• Published 23rd Feb 2013
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Friendship is SHOWTIME!! - MangaKamen



A Kamen Rider Crossover Magic – a mysterious force in this world, and each creature possess magic within itself. A gift to many, but to a few, it is nothing but a curse. And when Twilight sees a new form of magic, she'll learn that life is

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Spell 32 - Dullahan

Spell 32

Dullahan

TTT - TTT

One of the Ghouls immediately brought down its spears.

And then Drag Curl’s head slid off from his neck and onto the ground right before Dash and AJ, a few seconds later, his body fell to the ground. The two mares stared at the beheaded Drag Curl for a moment before they realized that the large amount of Ghouls were inching towards them.

“Run?” AJ suggested.

“Run,” Dash agreed.

And with that, the two mares turned around and ran off, with most of the Ghouls chasing after them, save for one that stood near Drag Curl’s beheaded body.

“Are they gone?”

The single Ghoul growled and nodded, allowing a powerful blue flame to engulf Drag Curl’s decapitated body. Soon, the armored suit stood tall and stretched his arms over where his head would be. “I swear, I don’t know how Zombie deals with this all the time with his detachment abilities. Still, I can understand why he’d be willing to do this.”

Dullahan reached down and grabbed Drag Curl’s head, the moment his armored fingers brushed against the disembodied head, the stallion’s head transformed into Dullahan’s helmet. Tossing it up a few times, Dullahan slipped it atop of the head hole in his armor. “Shock value can really be good when trying to instill despair. Now, alert the Ghouls near the entrance, cut off their path.

“Today, a new Phantom shall grace Equestria!”

TTT – TTT

For long they ran was beyond them, the two mares just kept running, trying their best to get away from the gruesome scene that was behind them. And those who had decapitated Drag Curl, the Ghouls, were chasing them… And weren’t that far behind the two mares.

Neither had seen a pony lose their head, and it was something that most would rather not see.

“Something ain’t right here!”

Dash turned slightly to see AJ galloping alongside her, but looking forward. “What do you mean? Hard to think those rockheads wouldn’t pull something like this…”

“Not what Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout,” AJ stated before she skidded to a halt on the dirt path. “Mistah Souma once told me ‘bout these things – How they fight, and that they can fire, well, fire from them arms of theirs. But they haven’t… Tartarus, look at ‘em!”

Dash leered back and noticed that the Ghouls were chasing them, but most of them were just casually following them, only a handful seemed to be actually interested in chasing the two mares.

“So, what you getting at?” Dash questioned.

AJ pulled the ropes from the Dash’s middle, allowing the Pegasus to spread her wings out, “Ah say they’re trying to round us up somewhere – And Ah’m not interested in where they’re trying to take us.”

“Thinking what I’m thinking?” Dash replied with a wild smirk on her face.

“Wanna change the race to a straight up brawl?” AJ suggested as she fashioned herself a lasso from the rope. “Which ever pony manages to take out the most wins?”

Dash nodded before she crouched her legs and shot off towards the Ghouls with AJ right behind her. The two mares charged at the surprised group of Ghouls, with Dash crashing into a number of the Ghouls.

As one of the non-knocked out Ghouls watched Dash fly up, AJ’s lasso wrapped around over the Ghoul’s body and tightened. The Ghoul struggled before it was yanked through the air towards AJ, who had turned around and bucked the Phantom right back towards the remaining standing Ghouls and sent them flying into the many trees in the forest.

The Ghouls were stunned and allowed Dash to drop from the sky and slam her hooves into one of the Ghouls’ chest, making several cracks appear over the monster’s body before Dash flew off and the Ghoul exploded into golden magical energy.

“That’s one for me!” Dash laughed as she spun about through the air.

While the two mares fought against the Ghouls, Dullahan watched their battle from the nearby foliage, the branches and leaves covered up most of his armored body. ‘They’re not as shocked by my ‘death’ as I had hoped. Then again, I did read reports that these are two of the six who stood up against a living nightmare.

‘Not bad at fighting either – Then again, not surprising considering how athletic these two are.’

