Fanfic / Bring Us Hope, Kamen Rider Witch!

Cover art for the fanfic.

Bring Us Hope, Kamen Rider Witch! is a Fusion Fic between The Owl House and Kamen Rider, specifically Kamen Rider Wizard, written by Michael Ravencroft.

One night, Luz Noceda is abducted and is subjected to a dark ritual known as the Sabbath. While everyone else perished and transformed into deadly monsters known as Phantoms, Luz managed to prevent her Inner Phantom, La Lechuza, from breaking out, unlocking a new form of magic in the process. Noticing this, Haruto Souma, also known as Kamen Rider Wizard, gives Luz her own Driver and magical rings to become the hero needed to defeat the Phantoms, Kamen Rider Witch.

The fic, part of the Disney Riders series, can be read on Archive of Our Own here, and on Fanfiction Dot Net here.

While it is not written by Michael Ravencroft, there is yet a side story that focuses on the Kamen Riders of the Boiling Isles teaming up with the Showa Era Kamen Riders, called Kamen Rider Witch Special: The 14 Riders VS. The Shocker Coven. The fic, written by Multiverse_Sentai_Peaceman (with help from Ravencroft himself), can be read here on Archive of Our Own, and here on Fanfiction Dot Net.

Bring Us Hope, Kamen Rider Witch! provides examples of:

