Chapter Text
Ch12-
"You guys! This is really bad." Trying his best to stay calm, which was difficult, Hunter had rushed back to the site of the battle, where he'd left his comrades. It seemed they were finally regaining consciousness.
"Hunter… what happened?" Igneous asked weakly.
"I'm not completely sure, but something weird is going on at the temple," he replied. "I thought Corona, Aqune and Buguese were there, as well as the principal." He wasn't even sure how much sense he was making, but continued on. "I only peeked in from the outside, but there was this blinding light, and it looks empty now."
"This principal…" Stags spoke. "If he was behind this, I think he could be a formidable new enemy. Hunter Steele…" he faced the boy. "Your attack was very powerful. I would have liked to see just how powerful, without his attack interfering."
"Wait… you saw what happened?!" Hunter wondered.
"Yes," answered Stags. "Despite my inability to retaliate in time, I witnessed the whole thing. That human left, taking your ally with him. He also took the key."
"Corona…" Hunter said worriedly. "We have to go after him!"
"I propose we form a temporary alliance," Stags responded. "We are your enemies, and you are ours. But now, our goal is the same. We have to find our own comrades, and deal with this strong opponent."
This surprised Hunter, but he wasn't about to refuse either.
"Alright."
"Ally with humans?" Grasshop said. "Stags, did you hit your head too hard? That's a terrible idea."
"Disgusting as it may seem, for now we must," Beerain replied. "Don't forget, we need the last Oracle Key."
"Hunter, I don't trust them for a second!" Igneous shouted.
"Me neither," Magma agreed. "As soon as they get the chance, they'll betray us. We should finish them now and go alone."
"Actually, this may be a pretty wise tactic," Lumen argued.
"Yeah, it could be fun," Sparkle added. "And you guys can trust Hunter, right?"
"I suppose we have to," Igneous said, sighing.
Corona, Aqune and Buguese were glancing around at their surroundings. They were definitely back in the Inner World. The cannon's switch, as well as the principal's lifeless corpse, were laying beside them.
"Why is it so dark?" Corona wondered. "It's daytime." At least, she didn't think any time had magically passed by.
"Because this is the Insector world," replied Aqune. "It's because of this darkness that we need the Keys. This is how it's looked for a very long time."
Mantid's figure was suddenly hovering above them in the sky.
"Your form!" Buguese said, mildly stunned. Mantid's skin was now a much brighter green. He seemed to be draped in a cape of light.
"Do you like it?" Mantid replied, amused. "This is because the Oracle Keys are mine now. Thanks to Aqune activating them, I could finally take their power."
"In that case, now you must restore the sun," Buguese replied. It had been too long since Aqune was away. The world was looking even worse than usual.
"I won't," replied Mantid.
"What are you saying?!" Buguese responded, angrily.
Aqune put a hand over her mouth, shocked.
"I never once planned to do something like that," Mantid replied. "Do you even know why you lost your sun in the first place? It was the result of a time once before, when I tried to take the Oracle Keys. And finally, not only your dark world will die out, but the entire Inner World along with it, as I've always wanted."
"Wh-why would you want to destroy it?" Aqune stuttered. To her, that was beyond comprehension.
"Because I despise Spirit Oracle and this world she created," Mantid answered. "She chose to bring me, an Earthen into this world. And here, I fought blindly for her. I lost Lorraine, the woman I loved, as a result. And so this is my revenge! If you thought I was ever intending to help you in your quest for sunlight, then you too were blinded." He turned towards Buguese. "You foolishly trusted me. But all you Insectors hated humans so much, you thought all your problems were their fault."
"I will make you return the sun!" Buguese declared. Ignoring any pain in his body, he jumped into the air, towards Mantid. But he was promptly deflected back to the ground, by what seemed as gentle as a tap.
Aqune's hands were clasped, and they tightened with worry as she was witness to this.
"Poor Buguese," Mantid mocked. "Why don't I just put you out of your misery before you make a bigger fool of yourself?" He fired a blast from the air towards Buguese, who was struggling to stand back up.
"Buguese!" Aqune exclaimed. The girl ran in the path of the blast. As the dust settled, she collapsed to the ground, bleeding.
"How foolish," said Mantid.
"Aqune!" Buguese, who had at least now managed to sit up, pulled her into his arms. He wanted to ask if she was alright, but it was a stupid question when she obviously wasn't. "Why?" he simply asked.
"Because…" Aqune coughed, and blood was dripping from her mouth. "I won't let anyone else die. Especially not you."