Dullahan stepped to the side just as a Ghoul was flung from the clearing and just past him, barely scrapping by the large Phantom’s armored body. ‘They must be willing to do anything to get my ‘decapitation’ out of their heads… Well, this plan certainly backfired. Then again, I’m not the sharpest sword in the armory, I didn’t do much research on these two…

‘Ah well, I guess the despair of death will just have to do: If I have to eliminate one of them to get a new Phantom, that’s fine with me.’

Black smoke began to seep out from the joints of Dullahan’s armor and poured into his armored hand. The smoke began to bulge and twist until it formed into a large black scythe, ‘Then again, they’re not really my targets – Still, I have to at least make it look like I’m trying to make more Phantoms.’

Back at the clearing, AJ leapt over one of the Ghouls that took a swipe at her with its spear, and when she landed behind the rocky creature, she bucked her hind hooves into its back. The assault was enough to send it flying into a nearby tree.

The earth pony took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a second, the sight of Drag Curl’s limp head appeared in her mind’s eye. With a shake of her head, Applejack opened her eyes and dashed past a pair of Ghouls that dove after her. ‘Get it together Applejack! If you don’t stay focused, yer gonna end up just like him!’

One of the Ghouls skidded in front of AJ, but a multicolored blur crashed into the monstrous goon. Dash flew in place as she turned towards the earth pony, “What’s the matter, AJ? You going to…”

“Look out!”

AJ leapt into Dash, bringing down both mares to ground just as an obsidian scythe spun through the air and embedded into a tree just over their heads. Both mares looked up to see the scythe dissipate into black smoke, and then the sound of clapping metal echoed through the forest.

“Bravo, bravo… Quite the performance you two.”

Dash and AJ turned to see Dullahan stepping out from the bushes, with a number of other Ghouls around him. The Phantom finished clapping and lifted his hand up with a finger lifted, “Grade A work! I’ve only seen other Phantoms and heard that Mages could even put a dent in the Ghouls.”

“Yer one of them Phantoms,” AJ growled as she and Dash got back to their hooves.

“I prefer Dullahan,” The Phantom chuckled, before he crossed his arms over his armored chest. With a sigh, Dullahan waved a hand about near his head. “Now insert usual dramatic speech about despair, blah, blah, blah… You gonna make this easy?”

Dullahan lifted his arms up at the last second to block four hooves that clacked against his armor, Dash smirked as she pushed Dullahan back, “How’s this for an answer?!”

“My, you even keep a cool head,” Dullahan admitted before he pulled his arms back and knocked Dash back through the air. “Even though you just saw a head roll nary half an hour ago.”

“That was you, Ah take it?” AJ huffed with her hat lowered slightly. “Why’d you do that to Mistah Drag Curl? Ah was under the impression that you Phantoms were only after Gates – Not lives.”

“… Should it matter who gets caught in the crossfire?” Dullahan countered, black smoke began to pour from the joints in his armor. “Us Phantoms are nothing more than devils to you ponies, why shouldn’t we play the part you’ve given us?”

“You gonna just keep talkin’ or are we gonna fight?” Dash shouted before she slammed her front hooves together.

“Hold it Dash!” AJ called out. “Mistah Dull…”

“Dullahan,” The armored Phantom corrected.

“Mistah Dullahan,” Applejack continued. “Ah’ve heard that not all ya’ll Phantoms are interested in this ‘mission’ of yers. Ya don’t have to fight ya know, there’s a way to stop this.”

For a moment, Dullahan rubbed his chin, the smoke still billowing around his body, “… And end up Harpie and the others? None of us Phantoms asked for this life, but it’s either this, or no life at all. And I mean that in the most literal sense.

“Besides, being a Phantom has its perks – We’ve got hands, unique abilities, and even those who were graced with the worst of fates were given a second chance…”

“And where do you stand?” AJ questioned.

The smoke began to culminate within Dullahan’s hands, transforming into the scythe once more before he clanked into the ground. “It doesn’t matter where I stand, what matters is where you two shall fall!”

The ghouls behind Dullahan lifted their spears up and began to charge…

Until several sparks erupted at the Phantom’s and Ghouls’ feet, making them stagger back.

The roar of an engine drew everyone’s attention to the side to see Wizard driving his motorcycle down the path… With Beast riding on the back of the transport holding onto Wizard’s usual gun shakily. “Damn it! The sight on this thing is off!”

