. Still, it did not seem to stop them from being friends. She found them cute, in that way a child does, and thought it would be nice to be friends with them. But Little Sasha was weary, they seemed so tight with each other, so together, that she was afraid that they would just reject her because she was an outsider or because they she did not look like them.

Even so, she would just pretend to play and watch them from afar. But that all changed one fateful day. Little Sasha was on her way to the playground; her mother and father were having a bit of a heated discussion and had asked Little Sasha to go outside and play. She told them she would be heading to the playground, as it was normally her go to. As she walked, Little Sasha wondered if she would see those two girls there today?

It’s not like it matters. They wouldn’t want to be friends with me, anyway, thought Sasha.

As she approached the playground, Sasha saw them. She gasped and ran to the slide, hiding behind the ladder. She peeked from around the corner and sighed, it seemed as if they did not notice her, too busy swinging from the swings and enjoying themselves. Little Sasha smiled as she watched them, there was just something about them that made her feel happy, and right.

However, her attention was drawn to two older girls approaching the two swinging girls. The teen girls walked up behind them and grabbed the swings, bringing them to an immediate stop and jettisoning them from the swings.

“Awe, how cute,” the teen girl with ripped jean mocked, “Now beat it! These swings are ours!”

Sasha’s brow furrowed with righteous fury. Who do they think they are?! You can’t just do that! They were there first, and they didn’t even ask or say “please”! Sasha’s fury only got stronger when she saw the two girls she was admiring from afar begin to cry.

“Awe, are the babies going to cry?” The girl with the red hoody teased.

THAT DOES IT!

Sasha climbed the ladder until she was at the top of the slide, and in a loud voice she proclaimed, “NOT SO FAST EVILDOERS!”

Did I forget to mention that Little Sasha was an avid admirer of superheroes? Because she was. She loved them, she secretly wanted to be a hero. Life would eventually change her life goals, but hey, when you’re a kid, being hero is something that most want to be. And Sasha was just like that. She could not stand to see people picking on others like that, and she was not above speaking her mind about it.

“LEAVE THOSE KIDS ALONE!”

Little Sasha slid down the slide, and once she reached the bottom, she launched herself into the air and thrust out her left leg into a flying (Rider) kick. The two young Asian girls were in awe of her as they saw the young Waybright girl flying through the air about to dispense justice unto these two mean girls.

But then the two mean girls leaned to the right and left respectively, opening a wide gap between them as Little Sasha sailed right through it and faceplanted on the ground behind them. The two little girls winced upon seeing this, and worried if she had hurt herself. There was no doubt that she did, but still. Their fears were unfounded, just a bit, as Little Sasha quickly sprang to her feet and ran towards the mean girls again, this time thrusting her left fist for a (Rider) punch. But history repeated itself as the mean girls opened the gap again and let Little Sasha pass through unobstructed.

Sasha’s momentum carried her all way forward until she landed, face first, into the sandbox. The young Waybright girl slowly pulled herself out of the sandbox, spitting out some of the sand she had inadvertently got into her mouth. Her forehead was scuffed from her first fall, and her right eye was shut from some of the sand stinging it a bit. She looked over her shoulder, glancing briefly at the two girls who looked on worriedly. Little Sasha was not about to let them down, they may not care, they may not want to see her again after today, but that did not matter. She was going to at least do this one thing for them.

“I’m not done yet! I’ll never give up! No matter what! AAAAAAAHHHH!!!” Sasha yelled as she ran once again at the teen girls.

But in her rush to attack them, she accidentally tripped on her own feet and fell, again, face first into the ground.

“Uh…this is getting weird,” said the girl with the red hoody.

The girl with the torn jeans concurred with her friend. “Yeah, we’re out. Enjoy your swings, ya babies.”

Little Sasha heard them leave and got back on her feet as she struck a heroic pose. “Heh-ha! Good triumphs over evil! Swings are all yours now, have fun.” Little Sasha dusted herself off and was about to leave when…

“Wait!”

Sasha turned around.

The girl with the afro hair stepped closer to her and shyly said, “That was really cool. Thank you for helping us!”

Sasha blushed a little. “Oh, uh, it’s no problem. I don’t like bullies.”

The afro headed girl rocked back and forth on her heels and asked, “Hey, would like to swing with us?”

Little Sasha’s eyes widened. They…They want me to swing with them? To play with them?

“Y-You don’t hafta, if you don’t wanna.”

Little Sasha shook her head. “No, no! I mean, I’d…I’d really like that, thanks.”

The afro headed girl smiled broadly and helped her friend up to her feet, who was still staring in awe of her. “My name’s Anne! And this is Marcy!”

Marcy shyly waved at Sasha, blushing a little as she said, “Hi.”

“What’s your name?” Anne asked.

Little Sasha smiled at both of them and confidently told them, “I’m Sasha. Sasha Waybright.”

It was this moment, way back when, that would forever cement a friendship between these three girls. Sasha did not know it, but her fate would be deeply intertwined with these two. She would go on to play with Anne and Marcy much more as the years went by, growing closer, and forging a bond with them, and as she did, Sasha made a vow to herself. It was a child’s vow, a vow that could easily be forgotten to the passage of time. But Sasha kept this vow deep her heart all through the years she had Anne and Marcy at her side.

Her vow to protect them, to keep them safe from people who would want to hurt them. One could say that this vow ended up doing more harm than good. As they grew up, Sasha saw that there were people who would take advantage of Anne and Marcy, who would push them around, and hurt them if given the chance. Sasha did not give them that chance, she would stick up for them, and over the years her methods became less physical and more psychological. She gained popularity by climbing the social ladder, becoming a “popular girl” among her peers all throughout their grade school years, and into middle school.

She also found it easier to protect them if she could have them do as she said. And she was good at it. She found control to be something she needed and craved, even more so when her parents dropped a huge bomb on her that they were getting divorced the moment she got into Saint James Middle School. This hurt Sasha, but that’s when she learned, that she could not let something like that happen to her, Anne, and Marcy. She needed them to be together, they were her rock now, and she needed them. So, she began to exert her dominance over them, sometimes overruling their decisions and making the final decision, but thorough it all, she made sure that they were happy and having fun.

For Sasha did not want to drive them away, she wanted them to love her. And they did, but in reality, perhaps that’s not the kind of love she really wanted, or rather, she was denying it. Denying something that she was awakening to in herself, and it scared her, it scared her because did not know if this thing that was awakening in her would only drive them away from her. So, she hid it, and made sure not to show interest in them beyond what a best friend should show.

Oh, there were so many times she could have taken it further with either of them. So many opportunities that presented themselves, at every sleepover, at every birthday party, at every house party that Sasha would throw, and even in just simple everyday actions. Sometimes Sasha would watch over the two girls as they slept during a sleepover. After all the pillow fights, scare dare challenges, and junk food benders, Marcy and Anne would be knocked out. And Sasha was almost always the last one to fall victim to slumber. She would watch them, and sometimes brush their hair from their faces, caressing their cheeks in a longing manner.

But then she would chastise herself later because every time she did, she found herself wanting to kiss them. Not just one of them, but both of them. There was definitely something wrong with her, or so she thought. How could she have feelings for two girls at the same time? Heck, how was it she could have feelings for girls at all? She liked boys; she was certain of that. But that part of her that she denied would always find a crack in her armor, and it only happened when around Anne and Marcy.

I promise girls…I’ll always protect you. No matter what happens. Because I…I…

The third and final temple was upon them as Joe Sparrow flew through the skies of Amphibia. In the distance was a huge volcano, and very active as lava was steadily flowing down one side of it like a waterfall. An ash cloud formed around the mountain, every so often releasing heat lightning. On this last run, the group decided to bring Frobo with them, as it seems that The Night was not above kicking them when they were down, and since Frobo had shown to be capable of at least fending off a Fallen, they decided to bring him along for this last one.

Anne and Marcy expected possible heavy resistance from The Night as they were close to finally charging the box to full power. And who knew what the dark entity might do to stop them. Anne, Marcy, and the Plantars were in the seat on Joe Sparrow’s back, while Frobo was being carried in his talons. The huge bird began his descent, heading right for the base of the volcano that was not in the path of the lava. Right before he landed, Joe released Frobo, letting the metal frog land on his rear, while Joe plopped himself onto the ground a few feet away. Panting hard as his cheeks reddened from the effort of carrying two frogs, one pollywog, two human teens, and one robot.

“That’ll do, Joe Sparrow, that’ll do,” said Marcy as she petted his back.

Anne reached into her backpack and took out the music box. “Aaaaannd, wha-bam!”