"Aqune, please hang on," he said, holding her tightly. "That's pointless if you're the one who dies."
"Now that we've gotten that distraction out of the way, I'm still going to kill you, Buguese," Mantid stated. Laughing, he fired off the same attack. Buguese knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it fast enough.
"Whatever happens, Aqune…" he said softly, as he did his best to shield her already injured body. "I love you." He was slammed by an intense force, and his eyes shut.
"Now, don't think I've forgotten you, Corona," Mantid continued. He had a malicious grin, and was already moving on to his next kill.
Seeing what happened to the other two, she was obviously shaking. Corona knew there wasn't a way for her to strike back quickly enough, at least not out of her transformed state. And transforming would take much too long. She simply braced herself.
"Stop!"
"Hunter!" She was overjoyed. All of a sudden, Hunter was standing behind her, along with the other Spider Riders. They were fully transformed. Surprisingly, the others from the Big Four were there as well.
"Corona! Are you okay? Where is this?" Questions filled Hunter's mind. They were only increasing in number when he caught sight of Buguese and Aqune lying in blood, and the beheaded principal. It seemed like an outright massacre.
"This is the Inner World," Corona answered. She moved closer to where the others stood. "But Mantid is trying to destroy it. He says this was his plan all along. And he has the power of all the Oracle Keys."
"Th-the Inner World?!" Hunter wondered. "I made it?" Despite what was going on, he was almost excited. "Well, it's gloomier than I expected. But either way, now that I'm here, I won't let you destroy it, Mantid! And you won't hurt anyone else!"
"Well, the Insector world has always been the gloomiest part," Grasshop pointed out. "But now it's even creepier than usual. Mantid-sama did this?"
Hunter paid no mind to Grasshop, and leapt straight at Mantid.
"Full Air!"
The blast did nothing to its target, who just knocked Hunter away.
"No!" Corona shouted. Quickly, she transformed herself like the rest of them. "Elsrow!"
"That puny attack will not hurt me either," Mantid said, after just absorbing it. "Thanks to the Keys, I have become omnipotent."
Igneous attacked next, then Magma. All of them, even the Insectors took turns. But not one could hurt Mantid. On the other hand, Mantid's attacks he threw back at them were tremendously strong.
"I will never give up," Hunter said. His determination was only sparked further, seeing how everyone was getting hurt. Even if it was helpless, if he had no Keys and Mantid had four, he couldn't just stand around watching. He wouldn't. "Shadow, don't you agree?"
"Yeah," the Spider replied. "I'm always ready to fight."
Shadow jumped at Mantid, aiming for an attack. Once they were close, Hunter too thrust his weapon.
"Your persistence is simply an annoyance," Mantid said, firing a shot of energy at them. Unsurprisingly, the two crashed down. They seemed badly hurt.
The others who were watching were horrified. But they weren't sure just what they could do. Mantid truly did seem omnipotent.
"Now, I'm done with all of these pointless distractions. You're all going to die anyway, so you may as well have the honor of dying before the rest of the world."
"Hunter…" Corona said. Despite how hurt his body looked to her, as she watched him, she noticed the determination hadn't left his eyes. It was clear that no matter what, he was going to keep trying.
'I can't lose hope either,' Corona thought to herself. 'No matter how bad this seems. If I'm a handmaiden, I may be the only one who can save him.'
Now, Hunter could see the determination in Corona's gaze too, as her body was surrounded in light. He was certain things would turn out alright.
"Spirit Oracle, lend Hunter your power," prayed Corona. "Please, or nobody will be able to save this world."
"What happened?!" Although Mantid was about to fire another blast, no power would come forth. In an instant, the Oracle Keys were floating away from him. Floating to Hunter.
"The Keys!" Hunter exclaimed. "Thanks, Corona!"
The girl nodded in reply, but was still concentrating her power. Now, Hunter too felt himself being absorbed in light. Massive power began to rush into him, as well as to Shadow.
"Hunter," Shadow said. "Is this the strength of all four Keys?"
Before Hunter could even reply, he felt his armor changing. Shadow too was seemingly evolving to a new form.
"That's exactly right," Hunter said, as the glow finally faded.
"My power!" Mantid shouted, furious. "How dare you take it from me?! Now, my ambition… everything…"
"Time to finish this!" Hunter declared.
"Got it!" Shadow answered.
"Full Mine!"
It was an amazing sight, as the powerful wave appeared, and collided with Mantid. The sky was filled with a cloud of dust.