• Actually a Doombot: When it seems like the combined efforts of the Kamen Riders, the Phantoms, and the Emperor’s Coven have finally defeated Nuckelavee, he reveals they only killed a duplicate of the rogue Phantom.
• Adaptation Expansion: While Sora/Gremlin was seemingly the only Phantom to have merged with his host, several Phantoms in this fanfic have managed to do the same, even Grom/Nuckelavee.
• Adaptational Badass: While Luz was no slouch in canon, her magical abilities are increased greatly once she becomes a Kamen Rider. The same applies to Amity, Hunter, and even Emperor Belos.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • Bria in canon was already a massive jerk, but in this fic, she’s a Phantom.
  • While it was never outright stated how much Scooter Crane was aware of Belos' true plan, he also becomes a Phantom in this fic.
• Ascended Extra: Characters like Skara and Boscha get more focus in this fic.
• Ascended Fangirl: Luz in this story is a big fan of the Kamen Riders. Now she gets to live out her fantasies of being both a witch and a superhero.
• Breather Episode: After the events of the serious crossover that was Kamen Rider X Kamen Rider Witch & Amp: The Dark Side of Hope, "The Carol of Krampmus Time~" is a light-hearted Christmas Episode that focuses on Luz trying to help out her friends and found family in any way she can for Krampmus, the Demon Realm's answer to Christmas. Hilarity Ensues, although Luz eventually explains that her overly generous attitude is the result of learning how Oscura came to power when they started out in the same place, and fearing she could one day go down the same path.
• Brought Down to Normal: While in the in-between world, La Lechuza’s not only existing outside Luz’ soul, she’s essentially turned from the mighty owl phantom to an armored owl the size of a teddy bear.
• Call-Back: While in Amelia’s underworld with Witch, Haruto sees Amelia’s inner Phantom is a reincarnation of his old enemy, Phoenix, so he tells Witch that she would be in for a rough time trying to kill him in the event that he broke free.
• Curb-Stomp Battle:
  • Eda inflicts one of these onto Witch during "A Hot Mess".
  • When Boscha challenges Luz (not knowing that she's currently possessed by La Lechuza) to a witch's duel, "Luz" easily manages to defeat her in less than a minute.
• Cliffhanger: After Luz and La Lechuza are brought back from the in-between world, Chapter 53 ends with something from behind the imperfect portal grabbing her. To be continued...
• A Day in the Limelight: Several side characters get more focus in certain chapters.
  • "Musical Mayhem" and "Red Ruin" are this for Skara.
  • "Love Starved" is this for Amelia, and to a lesser extent, Boscha.
  • "Twin Troubles" is this for Edric and Emira.
  • "Illusions of Grandeur" is this for Matt.
  • "An Eggcellent Time" is this for Viney.
  • "Inner Strength" is this for Hunter.
• Enemy Mine: In order to stop Nuckelavee, the Kamen Riders, the Phantoms, and even the Emperor’s Coven forge a temporary alliance.
• Everyone Has Standards: As much of a bully as Boscha is, even she is disgusted when Luz tells her that someone at her old school blackmailed her into doing what she wanted under the threat of being outed as bisexual.
• Genre Savvy: When Luz creates a new ring, she notices it looks like an upgraded version of her Light Style ring, she uses her knowledge of the Kamen Rider shows to conclude that the new ring will unlock her "Super Form".
• God Is Evil: The Titan himself is revealed to hate all of the residents of the Boiling Isles for using his magic for their own goals, so he created the Phantoms specifically to wipe out every living thing living on his corpse.
• Horrifying the Horror: In "Musical Mayhem", the Pan Phantom casts a spell that manages to induce a sense of panic in Emperor Belos, causing him to retreat and eventually, send him to Kamen Rider Witch’s location so she can take care of him.
  • A Running Gag in the fic is that Hooty is somehow able to unnerve the inner phantoms of Luz and Amity.
• Hour of Power: Amity can only stay transformed as Kamen Rider Heka for ten minutes per day. If she exhausts her time limit, she’s able to transform again as soon as the clock strikes midnight. She soon overcomes this when she obtains her Champion Form.
• Likes Clark Kent, Hates Superman: Initially, Eda is very distrusting of Kamen Rider Witch, completely unaware that she is actually Luz.
• Mistaken for Masturbating: When Eda walks in on Luz as she’s trying to hide the new rings she’s created, Eda (unaware that Luz is Witch at this point) assumes Luz needed some "alone time". It doesn’t help that the process of creating new rings is physically taxing for Luz, so when she eats a lot at breakfast the next morning in order to replenish her mana, it only further justifies Eda’s assumption.
  Eda: Jeez, kid. How... uh... intense of a session did you have last night?
  Luz: I don’t feel comfortable talking about that.
• Mistaken for Servant: In "The Carol of Krampmus Time~", Luz dons a "butler-maid" outfit (essentially a combination of the stereotypical butler and maid attire), and decides to serve Amity for the rest of the day. Of course, Odalia assumes Amity made Luz her personal servant full-time, causing all sorts of embarrassment for the youngest Blight.
• Mythology Gag: This fanfic has countless ones to Kamen Rider.
  • When Gus explains what Kamen Riders are, he shows his classmates a magazine with the names of Kamen Rider shows from Luz's world, specifically Thunder and Re-Vlect.
  • As more and more people start to grow curious about Kamen Rider Witch, Gus starts a new branch of the Human Appreciation Society dedicated to talking about Kamen Riders. What name did he go with? The Kamen Rider Club.
  • In Luz's world, the first Kamen Rider series started in 1948, the same year Takeshi Hongo was born.
  • Luz, Amity, Willow, and Skara start a band for a music competition put on by the Bard Coven, and call themselves "The Rider Girls". In that same chapter, they sing "Life is SHOWTIME", the opening to Kamen Rider Wizard.
  • In order to defeat a Phantom by countering his musical spell, Witch gets the help of Willow and Skara to channel a musical spell of their own by singing "Be The One", Kamen Rider Build's opening.
  • After getting some advice from Haruto on how to stop a giant crab monster, Witch uses a combination of her Fire Style and her Illusion and Bard rings to perform an attack similar to the Ongeki-Dou Kamen Rider Decade and the other Oni performed to defeat a different crab monster.
  • The weapons summoned by Kamen Rider Crusader bear resemblance to Kamen Rider Demons’ Genomixes and Kamen Rider Jeanne’s Genome Weapons.
• Older Alter Ego: Similar to Justin Stewart, Luz appears older than she actually is when she transforms into Kamen Rider Witch. The same applies for Amity/Heka and Hunter/Crusader.
• Out of Focus: While Willow, Gus, King, and Eda did the best they could to help Luz as her confidants, once she and Amity/Kamen Rider Heka team up, they don’t do as much against the Phantoms.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • While she tries her best to keep it a secret, eventually, Willow, Gus, King, Hooty, Eda, Lilith, Gwendolyn, Barcus, Skara, and Viney learn Luz’s identity as Kamen Rider Witch.
  • Other than Luz herself, the only people to know Amity’s identity as Kamen Rider Heka are Alador, Edric, and Emira.
• Shout-Out: The Phantom Troll’s personality is very similar to Rath's, even down to referring to himself in the third person and using "Let me tell you something..." as a catchphrase.
• Spirit Advisor: Because Haruto can't stay in the Boiling Isles to help Luz stop the Phantoms, he uses a spell to create a mental copy of himself so he can answer any questions Luz has about the Phantoms.
• Spot the Impostor: While in Gus’ underworld, Witch encounters his inner Phantom, Changeling, who takes on the form of La Lechuza, leading to both Phantoms insisting that they're the real one.
  Witch: Alright, to the real La Lechuza, let me ask you: What do you think of me?
  Right La Lechuza: Niña, you’re courageous, and a hero that I am proud to fight beside.
  Left La Lechuza: I think you’re the biggest busybody in the Demon Realm, your sweet nature gives me a toothache, and I don’t even have teeth. And your drama with Amity is the only thing that gives me any sort of entertainment in this life at this point.
  (Witch is silent for a moment before she uses her Shooting Strike on the La Lechuza to the right)
• Sweet Tooth: The process of creating new rings depletes Luz’s stamina, so as a way to replenish her mana, she needs to eat sugary foods.
• Synchronous Episodes: "The Ballad of Amity Blight" and "The Rise of Heka" take place during the events of the crossover fic Kamen Rider X Kamen Rider Amp & Witch: Heroes Unite!, where Luz is currently in Amphibia, forcing Amity to step up as Kamen Rider Heka.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Zig-Zagged with Luz and her inner Phantom, La Lechuza. While La Lechuza is clearly unhappy about being forced to serve as the source of Luz's Rider powers, she still cooperates with her for the most part, though she admits it's only because if Luz dies, she dies too. At the same time, even though she grumbles about being tethered to Luz, she's still willing to give her advice in battle. Compared to Dragon, who initially tried to goad Haruto into despair any opportunity he got, she's nowhere near as hostile, though it still takes a while for her to really warm up to Luz.
• Troll:
  • While grilling Lilith for intel on Luz's whereabouts, under the belief that she was connected to her kidnapping (in reality, Luz was kidnapped for the Sabbath), Eda casts a lie detector spell, and to make sure said spell is working correctly, she asks Lilith what age she stopped wetting the bed at^note Turns out, it was at ten years old.
  • In one chapter, Luz is sent into a coma after a near-fatal battle with a Phantom, so La Lechuza essentially possesses Luz while she recovers. When "Luz Lechuza" sees Amity at Hexside that day, she realizes that the girl has a crush on Luz, so she decides to flirt with Amity to see how she would react. Even when Luz asks why La Lechuza did that, all she said was that "It was rather fun".
• Villain Has a Point: Dracula/Reven, as psychotic as he is during his monologue, is right about Belos stifling the magic potential of everyone with the coven system.
• The Worf Effect: The Phantoms are on another level compared to even the strongest witches on the Boiling Isles. Not even Emperor Belos is safe from their magic.
• Wrong Context Magic: A huge part of the fic's initial conflict is how little the residents of the Boiling Isles know about the Phantoms or the Kamen Riders, especially their magic. The whole reason Haruto can't even stay and help train Luz himself is because the Demon Realm is actively trying to reject his magic.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Krampus writes Luz a letter to help alleviate her worries over potentially becoming like Oscura in the future.
• You Mean X Mas: The Demon Realm's answer to Christmas is Krampmus. It's very similar to Christmas, but as the name implies, Krampus is the one who watches over people to see if they've been naughty or nice.