As soon as she did, a beam of blue light shot out from the blue gemstone and hit the side of the mountain. Immediately after, ancient Amphibian runes appeared, along with glowing carvings of an archway that indicated the entrance. Everyone dismounted Joe Sparrow, and among them, Anne had gained a new accessory. It was a gold and blue colored breastplate, one that was a part of a full suit of armor that was brought from Newtopia by the armorer, Bernado. Instead of the full outfit, Anne decided that this was best option. As she had told her friends and girlfriend, “I’m finally happy with who I see in the mirror right now. So, whatever I put on, I just want to be able to see the same me looking back.”

It was kind of cheesy, but very profound. And it was something that Marcy definitely got behind, Anne had changed a lot since coming to Amphibia, and not just because of Kamen Rider powers, she had become stronger, confident, honest, and more responsible than she had ever been before. Marcy had to admit, she kind of fell in love with Anne all over again, and she planted one on her girlfriend’s lips not too long after that.

The group walked closer to the glowing carvings as Anne said, “We’re here, guys, the third and final temple.”

“What’s it say, Marcy?! What’s it say?!” Sprig asked as he tugged at her cape.

Marcy just looked at the carvings with confusion as she took out her journal to double check her translation, but no, she was right. “Huh, okay…It says, ‘Lift to enter, bruh.’”

Everyone glanced at each other in confusion. That seemed a little too literal considering the past two temples. Frobo took it upon himself to do as the carvings dictated. He walked up to the middle of the carved archway, and after cursory scan of it, Frobo managed to find a crease down below. He squatted down and wedged his metal digits into the crease, and with minimal effort, lifted the stone slab up, locking it into place as he revealed the passage into the volcano.

“Wow, way to go, Frobo,” Hop Pop praised.

“Alright guys, let’s go crush this temple!” Anne declared as she ran for the entrance.

Everyone followed behind her, eager to conquer the last temple and charge the box. But just before they did, Hop Pop stopped and looked at Frobo. “Frobo, look after Joe Sparrow while we’re gone. We’ll be back soon.”

Frobo gave them a thumbs up, and with that confirmation, the team journeyed into the temple. The robot frog walked over to Joe, squatted down, and sprinkled some birdseed before the tired sparrow. Frobo gently patted Joe’s armored head, but as he did, two shadows moved across the ground behind him. Frobo’s sensors briefly went off, and he quickly turned around to see what had tripped them. But upon doing so, he found that there was no one there. Deciding it was nothing, Frobo shrugged it off and went back to watching Joe.

The third temple was, intense in appearance. A lake of lava surrounded both sides of a linear stone pathway to the temple doors. On the other side were two enormous, ruby statues of muscular toads holding up the ceiling. Further down were more ruby statues of muscular newts, which were at least twenty to thirty feet tall, but still small compared to the toad statues. A huge toad figure was cared into the wall, and where its belly would be was the door, which had a few spikes jutting out from the top of it, and two rings for door handles. The heat was fierce, but that was to be expected considering they were inside an active volcano.

“Man, it’s hot in here. Mar-Mar, are you sure this place is safe to be in? I mean, it’s a temple, so safety’s a moot point, but none of others were inside an active volcano. What if it erupts?” Anne asked.

“Technically, it is erupting. Slowly. An eruption only occurs when there’s too much pressure being built up, and the result is the kind of eruptions we’ve seen in history class, like Mt. Saint Helens, or Vesuvius, or Kilimanjaro. But this one’s slowly relieving the pressure, gradually, so it doesn’t have time to build up into an explosive eruption. Honestly, so long as nothing plugs it up, we’ll be fine, but even if that did happen, it’d take a long while for that much pressure to build up,” Marcy explained.

Anne sighed. “Okay, sorry, I’m just a little on edge with this being the third and final one. I’m more than sure The Night’s going to try something, but the whole volcano thing just adds a bit of an extra edge to it all.”

“We got this, Anne! Sure, it’s hot, like, really hot, but we can take it. It is called the Temple of Strength, so we have to assume enduring the heat is part of the test. Anyway, there should be three trails, just like the other tem…ples…”

Anne raised an eyebrow. “Uh, Marcy, why did you trail off?”

“Uh, look,” said Marcy as she pointed behind Anne.

Anne turned around and gasped, “Holy Frog!”

Sprig, Hop Pop, and Polly looked like dried up raisins. Their normally vibrant colors were now dulled, and they looked quite emaciated.

“Whoa – Holy – Are you guys okay?!” Anne asked.

Hop Pop coughed a bit before answering, “We’re just a little dehydrated from the heat. Don’t worry, we’ll be alright.”

Okay, yeah, we need to conquer this temple. Fast.

“Let’s hurry this up then,” said Anne.

The two teen girls opened the doors, and on the other side was yet another stone pathway that stretched across a lake of burning lava. Only the other side had no statues. Off to their left they spotted a magenta glow. When they looked, they saw that the glow was emanating from these huge crystals that were growing from the walls. At the center of this crystal formation was a stone chest that seemed to be carved from the rock itself, and on it was the chiseled visage of one of gemstones. Above the stone chest were glowing runes, prompting Anne and Marcy to get closer to the stone chest as the latter begin translating.

“‘Whoa there boss, think you’re strong enough to get across?’”

“Yeah, definitely the Temple of Strength.”

“Should we even try and henshin?” Marcy asked.

“It’ll just be like the last two. Pretty sure passing through the entrance deactivated our powers,” said Anne.

The glow of the runes and crystals faded, and upon doing so, the stone chest’s lid opened and revealed several metal hammers.

“Wonder what those are for?” Sprig asked in a hoarse voice.

As if the universe felt like answering him, a giant creature rose out of the lava lake. It resembled a centipede with its several legs, but this creature had a heavily armored exoskeleton that was black on top and beige at the bottom. The creature had cracks along its body that were glowing bright and red hot, and when it opened its mouth, the creature revealed several sharp teeth, and a mouth that was glowing as bright and hot as the lava that it swam in.

“SPRIG!” Anne yelled as she grabbed one of the hammers.

She struggled for a moment to lift it, but Anne managed to do so. But then something else happened that she was not expecting. Her eyes shined blue as lightning arced around her body, allowing Anne to rush towards Sprig with her super speed. Although it was a little slower due to carrying the extra weight of the hammer, but she still managed to zip to Sprig and swing the hammer. Smacking the creature right upside its head and knocking it back into the lava lake. Everyone’s jaw dropped when they saw this.

“Dang, this hammer weighs a freakin’ ton! Guys, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Anne, you can use your powers!” Polly exclaimed in the same hoarse voice as her brother.

Anne took a moment and realized that she had just used her super speed. “What the heck? How?! The other two didn’t even allow us to use our powers!”

Marcy concentrated and as she did, her eyes glowed green. She jumped straight into the air and bounced off one of the walls before landing with perfect grace. “We really can! I wonder…” Marcy went into her transformations motions to summon her Driver.

Anne did the same as she dropped the hammer.

Their MetamorphRing Drivers appeared, but as soon as they pressed on the hip devices, nothing happened.

“Wait, so we can use our other powers, but we can’t transform?” Anne questioned.

“This must be something unique to this temple. Strength is the main focus, but it must also want to test our skills as well!” Marcy concluded.

A moment later, more of the lava-pedes began to appear in the lava lake, jumping across the bridge like dolphins breaching the water.

“Okay, guys, it’s hammer time!” Marcy stated as she picked up one of the hammers. As soon as she did, the young nerd immediately regretted it. “Okay, I think I waited too long to build up the strength in my arms!” Marcy, as carefully as she could, passed the hammer she picked up to Polly.

The purple pollywog grabbed the hammer, but her dehydrated state had severally decreased her strength. A tadpole who could swing maces and flails around like they were nothing before, now could barely grip the hammer as it fell against the ground.

“Yeah, this ain’t happening,” said Polly.

“Don’t worry, I’ll defend you guys!”

Anne took point, lifting the stupidly heavy hammer up over her shoulder as she charged ahead. Another of the lava-pedes breached the surface, but Anne used the hammer to bash it in the head, sending it back into the lava. Another came at her from the back, but thanks to her speed, she managed to dodge its gnashing teeth, but just barely. She counterattacked by hitting it across the face, and then uppercutting it with the hammer again. Anne panted from the effort, wishing she had brought her sword instead of using this heavy hammer, her speed was suffering because of it.

The Plantars started to follow after Anne, but Marcy looked down at the hammer and furrowed her brow. I can’t just let Anne do all the heavy lifting, literally! Marcy gripped the handle of the hammer and began dragging the weapon as she caught up with the Plantars. Unfortunately, Anne overextended herself, having gotten too far ahead of the group. This allowed one of the lava-pedes to rise up out of the lava right next to her family and girlfriend.