"No…" Mantid was weak, but he was still alive. He crawled towards Hunter and Shadow. "No! I will not allow this!"
Hunter's exhaustion was catching up to him as well. Even with all the extra power the Keys gave him, he wasn't sure he could fight too much longer. But he knew he had to keep holding on, at least just a little.
"Mantid, it's over!" Hunter declared. "The Inner World Gramps found, which I've always searched for… I will protect it!"
He swung down his blade at Mantid, to deal the finishing blow. But then, something compelled the blade to stop.
"What?!"
"Spirit Oracle!" exclaimed Mantid. From the sky, her divine figure appeared.
"Hunter Steele…" Hunter heard a feminine voice echo in his head.
"Who are you?" he asked. In an instant, the world around him seemed to vanish. All he saw before him was the sky, and Spirit Oracle herself.
"I am Spirit Oracle, the creator of this world," she spoke. "Thank you, Earthen, for your actions to save the world from destruction."
"Yeah, of course," Hunter said. "There's no way I'd let Mantid destroy it." Hunter was finding this situation very weird now, but decided not to dwell on it. "Mantid is still alive," he continued. "I have to stop him."
"Mantid too must live," said the Oracle. "His life is still one of equal value to any other. However, he needs to be returned to his own world. Everyone, human and Insector, Earthen or otherwise, should be returned to their proper home. And the portal between the worlds will be sealed for good."
"Hey, hold on!" Hunter shouted. "You don't mean me too, right?!"
"Yes, even you."
Then, the world around Hunter returned to normal. The others were still there waiting. And a portal appeared in front of them all.
"Now what's happening?" Igneous asked.
Insectors were starting to reappear in the Inner World in masses. Then, both Mantid and Hunter's bodies were lifted into the air. They were being drawn towards the portal.
"Hunter!" exclaimed Corona.
"No way!" Hunter yelled. "I won't go back! Not after I finally made it to the Inner World." He was using all his might to run in place, trying to escape the portal's pull. Mantid was already completely absorbed by it. He was far too weak to struggle.
"Go back?!" Corona yelled.
"Spirit Oracle wants to send me back to Earth!" Hunter said. "But I won't go! Even if I have to run like this forever, I'll never give up!"
"Hang on, Hunter!" Shadow said. Quickly, he shot out as much thread as he could. Hunter was caught, and they tightened around him.
"Shadow, thanks!" called Hunter.
"I won't lose the only human worthy of being called my partner!" Shadow declared. He walked backwards, struggling to pull Hunter away from the portal.
Finally, the portal began to look smaller. It kept on shrinking, until it had finally vanished completely.
"You did it, Shadow!" Corona called, excitedly.
Hunter laughed, now feeling relieved, as he stood on the ground released from Shadow's threads.
"There's no way to travel between worlds anymore. I guess this is my home now."
"Are you sure that's alright?" Corona asked, though she was glad with the turn of events. "You do have a home in the Outer World."
"Well, yeah, that's true," said Hunter. "But I told you, this is where I've wanted to be all of my life. I'm glad I made it here. And I'm going to keep protecting this world for as long as it takes."
"Not just you. I… all of us will be fighting with you," declared Corona.
"Buguese, isn't the sun beautiful?" Aqune stood at Buguese's side in the castle. The two were looking out a window in the office which Buguese had been using.
"Yes it is," he replied. "Much more than the sun from the surface. I never thought I would see this day. I almost didn't."
When Spirit Oracle emerged, she had done more than return everyone to their worlds. She also restored the Insector sun, and lastly, healed the injuries of all who were present. Even Buguese and Aqune, though their wounds would have been fatal otherwise.
"Just be grateful to Spirit Oracle," Aqune replied. "She is the reason all good things come."
Aqune may have lost a father, but she found a sister, and good friends too. She could even freely spend time with them, now that the Insectors had no further reason to fight against humans. They weren't enemies now. There was even one more thing she gained.
"By the way, Buguese…" she continued. "Hearing that you loved me, I almost felt I could die feeling satisfied. But I'd much rather live with you. I hope we can always be together." She took his hand in hers.
"Aqune, you know that as long as I am emperor, my relationship with you as a human will be complicated," Buguese replied. "But not something I can't manage."
"Even if no one can ever know, I don't mind," Aqune answered. "I'm happy just being beside you. I think that's what I've always wanted."
That Aqune, whom he'd always watched and admired, had found happiness with him must have been another miraculous blessing, Buguese thought. He never wanted to lose this, either.
Buguese answered her, planting a soft kiss on her lips.