“You sure it isn’t that you’re just a bad shot?” Wizard countered, not bothering to turn back to Beast. “I use that thing all the time, and I rarely miss.”

“Oh shut up,” Beast growled before he crouched slightly on the seat. “The day I use my own gun is the day that I eat my jacket!”

“… I’ll hold you to that,” Wizard stated before Beast leapt through the air, dropping the gun through the air.

As Beast leapt through the air, he brought his talons to his belt and drew his saber from the buckle. And when he was in range, the golden armored griffon brought down his saber on Dullahan, who in turn lifted his scythe up to catch the attack. Steel against obsidian, sparks flew through the air as Dullahan chuckled, “At last, the two Mages – Just what I was waiting for! Now, prepare yourselves for…”

Dullahan stopped when he realized that Beast broke from his attack, but then realized why the Golden Mage had pulled back – Wizard was still driving and was only a few inches away from Dullahan. Before the Phantom could do anything, the masked dragon leapt from the motorcycle and had the vehicle crash into the armored Phantom which propelled both of the Phantom and vehicle through the woods.

Wizard flipped through the air and landed on his feet with his arms over his head, this prompted the Ghouls to applaud in amusement.

“Showoff,” Beast sighed as he shook his head, the griffon then turned back to the two mares. “Sorry for being late ladies! But it looked like you two were having so much fun that we wanted in on this competition you just set up!”

“How’d ya’ll find…” AJ started, only to be interrupted as a familiar green and gold griffon familiar landed atop of her Stetson cap. “Oh right, ya’ll had Mistah Gryph follow us.”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s very interesting,” Dash sighed, her wings spread out. “But in case you didn’t notice, we’re in the middle of a fight!”

“Indeed, you can continue your race after we get out of this,” Wizard stated as he turned back to the Ghouls, their applause now stopped when they realized what those words meant for them. Wizard lifted his left claw up towards them with his red ring gleaming in the sunlight. “Its showtime.”

“And it’s also…” Beast started as he crouched down and was about to throw his arms up into the air, but stopped. “Uh, let’s see, it’s not really noon, but it’s not really early morning… It’s BRUNCH TIME!”

“Do ya have to yell that?” AJ asked before she dashed past Beast towards the Ghouls.

“What’s wrong with my catchphrase?” Beast questioned as he tossed the saber in his talons to his tail.

“You just basically ripped off Wizard’s,” Dash answered, propelling herself through the air towards a group of Ghouls, and knocked into them to the ground.

“… Meh,” Beast growled before he charged towards the Ghouls.

Meanwhile…

“Ugh… I feel sore,” Dullahan grumbled as he pushed the motorcycle off of him. “Reminds me of that one bar crawl that Phoenix orchestrated last Nightmare Night – All I remember from that night is a bloody jaw, a hangover and somehow lost fifty bits to an old stallion with a monkey on his back…

“Still, I got a high-five from the monkey, so that’s probably worth fifty bits…”

When Dullahan got back to his feet, he saw that his army of Ghouls wasn’t really doing too well – Dash was flying about and kicking the Ghouls to the ground where Beast would slash at them with his rapier. All the while, Wizard flipped about and delivered powerful kicks and AJ’s powerful kicks were enough to send the Ghouls flying about.

Dullahan couldn’t help but laugh under his breath, the smoke starting to seep out from the joints in his body. “Wow, I was expecting a fight, but so resourceful. But I too am very resourceful.”

The smoke poured into his armored hands, and Dullahan cackled as a new shape began to appear.

Beast roared loudly as he brought down his saber on one of the remaining standing Ghouls, and the moment it fell to the ground, it along with the other Ghouls exploded into fiery explosions, several of which transformed into familiar golden runic symbols that flew into Beast’s belt, with several gulping sounds following.

With a sigh, Beast tapped his belt a few times, “Thank you for the meal!”

“I don’t think I’m gonna get used to you saying that after a fight,” Dash admitted as she landed on the ground next to the golden mage.

“Why not? It’s appropriate,” Beast answered back with a chuckle. “Sides, it’s appropriate, haven’t you ever seen Shou eat? He always said that after he had a meal… It’s a Neighpon courtesy.”

“And I say you’re both weird,” Dash commented with a roll of her eyes.