“MARCY!” Anne shouted.

Marcy tried to raise the hammer, but her weak nerd arms would not allow it. Anne ran towards them, but more of the lava-pedes appeared to block her way. Anne smashed her hammer into one after the other, but she could already tell she was not going to make it in time.

The lava-pede roared mightily into the air as its mouth dripped with lava-like drool. The creature leaped out of the lava; its mouth wide open as it prepared to eat all four of them in one fell swoop. But, suddenly, the lava-pede was split down the middle as flames burned right through the center of it. When the creature’s two halves fell apart, it revealed none other than Sasha Waybright.

Sasha landed on the stone pathway, her brow furrowed as she looked upon the Plantars, Anne, and Marcy. Another of the lava-pedes tried to attack her while her back was turned, but the soldier girl swiftly turned around and slashed the air with her sword, her heron sword blade ignited with flames as they thinned into a blade that launched straight at creature. The, somewhat, magical properties of the flames were strong enough to beat the heat resistance of lava-pedes, allowing the flaming crescent to cut all the way through and decapitate it in one swing.

Anne managed to rejoin the group as she stared at her friend in disbelief. “It can’t be…Sasha…!”

“Sasha, you’re here?! I-I can’t believe it!” Marcy exclaimed.

“There’s no time for that! We have to move! NOW!” Sasha ordered.

The young blonde quickly grabbed the hammer that Marcy could not lift and ran ahead with Anne right behind her. More of the lava-pedes appeared close to the exit of this trail, but Sasha’s eyes glowed a bright magenta as she jumped up and smashed her hammer onto the head of one of the creatures, cracking its exoskeleton and crushing its brain inside. Another one rushed at her to avenge its fallen kind, but Sasha threw the hammer at it, nailing it in the head and crushing its skull. The last one was met a similar fate by getting slashed apart twice before its parts sunk into the lava.

Finally, all five of them made it to the exit and found refuge on the other side. Anne, Marcy, and the Plantars all panted from exhaustion, while Sasha looked like she had barely broken a sweat while she sheathed her sword. Now that they were out of danger, Anne turned to face Sasha, getting into a fighting stance. She may not have her sword, but with her speed and a combination of Frog Kata and Muay Thai, Anne was sure she could take down Sasha even though she was armed.

“Sasha…”

The blonde teen slowly turned around and smiled at Anne. “Hey, Anne, good to see you, again.”

The air became tense between them, but for some reason, Anne could not sense any hostility coming from her, nor in her voice when she spoke.

“Yeah, you, too,” Anne replied.

“Sasha? It’s really you,” said Marcy.

“Heh, hey, Mar-Mar,” said Sasha.

Marcy walked up next to Anne and patted her on the shoulder. She then walked over to Sasha and gave her a hug, which Sasha reciprocated as some tears formed in her eyes. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

“Same with you, Marcy. I was so worried about you.” Sasha gently broke the hug and looked at Anne. “Both of you.” She turned her attention back to Marcy, now glancing up and down at her friend’s outfit. “Wow, what happened to you? I’m loving the new look!”

Marcy giggled a little. “Speak for yourself, girl. Check out this armor.” Marcy jiggled the shoulder pauldron a bit. “I’m still in shock here. How did you find us?!”

“Oh, that was simple enough. We heard you two were traveling together and we tracked you both here,” Sasha answered.

“Wait a minute, did you say, ‘we’?” Anne asked

The doors to the trial room burst open and standing in the middle of the doorway was Grime, a sword in his right hand, and the head of one of the creatures skewered on the tip. The former captain of Toad Tower laughed triumphantly and loudly, the shadows hid most of his body as he flicked his blade, tossing the head back into the lava lake before entering. However, upon the doors closing, it was revealed that Grime was in much the same dehydrated condition as the Plantars.

“Even in this state, those things were no match for me!” Grime proclaimed.

Anne immediately got in front of the Plantars, ready to fight Grime.

“Whoa, whoa, cancel the red alert,” said Sasha as she walked over to Grime. “Seriously, we’re not here to fight.”

“Oh no?” Sprig questioned.

“Nope. The whole reason we were stalking you was…” Everyone was on edge. Anne knew their defeat at Toad Tower was a tough pill to swallow for Sasha and Grime, and so she expected that revenge was most likely on their minds. But Anne was not expecting what Sasha said next. “…So, I could tell Anne that everything that happened at Toad Tower was my fault.”

Anne, flabbergasted, asked, “Really?”

Sasha sighed ruefully as she approached her friend. “Yes, it was wrong of me to put your frog family in danger like that. Even doubly wrong of me for pushing you around. I’m sorry.”

Anne lowered her guard just a tad. “Huh…okay…I wasn’t expecting that.”

Hop Pop knew that this might catch Anne off guard, so he decided to have their new companions clarify their intentions. “Fergive me for bein’ skeptical, but why the change of heart? Given all that’s happened.”

Grime sighed. “After Toad Tower fell, Sasha and I lost everything. So, it forced us to reevaluate our positions. Especially when an expected event happened.”

“Event?” Marcy asked.

“Yeah, some time ago I started getting these horrible pains in my abdomen. I thought it was…you know…that. But it wasn’t. Whatever it was, it would heat up my body to the point that I would explode. Literally, I would explode in a burst of fire that came out of my body!”

Anne and Marcy’s eyes widened.

“We had to hunker down in places near lakes so that I could have my little episodes in the water, that way I didn’t accidentally set something on fire. And that’s not even the craziest part of this. Some monster attacked us, and then – oh god – a Kamen Rider built thing appeared around my waist, but only after I accepted this feeling inside me, and then I transformed and destroyed the monster.”

The girls’ jaws dropped.

“So, yeah, I’m a Kamen Rider, how ironic is that? Girls?”

“Did your Driver look anything like these?” Anne asked as she pointed at her waist.

Sasha looked down and now it was her turn to be shocked. “Holy crap! You have one! And Marcy, too?! We’re…We’re all three Kamen Riders?!”

Anne had to lean up against the wall as she took this all in. Sasha really was a Kamen Rider like they were. There was a high possibility that she was, if she and Marcy got powers, why not Sasha? This was one of the things that sometimes kept her up at night. Sasha had power as a popular girl back on Earth, but now she had real, tangible power. Anne feared that another confrontation with Sasha could end up with both of them dueling in their Rider forms. But it seems as if The Night was after her as well, it was after all of them. Which meant that they had a common enemy that threatened their lives, this world, and possibly their home world as well.

Marcy was still trying to process this. She was giddy at the fact that all three of them were Kamen Riders, but at the same time, what Anne told her about what happened at Toad Tower was still fresh in her mind. She was happy to see Sasha again, happier than she was comfortable admitting in front of Anne. But at this point, she had to proceed carefully. For her plan with Andrias to take hold, she had to walk a fine line here or risk losing both of her friends.

“It didn’t really hit me until now, your eyes were glowing earlier. And you were using fire,” said Anne.

“Yeah, my powers outside of transforming give me a huge boost to my strength, and I can make fire.” Sasha raised her right hand a conjured some embers. “What do you guys got?”

“I can control the air a bit, and my agility and jumping abilities are close too or above Olympic levels,” said Marcy.

“Whoa…Anne, what about you?” Sasha asked.

Anne stood up and said, “Speed, my reflexes and running are super charged, and I can use lightning a little.”

Sasha ran a hand through her hair as she tried to absorb all of this. “Geez, this is a lot. But first things first, what are you all doing in this big honking volcano?”

“Oh, Sasha, you won’t believe this! The music box that zapped us here, the King of Amphibia told us that it can transport us back home! But the gemstones need to be charged at three temples first. And this volcano is the third and final temple,” Marcy explained.

“No way…you mean we can almost go home?!”

“Yep,” Anne confirmed.

“Each temple has a theme, the first one was the Temple of Mind, the second was the Temple of Heart, and this one is the Temple of Strength.”

Sasha chuckled. “Then it’s a good thing I showed up then, huh?”

Sprig glared at Sasha as he retorted, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sasha rolled her eyes at Sprig. “It means you three are just going to slow us down. It’d be better if you all waited outside.”

Anne furrowed her brow as she stepped forward and countered, “Hey, you can’t tell them what to do!”

“Whoa, whoa, Anne, it wasn’t an order. It was just a suggestion. This place is already intense, and this heat isn’t doing them any favors,” said Sasha as she raised her hands in a placating manner.

“I know, but all of us have conquered the temples together. And we’re not stopping now,” said Anne.

Sasha shook her head in the affirmative. “Alright, if that’s what you want. C’mon, let’s keep going and charge that stone.”