Kamen Rider Witch Special: The 14 Riders VS. The Shocker Coven contains examples of:

• Crossover: Luz, Amity, and Hunter team up with the eleven Showa Riders, including Hongo Takeshi/Kamen Rider Ichigo, Hayato Ichimonji/Kamen Rider Nigo, Shiro Kazami/Kamen Rider V3, Joji Yuki/Riderman, Keisuke Jin/Kamen Rider X, Amazon/Kamen Rider Amazon, Shigeru Jo/Kamen Rider Stronger, Hiroshi Tsukuba/Skyrider, Kazuya Oki/Kamen Rider Super-1, Ryo Murasame/Kamen Rider ZX, and Kotaro Minami/Kamen Rider BLACK RX.
• Enemy Mine: Hunter teams up with the heroes in order to stop the Shocker Coven.
• Interquel: This fic is set between the first two “seasons” of the fanfic, specifically after "The Titan’s Gambit" and before "Race to Eclipse Lake".
• Save the Villain: During the first half of the fic, the Showa Riders (sans Hongo) split up to thwart ten simultaneous assassination attempts on all of the coven heads, including Emperor Belos.
• Take That!: In the notes for the chapter where Super-1 saves the head of the Potions Coven, the author takes a shot at Kazuya’s actor, who is infamous for having scammed his fans out of their money by claiming he needed money to get his Cyclode prop back from the Yakuza.
  A little message for Super-1’s original actor, Shunsuke Takasugi. Sir, if you are reading this, we know what you did. TURN YOURSELF IN!!!

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