“Don’t let your guard down,” Wizard stated as he used his tail to grab his gun off the ground. “We still have the Phantom left.”

“Yeah, we still got a fight on our hooves,” AJ added.

“But shouldn’t you two get back to your race?” Beast suggested waving his saber in his tail a few times. “I don’t mind sharing a meal, but I doubt you two would find a Phantom tasty.”

“For the last time,” Wizard sighed under his breath. “I don’t eat Phantoms!”

“Eat this!!”

The two mares and two mages dropped to the ground as a large, spiked ball flew over their heads and crashed into the woods behind them. A large amount of dirt and debris flew through the air as a chain yanked back and the spiked ball flew back over their heads and crashed into Dullahan’s free hand. “Now then, how about we try this again?”

Dullahan dropped the obsidian spiked ball to the ground and lifted up a large handle that had a chain attached to it, “Prepare yourselves – Dullahan’s about to attack!”

The chain flail that Dullahan held popped into smoke, but then popped into black smoke that immediately reformed itself into a large broadsword that he grasped with both hands, allowing the large armored Phantom to charge towards the group.

Wizard and Beast both switched rings on their claws/talons and then threw them to their belts.

“LAND – PLEASE!

“Dododo, Dododon! Don, Dododon!”

“Buffa! Go, Bu-Bu-Bububu-Buffa!”

As the runic circles traveled down their bodies, both Mages charged forward - Beast with his bull-headed mantle over his right front arm and Wizard with the rubies on his armor turned into topazes. They weren’t the only ones who made their way towards the Phantom, Applejack and Dash made their way towards the Phantom.

When the two forces were about to collide, Dullahan took a swipe at the group with his broad sword, however, both Wizard and Beast brought their blades up and blocked the attack. This allowed both Dash and AJ to spin about and deliver a pair of kicks into the Phantom’s chest plate, and knocked the Phantom back with his obsidian broadsword knocked out from his hands.

“Now!” Beast and Wizard called out before they dashed past the two mares.

Dullahan lifted his head up just in time to see both Wizard and Beast spin around and brought their blades across the Phantom’s chest, sparks erupted and forced the Phantom back further. “GARGH!”

Dullahan’s arms hung down as he skidded to a halt. He lifted his head up to see that Wizard, Beast, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were leering at him, with Wizard aiming his sword up towards the Phantom, “I think it’s obvious who’s at a disadvantage here – Surrender and I promise we won’t feed you to Beast.”

“I could always go for a more filling meal,” Beast chuckled.

“Ya know, that’s a little unsettling comin’ from a griffon,” Applejack pointed out with a flat look in her eyes.

“Hey, I’ll have you know that the only meat I ever eat is fish,” Beast defended with his talons lifted up defensively. “And at those griffon restaurants in Cloudsdale, I never touched the meat menu – They do make good tofu though.”

“Ugh, those places always made me sick,” Dash gagged with her tongue stuck out. “The smell never set right with me.”

“If you’re done with your comedy act,” Dullahan growled before he slammed his arms together, sending cracks through the bulky armor at his wrists. “I have no intention of surrendering! In fact, I think it’s time I stop giving you all a handicap! RAGGGGH!”

The armor around Dullahan’s body shattered, a ton of black smoke erupted from the Phantom’s body that clouded over the group. “Stop me if you heard this one before… I am the flesh and bone of my own sword…”

Wizard gasped loudly as the smoke above everyone’s head began to solidify into many different forms, “This is…!”

Dullahan crossed his arms as several various weapons crashed into the ground around not only him, but in between the group he was facing, with a large chain flail crashing in between them to split them apart.

This was Dullahan’s chance!

So grabbing a nearby spear, Dullahan charged forward, much faster than before, “Steel flows through my body, and fire is what courses through my blood!”

Wizard brought his sword up just at the last second to block the sword, “How in the world did you…”

“I have created over a thousand blades,” Dullahan answered back as he dropped his spear, and immediately drew a battle axe from the ground, and with an upwards slash, brought the blade across Wizard’s chest.