Sasha and Grime took point, while Marcy followed behind her. Anne stayed behind with the Plantars and asked them, “Do you really think she’s changed?”

“Time will tell Anne. Time will tell.” Hop Pop answered. “Say, you got any of that lippy balm? Lips are feelin’ pretty dry.”

Anne reached into her skirt pocket and asked, “You guys want bubblegum or cantaloupe flavor?”

“Cantaloupe! Cantaloupe!” The Plantars chanted.

Anne handed them the cantaloupe lip balm, which Hop Pop took and proceeded to rub it all over his face.

“Oooooh sweet relief!”

“…You can keep that.”

While they walked to the next challenge, Grime decided to hang back with the Plantars and allowed Sasha, Anne, and Marcy to take point, also so they could talk with some amount of privacy.

“It’s really good to see you girls again, really,” said Sasha.

“Same, Sash,” said Anne.

Marcy nudged Anne a bit, gaining her attention. Anne could see an unspoken question in her eyes, and she knew what the question was. Was now the best time to tell Sasha that she and Marcy were a couple? Sasha was their friend, but they never really talked about gay stuff together, or at any time really. They did have a few friends who were gay back home, and Sasha seemed alright with them, but Anne knew Sasha was good at hiding her real intentions.

Anne furrowed her brow, what did it matter? If Sasha was their friend, then she could at least respect that about them, right? Plus, Anne was through seeking Sasha’s approval, if Sasha did not like that she and Marcy were together, then that was her problem.

“Say, Sasha, there’s something Marcy and I need to tell you. But I’m not sure how you’re going to take it,” said Anne.

Sasha stopped walking and looked at Anne with concern. “Why, what’s up?”

Anne glanced a Marcy, and Marcy to Anne. The Thai girl reached over with her right hand and took Marcy’s left into that hand. “Sasha…some things happened in Newtopia, and, well, Marcy and me…We’re together now. She’s my girlfriend and I’m hers.”

Sasha’s eyes went wide as she looked over at Marcy. “Marcy, you’re serious?”

Marcy blushed, she tightened her grip on Anne’s hand as she looked at Sasha and replied, “It is. I’ve had a crush on Anne for the longest time, and I decided that I would finally tell her how I felt while we were here. Some things happened that kind of got in the way of that, but eventually, it happened, and Anne accepted my feelings. I’m sorry if this makes you feel awkward, Sash. I just don’t want you to think we were keeping something secret from you, or make you feel awkward.”

“Either way, this is us now, Sash. I don’t know how feel about this kind of thing, but I like Marcy, a lot. And I don’t regret my decision,” said Anne.

Sasha glanced between her two best friends for a moment. The blonde girl put her hands against her hips as a cheeky grin appeared on her face. “So, you two are officially a couple, huh? Have ya kissed yet?”

Anne and Marcy blushed.

“Y-Yes, we have,” said Marcy.

“How many times? And I’m not talking about picks on the cheek, either.”

“Uh…we had our first kiss on the lips at the palace. We had a date not too long ago, and we kissed on the lips then, too,” Anne confessed, also blushing.

“Woooo, look at you two! So cute!” Sasha teased. “Well, that kind of makes things a little easier…oddly enough.”

“Huh?” Anne and Marcy sounded.

“I kind of had a journey of self-discovery while Grimesy and I were in hiding. And long story short…I figured out that I’m bi,” Sasha confessed.

“Seriously?!” Anne exclaimed.

Sasha rubbed the back of her head as she continued their walk. “Yeah…honestly, I’ve always been bi. Actually, I knew way before coming here that I was. But I’ve been denying that part of myself for a long time.”

Marcy slowly released Anne’s hand and walked up to Sasha. “Sash, why would you do that?”

“Probably the same reason why you didn’t tell me you guys were gay,” said Sasha.

“Technically speaking, I identify as lesbian. Anne, as far we’ve been able to figure, is demisexual.” Marcy clarified. “But she didn’t realize it until we got here.”

Sasha looked over her shoulder and saw Anne nod.

“It’s true. Guess with all the distractions of our world gone, I had a lot of time to think about myself. About who I like, and well, I like Marcy,” said Anne.

“And I’ve always known I was like this. So, I’m guessing the reason why you didn’t tell us is because you were afraid of how’d we react, right?”

Sasha sighed heavily but nodded all the same. “It’s different when you know. Because I was afraid you guys would think I was perving on you or something when we were having sleepovers, or whenever we were in the locker rooms. You two are my best friends…or hopefully still are, and I didn’t want to freak you out or anything.”

Anne still wasn’t sure of Sasha right now. But she was certain that everything she was saying was the truth, she could feel the heaviness in her words, the concern, and the emotion. It was not unlike her struggle when she came to terms with her discovered orientation. Still, it was crazy. Marcy liked girls, and Sasha like boys and girls, and Anne, well, she liked people she formed bonds with. And dang it that meant Sasha, too.

“There’s a lot we need to talk about, so, let’s conquer this temple, charge the stone, and head back to Wartwood to finally clear the air. Okay?” Marcy asked.

Sasha and Anne looked at each other for a moment, a tense moment.

“Yeah, we definitely have some things to talk about,” said Anne.

“I’d like it if we did,” said Sasha. “Okay, well, that was emotional. Let’s just do the next challenge.”

The group eventually arrived at the second challenge. When they entered, they found that it was a small chamber, and within this chamber was a stone bench press with a dumbbell set on the handles in the center of the room. Across from this was the entrance to the third and final challenge, and to the left of that was a blank plaque. That same plaque began to glow with magenta runes, giving them the next challenge.

“‘S’up, brosef? Do you even lift?’” Marcy translated.

“Pfft, they’re not even trying anymore.”

“Ha, this one’s all me,” said Sasha as she cracked her knuckles and began walking to the glorified exercise equipment.

Anne broke away from the group and said, “Wait, Sash! Marcy and I have done these temples, and there’s always a catch with these trials. Let’s just take a minute to search the room to make sure there’s not any hidden mechanisms or something before we try it.”

Sasha shrugged off Anne’s concern. “That’ll take too long. Besides, this temple’s been pretty straight forward so far.”

The blonde teen casually walked up to the bench press and laid down on it.

“Sasha, wait, I really don’t think you should–!”

Completely ignoring Anne’s warning, Sasha lifted the dumbbell up with ease. Upon completion of the trial, the door behind her glowed with the symbol of the gemstone and opened for them.

“Oh…okay…”

Sasha put the dumbbell back and sat up as she smiled victoriously. “This thing’s gonna be over before it starts! Heh, alright, let’s get going nerds.”

Grime looked at the rest of the group and said, “By ‘nerds’ she means you guys.”

“Thank you, Grime, we know,” said Anne.

All seven of the temple raiders entered the final trial room. It was a large arena, with a boundary marked by flowing lava all around it. At the center of the arena was a ring of carved glowing symbols, and at the center of that ring was the symbol of the gemstone. Up above them were dozens of stalactites that were embedded with magenta gemstones.

“Alright everyone, two down, one to go. This should be the final trial of the Temple of Strength,” said Marcy.

As soon as she said that the doors to the room shut closed behind them. Everyone turned around and watched as magenta runes appeared on the door.

Marcy translated them once again. “‘You’ve definitely got skill, no doubt. But it’s time you learned with strength is all about.’”

The room started to rumble, making everyone look around for any signs of another deathtrap trial. But just like the other two, this one was not hidden, not completely. Everyone looked up and watched as some huge broke off from the middle of the ceiling. At first, they thought it was a boulder, but as it descended, they quickly realized that it was not a boulder, although it was made of rock. When the object landed, it stood up. Revealing itself to be a huge stone toad golem that stood several feet above them. Its body was sculpted to physical perfection, showing off muscles as glowing lava veins spread across its body. The golem was sporting a black leotard, similar to what a bodybuilder would wear, and began flexing, literally flexing, and showing off its physique to its would be challengers. The golem extended its right hand and made a “Come at me bro” gesture.

Sasha chuckled at the gesture. “Oh, you wanna go? Then let’s go. Hang back guys, I got this.”

The golem inhaled deeply and the roar loudly into the room, immediately upon doing so the ground began to glow with a magenta hue, and suddenly Sasha, Anne, and Marcy felt a great force thrust down upon them, making them kneel before the golem. In the case of Grime and the Plantars, that same force made them fall flat against the floor.

“Great grasshopper guts! It’s like an elephant tick is standing on my back,” said Grime.

Marcy struggled to lift her head but managed to do so as she took a quick glance of the area. “That thing must’ve increased the room’s gravitational force! This is just like in episode fifty of Dragon Claw Z when Ryu lift for planet Gramek and trained in a gravity room on the ship he flew on!”

“I…I can’t get up!” Sprig stated as he tried but failed to do so.

Anne understood, in their dehydrated states, there was no way they were going to be able to do anything. But honestly, Anne didn’t think they could even if they were in their normal hydrated state. The gravity was intense, and she was not sure they’d be able to stand, heck, she was barely able to stand at all. Still, right now, their human biology and musculature was an advantage they needed to capitalize on.

“Just sit tight! Us humans will handle this!” Anne stated.

“You go girls!” Polly cheered weakly.

Anne, Sasha, and Marcy managed to rise to their feet and began walking towards the golem, albeit with a great amount of effort. Sasha called upon her power, making her eyes glow bright magenta as she used her strength to fight against the gravity. Anne’s eyes glowed as well, her speed might be hampered with the gravity, but at least she might be able to outpace the golem. Marcy’s eyes glowed, readying her powers for use, although, with the gravity, she was not sure how high she could jump.

The golem chuckled mockingly at the three girls and reached down with its right hand and broke off a boulder sized piece of the arena. It did the same with its left hand did, now dual wielding two boulders. The golem tossed the right one like a bowling ball straight for the girls. Anne dodged to the right using her speed to get around it, and unfortunately, it was as she feared, her super speed was greatly hampered by the gravity, the simple action of lifting her legs was made into a great effort. Sasha managed to dodge to the left, semi easily being able to move thanks to her strength boost. Marcy was in the direct path of the boulder, she tried to jump, but the gravity would not allow her to get any elevation, plus, now that she thought about it, even if she did manage to jump, the landing would surely break her legs.

“MARCY!” Anne yelled as she readied to bolt for her.

Sasha managed to beat her to it as she ran and tackled Marcy out of the way of the boulder just in time. The golem smirked and tossed the second one right for them, however, Sasha managed to stand back up quickly, drew her sword, and focusing her flames, slashed the boulder right down the middle. Sending both halves careening into the lava surrounding the arena. Despite getting the strength boost from her powers, Sasha was still panting from the effort.

“Thanks, Sasha,” said Marcy.

“No problem, Mar-Mar,” Sasha replied.

Marcy tried to get back up, but despite her physical improvement over the last few months, she was not as athletically built as her girlfriend and best friend, so when she went down, she stayed down. “Girls…I…I can’t get up…I’m sorry…I’m at my limit, the gravity’s too strong!”

Anne kneeled next to Marcy and stroked her head as she assured her, “It’s okay, just stay here.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll handle the rest,” said Sasha.

Anne got back up and walked side by side with Sasha towards the golem. “Who would’ve thought, us, working together, after everything that’s happened.”

Sasha narrowed her gaze at Anne as she retorted, “Yeah, unbelievable. Especially since you still don’t trust me! Even after I apologized, and I came out to you two! That wasn’t easy!”

The golem jumped into the air and slammed its feet back onto the ground, the vibrations were strong enough to make the stalactites break off from the ceiling and rain down on the arena below. Sasha and Anne hurriedly began dodging the incoming stalactites, dodge rolling when they could, but every action they took was taking twice as much effort, and twice as much energy than it would normally require.

“What do you mean?! I trust you! ……Kinda.” Anne confessed.

“Ah-ha! See! You admit it! You don’t trust me at all!” Sasha retorted.

Anne furrowed her brow, after dodging another stalactite, and said, “Well can you blame me?! Why would I trust you?! It wasn’t just Toad Tower, Sash! You’ve been pushing me and Marcy around our whole lives! And it took coming here for me to finally realize that! Just tell me, do you even care about us?! Really?!”

Sasha’s eyes widened, she averted her gaze, suddenly feeling ashamed to look Anne in the eyes. “I know…I know I’ve done that. I know I’ve manipulated you two, bossed you around, and forced you into some things I know you guys didn’t want to do. I…I’m sorry. And…Anne, I do care about you and Marcy, so much more than you could ever imagine…more than…more than a friend should care about someone who’s just their friends.”

Now it was Anne’s turn to be shocked. Did Sasha just confess to having feelings for her? For Marcy, too. “Sasha…are you–?”

The golem roared into the air for the second time, and unfortunately, that meant another increase in gravity. The floor of the arena glowed brighter as the gravitational force was tripled, sending Anne and Sasha straight to the ground. Those who were already on the ground felt as if the mountain itself was pressing on their bodies, or like their bodies were trying to fall through the earth itself. The Plantars and Grime were starting to feel the effects even more as their internal organs were beginning to feel the strain.

Marcy was feeling it, too. Bones and muscles could be strengthened through tearing, breaking, and mending, but there was no way to strengthen one’s internal organs, and with the increased gravity, their hearts and lungs were working that much harder. At this rate…if that golem doesn’t kill us, our hearts will give out just from the strain alone!

“It…It feels like my lungs are going to explode!” Anne gasped.

“It’s…It’s over! We…We can’t do this,” said Sasha.

The stone golem, still smirking, broke off one of the crystal studded stalactites, and now wielded it like a club. The golem decided to take a moment and flex on the temple’s challengers, seeing as they had accepted their fate.

Anne looked up at the golem, to her girlfriend, and to the Plantars and Grime behind her. Sasha was right, they could not do this. “You’re right…we can’t…but you can! I believe in you!”

Sasha managed to turn her head towards Anne as she stared at her in disbelief of her words. “What?! How can you say that?! After everything I’ve done! After how I’ve treated you and Marcy!”

Anne used what little strength she had to look Sasha in the eyes. “Because…I still remember that girl who was our hero.”

Sasha fell silent.

“Yes, you’ve been kind of a jerk…But you’ve protected us…You’ve stood up for us…You never left us behind…You inspired me to be stronger…Sasha…you’re the fiercest, bravest, strongest person I know! And most importantly…YOU…NEVER…GIVE…UP!”

Sasha’s mind briefly flashed back to when she was a little girl, to the day when she fought to protect Anne and Marcy, not expecting anything in return, but in the end earned their friendship. The words of her younger self began to echo in her mind, “I’m not done yet! I’ll never give up! No matter what!”

“You’re right…!” Sasha grunted and growled as she forced herself to stand.

The golem was getting ready to deliver the final blow but paused when it started to watch Sasha rise to her feet.

“I’ll never give! Not today! NOT EVER!!!”

Sasha reached for her shoulder pauldron attachments and flung them off with her left hand behind her. The cape and pauldrons, a few seconds after leaving her, immediately plummeted to the ground like a lead weight, creating a four-foot-wide crater and cracking the ground where it landed. This immediately surprised everyone, even the golem itself. Sasha reached down and unclasped her armored boots, taking them off with ease as she flung both of them behind her back. Those two boots flew far to the back and struck the wall behind Sprig, making two more four-foot-wide craters, but this time the boots sunk deep into the rock a good foot or more.

Sprig was shocked to say the least, as he actually felt the impact of those boots when they hit wall. “How heavy was that armor?!”

Weighted…armor…! Sasha’s been wearing weighted armor…! Just like in Dragon Claw Z! Marcy would be fangasming right about now, but if she did, she was sure that her heart would quite literally explode from getting overexcited.

Jeez, Sash…!

Sasha picked up her sword as the glow of her power burned brighter in her eyes. The golem raised its club into the air and brought it down for the decisive blow, however, Sasha swiftly raised her sword up and managed to block the attack, the shockwave of the stopped attack managed to form a five-foot crater around her, but the blonde teen showed no signs of strain.

“My turn!”

Her heron sword ignited with raging flames as she smacked the club back, throwing the golem off balance. Sasha dashed for the golem, showing no sign that the gravity field was even phasing her in the slightest. She slashed the air in front of her, creating a large fire crescent that she launched at the golem. The golem used its club, striking the crescent as it dug its clawed feet into the arena, getting pushed back by the human’s attack. The golem growled as it parried the crescent, sending it into the wall where it exploded. However, that was enough of a distraction as Sasha tossed her sword high into the air, and jumped straight at the golem, striking it in the chest with a flying (Rider) kick.

The impact made a crater form in the middle of its chest, but then Sasha used the golem as a springboard to fling herself into the air, catching her sword before it could fall. The cheerleading captain focused her fire power into the sword’s blade, making it burn brighter and brighter until the flames shot out and formed a long fire blade.

“GET CROAKED!!!”

Sasha brought down her fire blade right atop the golem’s head, slicing it down the middle and leaving a red-hot line right through it. When Sasha landed on the ground, she looked up at the golem, the flames dying out around her sword. The golem looked down at her for a moment, smirked, and gave her a thumbs up as it exploded into pieces. Upon its destruction, the gravity field in the room was immediately disabled, allowing everyone to stand up.

As Sasha sheathed her sword, a pedestal rose up behind her. When she turned around to see it, she also spotted Anne and Marcy rushing towards her, and, for a moment, her mind flashed back to them when they were little kids.

“You did it, Sash!” Marcy cheered.

“You really did.” Anne smiled as she dislodged the final gemstone from the music box. “Here, go ahead.”

Sasha carefully took the gemstone into her hands, holding it like a fragile egg. She placed it at the center of the pedestal, and just like the others, a bright flash of light was released that blinded everyone inside for a moment. But in that moment, Sasha’s MetamorphRing Driver appeared, the light in her eyes faded away, but at the same time, a magenta star flew out from the light and into the MetamorphRing. Glowing Amphibian runes appeared below them as the gemstone finished its charge, releasing one more brilliant flash of light before the gemstone’s luster was fully restored.

When they opened their eyes, the group saw more runes on the ceiling above the pedestal.

“‘Congrats, brah! You finally learned what it takes to go the distance! For what is true strength, without persistence!’”

Anne and Sasha looked at each other and smiled.

“You wanna do the honors?” Anne asked.

Sasha nodded as she picked up the gemstone and placed it back into the music box, their quest had come to an end, all three gemstones had been fully charged, now glowing, and sparkling with their restored power.

“Wow…So, what happens now? Do we open it and go home?” Sasha asked.

“Eh, no, not yet,” said Anne.

Sasha raised in eyebrow in confusion. “Wait, what?”

“We really have a lot to talk about, but trust us, there’s a really good reason why we can’t go just yet,” said Marcy.

Sasha shrugged. “Alright, I trust you guys.”

Marcy could not hold it in anymore, she got both Anne and Sasha into a semi headlock and proclaimed, “Look at this! The gang’s back together, again! Now how about we head back to Wartwood and get these frogs, and toad, some water?”

Sprig was using the lip balm, rubbing it on his face while Polly was feebly reaching up for it.

“I think they’d like that, a lot,” said Anne.

The group managed to exit the temple with no other problems, as soon as they left the hot environment, the Plantars seemed to instantly return to their original states, but they were still incredibly thirsty.

“Oh, thank Frog that’s over,” said Sprig.

“Take me to my bucket,” Polly demanded.

Grime brought up the rear while Sasha, Anne, and Marcy were in the middle, the three of them were having a bit of a serious discussion on the way back.

“So, you like us…like that, huh?” Anne asked.

Sasha rubbed her right arm as she blushed a little. “Y-Yeah…God, it’s embarrassing as all get out! But…yes…I do. I know this is weird, wrong, and messed up, but…I do.”

Anne could not believe what she was hearing, Sasha really did have feelings for not only her, but Marcy too. This was, well, Anne was not sure what to feel right now. She was not about to deny that she found Sasha attractive, she had come to terms with the fact that she did when she came to terms with her newly discovered sexuality. And Marcy already made it known that she found Sasha attractive. Now Marcy’s hypothetical question was starting to rear its head, again. Could they all be together?

“Sasha, it’s not something to ashamed of. You’re allowed to like more than one person,” said Marcy.

“Yeah, but I don’t think you’re supposed to fall in love with two people at the same time, and those two people happen to be your best friends. God, this is like something out of one your mangas, Marcy,” said Sasha.

“Why not? Seems to fit the theme of things so far,” Anne replied. “All we’re missing now is a monster attack.”

Sasha and Marcy just deadpanned stared at Anne.

Anne realized what she just said and facepalmed herself. “Tell me I did not just say that…?”

Rumbling could felt throughout the ground, at first, they thought it might be the volcano, but they were quickly proven wrong. A huge Fallen came stomping towards them, it had the head of a goat and the head of a lion. The lion had a pitch-black mane, and the goat had two horns that were just as dark as the mane. Both of their eyes were a deep, blood red color and were glowing bright. It bore the same black armored breastplate with the symbol of The Night and had golden fur that covered most of its body. It had two muscular arms, and in its right hand it had a sword that was carved from the bone of some huge, unknown beast. Its legs were feline, but along its back were black scales that led into a tail that was in actuality a snake.

Unfortunately, that was not all. From the skies another Fallen appeared, this one was a bat with large membrane wings. It had two long and sharp pointed ears, and glowing yellow eyes. Its fur was a violet in color, and it too had the same breastplate. It had two arms that were long and lanky, and at the end its fingers were unusually long with sharp claws. And finally, a third Fallen. This one had chestnut brown fur and sported yellow eyes same as the Bat Fallen. This monster had bone white spikes jutting out from various parts of its body, most notably from the three gaps in its knuckles on each hand that were at least three feet in length.

Marcy and Sasha gave Anne a look that translated into, “Really?”

“Yeah, I take full responsibility for this one.”

“Hey, for once I didn’t say it,” said Sprig happily.

“Not helping!”

“Everyone, get on Joe and get out of here!” Marcy shouted.

“C’mon kids!”

Hop Pop quickly gathered Sprig and Polly and ran for Joe Sparrow.

Sasha looked back at Grime and said, “Go with them!”

“Lieutenant, I’m not about to–!”

“The girls and I can’t fight a full power if you’re all nearby! I know you can hold your own, but right now, I need to make sure you’re not going to get caught in the crossfire!” Sasha stated.

Grime glanced at Anne and Marcy, and then back to Sasha. “Don’t lose, Lieutenant.”

“Did you forget who you’re talking to?”

Grime ran for Joe Sparrow and got on his back with the Plantars. The large bird quickly ascended and picked up Frobo in his talons and carried them away from the soon to be battlefield. Now it was just them, the three human girls versus three fairly large Fallen.

“Heh, decided to come and fight us when we were tired after beating the temple? Well, I got news for all of you! I’m not even close to running on empty! So come at me! I can do this all day!”

As soon as Sasha said that her MetamorphRing Driver began to transform, and once the light faded from it, the Driver had changed into the MetamorphRing TRI.

“What the heck is this?” Sasha asked.

“OMG! Sash! You got your Super Form!” Marcy exclaimed.

“Wait, I did?”

“Yeah, guess conquering this temple was what triggered it! The same thing happened to Marcy and me!” Anne explained.

“Oh, you guys, you know what this means,” said Marcy giddily.

Anne and Sasha smirked, yeah, they knew what this meant. Anne, Sasha, and Marcy went into their transformation motions, with Anne and Marcy’s Drivers shifting into TRI form. Once they were done, all three girls’ eyes glowed with their respective light as they cried out in unison, “HENSHIN!”

All three girls pressed on their hip devices and were quickly incased in domes made of fire, wind, and lightning. The three domes began to shine with intense azure, emerald, and magenta lights until, in one bright flash, all three domes shattered and revealed the girls in their Super Forms.

Sasha’s Super Form looked like a combination between a medieval knight and a roman gladiator. Her shoulder pauldrons were a deep crimson red, with the image of a moth painted in one of on them. Her chest armor had the same image, but colored crimson, with four triangle shaped crystals embedded into each wing. The upper part of the chest plate was gray in color, with more plates going down the middle to give the appearance of six pack abs. her bracers were the same gray color, with a red line going down the middle that had runes etched into it. The bracers had three curved spikes on the sides, and the tops of both of Bellona’s hands had a crimson armor plate that sported four knuckle spikes. Her greaves were the same as her bracers, except they did not have spikes, but instead each sported three crystal wings that gleamed in the light of the lava.

Bellona’s helmet had changed, now resembling a roman commander’s helmet, with two white armor plates forming both sides of the face, and a gray metal strip running down the middle. The rest of the helmet was the same crimson color as other parts of the armor, but the war plume at the top was in the form of a magenta crystal like the bracers’ spikes, and the greaves’ wings. Lastly, just like Amp and Ranger in their super forms, Bellona’s cloth cape had transformed into a cape made of pure magenta colored energy. Bellona pressed her hand against the crystal center of her MetamorphRing, making flames erupt from it as something began to materialize. With one swift pull, Bellona drew out her new sword weapon. It was a double-bladed weapon, with a silver hilt that connected both blades, the guards on both ends were crimson in color and sported a magenta gemstone in them, and the blades were pristine gold color.

Now, for the first time since they arrived, the three girls had reunited. Armed with the powers they have gained since arriving to Amphibia. Bellona glanced between Amp and Ranger and could not help but admire their forms.

“Well, look at you girls. Don’t you look badass.”

“Same with you, Sash. What do you call yourself?” Amp asked.

“Bellona. You?”

“Amp.”

“Marcy?”

“Ranger. So, what are going to call this form?”

Bellona paused for a moment as she thought. “I don’t know, wasn’t expecting it.”

“If I may, can I make a suggestion?”

Bellona nodded towards Ranger.

“Why not call it Invictus: Gladiator Mode? Invictus means, ‘unconquerable and undefeated,’ and gladiator because, well, you kinda look like one.”

Bellona played with that name in her head, and the more she thought about it, the more she liked it. “Yeah…Yeah! I like it, Marcy! I’m Kamen Rider Bellona Invictus: Gladiator Mode!”

Amp took a fighting stance and proclaimed, “I’m Kamen Rider Amp Raging Heart: Vengeance Mode!”

Ranger drew her Wind Dancer bow and announced, “And I’m Kamen Rider Ranger Ahura Mazda: Archer Mode! And we’re the Calamity Riders!”

As soon as Ranger made that declaration, the energies of all three girls mixed and released a burst of it that resulted in an explosion that went off behind them as if right on cue.

Amp and Bellona looked at Ranger with confusion and asked in unison, “Calamity Riders?”

“Yeah, because, you know, we’ll bring calamity to evil?”

Amp and Bellona wanted to chuckle at how cheesy that sounded, but they could not deny that it sounded pretty cool.

“I got the big guy in the middle,” said Bellona.

“I got the bat in the sky,” said Ranger.

“And leftovers are fine with me.”

“Okay girls…LET’S KICK SOME ASS!”

Ranger jumped straight into the sky, air hopping the whole way as she ascended higher and higher to where the Bat Fallen was. The rat with wings began to fly around as Ranger began loosing arrows at the monster, it nimbly dodged each of the attacks, but then changed direction and came right at her with its claws. Ranger stood completely still, and when she did, the Bat Fallen passed right through her as if she was a ghost. The emerald Rider turned around and readied to fire her arrow.

But the Bat Fallen quickly turned around, inhaled, and opened its mouth, releasing a supersonic screech right at the Rider. The power laced sonic waves slammed into Ranger, causing sparks to fly from her armor as she was taken by surprise. The attack managed to knock her off her air platform and sent her into freefall. The Bat Fallen took advantage of this and pressed its attack, flying in quick and slashing at her with its sharpened claws, hitting her in the back and front from different angles and causing more damage.

“THAT’S ENOUGH!” Ranger yelled.

The emerald Rider released a huge gust of wind out from around her, creating a temporary wind barrier that prevented the Bat Fallen from getting close to her. With this, Ranger was able to slow her descent and managed to create another air platform for herself.

“Well, that was tricky! But…” Ranger drew Wind Dancer as she stated, “But that won’t work a second time!”

Amp squared off with the Wolverine Fallen, she used her enhanced speed to bolt straight for the monster, but its body quickly grew out the bone spikes, making it hard for the azure Rider to too close without ending up getting spiked. She decided to try for distance attacks, jumping back away from the Wolverine Fallen, and firing a bolt of lightning from her right hand.

The Wolverine Fallen raised its claws, taking the brunt of the attack with its claws, and then those same claws started to glow, but not just the claws, all its bone white spikes began to glow. Amp quickly cut off the attack, realizing that this monster was the same as the Water Snake Fallen, absorbing her lightning power to use against her.

“Tch, okay, so The Night is learning. Fine!”

Amp decided to throw caution to the wind and sped towards the monster, however, the Wolverine Fallen appeared to have not only absorbed the lightning into its spikes and claws, but it also seemed to give it a boost of speed as the monster charged straight for Amp at the same time she did. The Rider and monster met in the middle, but Amp did not stop as she struck with a right hook to the monster’s face, the blow noticeably harmed the monster, but just as quickly as she injured it, the Wolverine Fallen healed itself almost instantly. Now healed, the Wolverine Fallen countered my slashing upwards with its claws, striking Amp in the chest. Due to her electrical aura, the damage was lessened, but that was still a direct hit. And unfortunately, that attack managed to have some of the bone spikes hit her arm, making the aura have to protect her again.

Amp and the Wolverine Fallen began getting into a slugfest as rapid-fire punches and claw swipes were exchanged between the two. Amp’s blows were causing damage to the Fallen, breaking its armor, its bones, and even causing sparks to fly, but just as quickly as she inflicted the damage, it healed not a moment later. Meanwhile, the Wolverine Fallen’s claw attacks and spikes were quickly shredding through her protective aura. Inside of Amp’s helmet, it showed an alert that told her that integrity of the aura field was dangerously low.

With little choice, Amp disengaged with the Wolverine Fallen and stepped back away from it. She had to think, there had to be a way of attacking this thing while still putting some distance between them. That’s when the MetamorphRing TRI’s crystal filament began to glow.

“Wait, can you…?”

Amp decided to mimic what Bellona did as she pressed her right hand against the crystal, and when she did, lightning began to erupt from the crystal. A sword hilt began to manifest into her hand, and that’s when Amp pulled it all the way out, letting the lightning coating fall away and reveal a brand-new weapon for herself. It was a sword that was colored pure white, the hilt was a bright azure blue, with a green pummel at the end. The guard was block shaped, with two pyramid shaped blue crystals on either side, and at the center of the guard, on both sides, was a glass circle case that had three silver dots at the center. The blade itself was white as well, but the edges of the blade were gold colored.

“Oh, heck yeah! This is exactly what I needed! Guess I should name you, huh?” Amp thought for a moment and immediately thought of a name, “Hmm…what was the Thai word for lightning bolt…? Uh, S̄āyf̂ā? We’ll spell it differently, but your name is Saipha!” Amp twirled her new sword around and got into a ready stance. “Oh, it’s on now buddy!”

Bellona stared down the Chimera Fallen, the ground around the hero became molten as the air distorted due to the intense heat she was emitting from her body. The Chimera Fallen’s heads roared as it charged for her, raising its bone sword up before bringing it down on Bellona. The crimson Rider did not even bother to block as it she let the attack hit her on the right shoulder. The ground shuddered and cracked from the impact and force being dispersed, but Bellona showed no visible signs of damage or injury.

“Tch, is that all you got? Disappointing. Tell ya what.” Bellona stuck her sword in the ground and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ll give you nine more freebies before I utterly annihilate you!”

The Chimera Fallen blinked in surprise, but then got angry at Bellona for insinuating that it could not kill her even with nine free attacks. The Chimera Fallen roared again in anger as it raised its bone sword and struck Bellona again, but just like the previous blow, there was no damage whatsoever.

“Two.”

The Chimera Fallen struck again from the side, and then from the other, it even went for a full-on stab to her chest, but she was not budging one inch from where she was.

“Five.”

The burly Fallen monster inhaled with both of its heads, and from its mouth spewed out black flames that poured over Bellona. Her entire form was lost in the flames. After about ten seconds of continuous torching, the Chimera Fallen stopped its attacks, but then was in shock when it noticed that Bellona was still standing. Most of the ground around her had melted into molten slag now, but she was still standing.

“Really? Fire? You used fire on me? Okay, nah, I’m deducting two strikes for that level of stupidity. Seven. You got three more big guy!”

The Chimera Fallen roared in frustration as it launched its snake tail at her, the viper on the other end opened its mouth, showing its fangs as its poison dripped from them. When the drop of the venom hit the ground, it sizzled and bore a hole into the earth. The viper tail coiled around Bellona and clamped its jaws over her left shoulder, only for the viper tail to hiss in pain as it quickly released her. When it opened its mouth again, its fangs were shattered.

“Eight.”

The Chimera Fallen was getting desperate as it raised its left fist and punched her right in the head. The blow resounded like thunder, but nothing happened to Bellona.

“Nine.”

In one final act of desperation, the Chimera Fallen channeled all of the dark energy that it could into its bone sword, igniting the blade with dark power as it raised it over its head with both hands and brought down right over Bellona’s head. A huge explosion went off upon contact with Bellona, kicking up a dust cloud that obscured both the Fallen and the Rider. Amp and the Wolverine Fallen, along with Ranger and the Bat Fallen, turned their attention to the dust cloud, waiting to see who was still standing. The dust finally settled, and not surprising, Bellona still stood, although now the Chimera Fallen’s bone sword had completely broken apart, with only bits and pieces of it scattered around them.

“Ten!”

The wing frills at Bellona’s ankles began to shimmer and vibrate, and within seconds she was right under the Chimera Fallen. With that same speed she jumped straight up with an uppercut and struck the Chimera Fallen right in its gut. The monster released a roar of pain as it was sent flying into the air, making the Bat Fallen and Ranger have to move out of the way for a moment as the Chimera ascended and then began to fall back to the ground. However, before Bellona could allow it to hit the ground, she grabbed her dual bladed sword, and kicked the Chimera Fallen.

“ANNE! HEADS UP!”

Amp heard Bellona and quickly bolted out of the way, with the Wolverine Fallen doing the same as the Chimera Fallen sailed passed them and smashed through some rocks before embedding itself in the side of a hill. Bellona dashed away as she chased after the monster, her prey, her enemy. She was not about to let it get away from her. Flames danced around Bellona as she jumped into the air and came down with a punch into the monster, sitting off an explosion the set roaring flames into the air. Bellona dismissed her sword for a moment as she picked the monster up by the tail and began swinging it around like a rag doll around and around. With a primal yell, Bellona tossed the monster back towards the volcano, where it flew high until it nearly reached the summit. The crimson Rider summoned her weapon again and jumped straight up to meet it.

Amp saw this and smiled under her helmet. “Guess I need to get serious, too!”  

The azure Rider dashed towards the monster, and the Fallen did the same. Their battle was too fast to witness as streaks of white and blue could only be seen, along with the sounds of crackling lightning and the ringing of metal. Now that she was attacking with Saipha, the Wolverine Fallen wasn’t able to drain her lightning, and it seemed as if the Fallen was starting to run on empty as its glowing bones spikes were losing their glow with each successful counter and strike from Amp. The lightning wielder decided to declaw this monster, she focused her energy into her speed, doubling it as she slashed off the bone claws of the monster, and some of the others. However, the monster was regenerating fast.

“I think I know how to defeat you now,” Amp thought aloud.

Meanwhile, Ranger was making good on her promise to the Bat Fallen about not getting hit with that attack a second time. The Bat Fallen would fire off its supersonic screech at her, but the emerald Rider would counter by funneling power into the arrow and firing it, when it reached the screech, it released a burst of sound like thunder, no a sonic boom.

The Bat Fallen tried to attack her from different angles, but Ranger was too nimble to be taken in the air, and her awareness of her surroundings was precise. The Bat Fallen’s trump card was easily countered by a sonic boom that would cancel out its own sound waves with a stronger concussive sound, and now the monster was left with but one choice, to fly for its life as Ranger sniped at it from her position.

“This is the end of for you!”

The Chimera Fallen’s body was in pain from the repeated blows, and now it was having to endure the intense heat near the mouth of the volcano, unfortunately it was not given a chance to recuperate as Bellona landed against the side of the volcano, smashing into the rock as she stood from the crater she formed.

“You monsters have been attacking me and the ones I care about most in this world, and I haven’t been there to protect them! No more…I’ll show you and the rest of you monsters that I am not the girl to mess with!”

Bellona’s crest began to glow, along with the wing frills, spikes, and line patterns on her armor. Flames roared around her body as she held up her twin bladed sword, Hyperion. Channeling that great raging flame inside of her, Bellona released a powerful war cry as she slashed the ground in front of her, sending a surge of that energy through the volcano as the ground cracked and split. That energy erupted when it reached the Fallen, creating a huge pillar of molten lava and flames that shot into the air, completely engulfing the Fallen. But she was not done yet, both bladed ends of her sword absorbed the flames being emitted from her body, sitting them both ablaze.

“Rage of Helios!”

Bellona spun Hyperion around rapidly, creating a circle with the flames. But not long after, those flames turned into a sphere of burning yellow flames. With slash of her sword, Bellona set the sphere flying straight for the Chimera Fallen. The sphere collided with the monster and surrounded it completely.

“Thousand Volt Slash!”

Amp’s dragonfly crest, bracers, greaves, and armor lines began to glow as she gathered her power and dashed for the Wolverine Fallen, and in the blink of an eye disappeared, and then reappeared behind the monster. The Wolverine Fallen was frozen in place for a moment, not understanding what had happened, one second Amp was there, and now she was behind it. When the monster turned around to attack, streaks of lightning began appearing all over its body, slashing up down, side to side, from every direction possible. The slashes ended up cutting the monster into hundreds of dozens of pieces.

 “That was 999 slashes. AND HERE’S NUMER ONE THOUSAND!”  

Amp turned around and came down with an overhead slash, bringing down a huge thunderbolt from the skies above, incinerating the remaining pieces of the Wolverine Fallen until there was nothing left.

Ranger’s butterfly frills glowed in tandem with the lines on her armor. She drew the bowstring of Wind Dancer back as she took aim at the Bat Fallen who was trying to fly in an erratic manner so as to confuse Ranger’s aim, but Ranger could see the pattern in its “erratic” movements, but that did not matter, considering the area of effect damage this attack was going to have.

“Sonic Buster!”

Ranger let loose her arrow, the glowing green arrow shot faster than the eye could see, faster than the Bat Fallen could perceive as it whizzed passed it, and the moment it did, a powerful sonic boom exploded in the skies around it. The force and energy that was let loose hit the Fallen so hard that its body turned to dust and dispersed on the currents of the wind.

Upon the volcano, the Chimera Fallen drew its last breath as the sphere finally exploded, causing a small eruption from the volcano as Bellona turned around and shouted out another war cry, but one of victory.

When the battle was over, Amp and Ranger reconvened where they started. Both watched as Bellona came walking down the volcano, eyes glowing as shadows were cast upon her.

“Holy crud this power feels amazing! This is what a Super Form feels like?! Oh yeah!” Bellona exclaimed.

“Yeah, it’s a real trip, but you need to calm down, Sash,” said Amp.

“Are you kidding?! Let’s keep this going! I’m so pumped right now! C’mon, Anne, Mar-Mar, fight me! I wanna see what I can really do!”

“Sasha, listen to Anne! When we enter Super Form, our minds are altered a bit from the influx of power. In my case I became too arrogant, in Anne’s she became too violent, and in yours…I think you’ve become a bit too battle obsessed,” Ranger explained.

“Tch, I know what it is! You’re just scared to fight me! Is that it? Huh?! You’re too scared to fight me even with Rider powers?! C’mon you two, give me a real fight! I know you’re both just etching to give me a few lumps, right?! RIGHT?!”

“SASHA!!!!” Amp’s body glowed as she reverted back to civilian form. “That’s enough…we don’t want to fight you or hurt you, Sasha. You’re our friend.”

Bellona watched as Ranger glowed as well and returned to her original form.

“Sash, please, calm down. We seriously don’t want to fight you, and we know you don’t want to fight us, too,” said Marcy.

Bellona looked at both of her friends as the adrenaline started to recede. Her head began to clear up, now more focused on the girls before her. “Oh…Oh man…” A magenta light flashed from Bellona’s belt, and within a few seconds she was back to her civilian form. “S-Sorry, girls. I…I was…”

Anne walked up to Sasha and patted her on the shoulder. “Hey, we get it, we know what it feels like to get overwhelmed with this power. But I think it gets easier the more you use it. I didn’t get nearly as carried away as I did last time.”

“Same here, I managed to stay humble throughout the fight. But…THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING TO EVER HAPPEN! The three of us, fighting together as Kamen Riders! This is the best thing ever! EEEEEE!!!” Marcy geeked.

Anne and Sasha couldn’t help but giggle at Marcy’s geek-out. However, there was still the matter of the elephant tick in the room.

“So, um…about what I said…about how I feel about you guys…I know you two are together, so I’m not going to bother trying to shoehorn my way into it. But I’d at least like it if we could still be friends? You think that’s still something we can do?” Sasha asked.

Anne and Marcy glanced at each other for a moment, and then to Sasha. The Thai teen rubbed the back of her head as she said, “Look…I…this a lot to process right now. And I’m kinda beat after that fight. So, how about we talk it over after we’ve had some time to rest, all three of us. That sound good to you guys?”

Marcy nodded to her girlfriend and said, “Of course.”

“Yeah, I think we need a moment to rest,” said Sasha.

The girls watched as Joe Sparrow started to head towards them, but before he landed, Anne looked over her shoulder at Sasha and said, “And Sasha, we can’t still be friends, because we are friends. I never stopped thinking of you as my friend.”

Sasha was at a loss for words as she watched Anne and Marcy regroup with the Plantars. Anne never stopped caring about her as a friend, and the fact that she did not outright reject her feelings was a good thing.

Grime walked up to Sasha and said, “By Barrel’s belly, Sasha! I’ve never seen such a display of ferocity and power from you before! Did you just now achieve this power?!”

“Yeah, apparently it happened to Anne and Marcy, too.”

“I see, your newfound power will be a great asset for what is to come. I watched how those two fought, and you were right to create that poison. You stand a good chance against them one on one, but together, even with your strength and power, you the chance of getting overwhelmed by them is high,” said Grime.