As the sparks flew from Wizard’s chest plate and the dragon was flung through the air, Dullahan flung the axe up and spun about to grab the handle of the chain flail. With a spin, the Phantom attempted to slam the spiked obsidian ball into AJ, but the mare dipped out of the way at the last second, “Unknown to death…”

Releasing the handle, Dullahan dipped down and lifted up a pair of large shields nearby and used them to block both Beast’s slash and Dash’s kicks. “Nor known to life…”

Dullahan drew his arms to his chest, and flung them out so that he could use the shields to push both Beast and Dash away from him. “Many times I have withstood enormous pain to create thousands of wea…”

“HAMMER – PLEASE!”

Dullahan turned around just in time to receive a large hammer right to his armored face, courtesy of Wizard. Time seemed to slow down as Dullahan’s helmet flew from the rest of his body, the large armored Phantom’s body crashed into ground with more dirt flying up into the air.

When the dust finally fell to the ground, Dullhan’s body just sat there on the ground, not moving at all. Wizard brought his giant mallet to the ground and took a deep breath, “That was easier than I thought.”

“…pons.”

Everyone froze when they turned back to Dullahan’s headless body – To see that the large armored form beginning to push itself up. When it stood tall, Dullahan’s body stood tall to reveal pure darkness from the collar of its armor, smoke puffing out of it. “And yet, those hands that have braved so much will never hold anything.”

Dullahan’s headless body flew its hands up into the air, unleashing several stones that fell to the ground and clattered about until they shattered into several other Ghouls. Each of the Ghouls took that opportunity to grab one of the nearby weapons: Each now armed with a sword, or lance, or hammer, or even a baseball bat with nails in it.

All the while Dullahan lifted his empty hands up. “So as I pray now, I call forth Unlimited Phantom Power!”

The now armed Ghouls charged towards the four, Dashing taking to the air while Beast and AJ ran forward as well. Wizard however, begun to switch rings, holding up a large yellow one, “I may have to use this…”

“I won’t let you!”

Wizard lifted his head up just in time to see the headless Phantom fall down from the sky with its fist thrown at the masked wizard. Wizard spun about just in time to miss the first punch, but when he stopped spinning, Dullahan threw a second punch, this time knocking the ring out of Wizard’s claws.

With his ring knocked a few yards away, Wizard slammed his foot into the mallet head of his Hammer which spun the weapon into the air. When he grabbed the large mallet, Wizard brought down the hammer onto Dullahan.

The armored Phantom lifted his hands up and caught the mallet in his palms, sparks flew through the air. Dullahan chuckled… From the collar of his armor, “For a Wizard, you’re pretty strong. But…”

With his fingers grasped firmly on the metal, Dullahan yanked the large Hammer from Wizard’s claws and then threw it into the air. “A mage will always be lacking in the physical department!”

Before Wizard could respond, a large fist collided with his masked face and propelled him through the air. Wizard’s body skipped across the dirt path like a rag doll, even passing over the ring that was knocked out of his hand earlier. And just as he was about to fly completely over the ring, Wizard’s tail scooped up the ring and brought it to his hands.

When he landed on the ground, Wizard slipped the ring onto his claw and stood tall to see that Dullahan was still charging at him. ‘He’s not going to give me any chance – I’ll have to…’

WHAM!

A powerful force suddenly collided with the top of Wizard’s head, sending a powerful echo through the air. Atop of Wizard’s head was his large hammer, it had fallen from the sky where Dullahan had thrown it, and landed squarely on his head.

For a moment, Dullahan froze as he watched Wizard creak loudly and then fall to the side, his hammer doing the same. Then Dullahan held his arms to his side and began to laugh loudly, “PRICELESS! HAHAAHHHAAAA! Defeated by his own weapon! Oh, how irony’s side is being tickled!”

Dullahan walked over to the knocked out Wizard, and with some smoke that poured through the cracks of his armor, Dullahan now held a broadsword in his hands that he lorded over Wizard with, “Still, it was a nice fight – Short, but still, I can see the skills that defeat PhoeniXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX!”

Two pairs of hooves slammed into Dullahan’s back, both AJ and Dash kicked the large Phantom through the air, over Wizard’s body and into a bunch of trees. “… Ow!”

Both mares landed next to Wizard, with Dash rolling her eyes, “Yeesh, that was kind of lame – He got beaten by…”

“Ya mind keeping the sarcasm down a touch fer now?” AJ interrupted as she tapped her hoof against the side of Wizard’s helmet. “We’re still in the middle of a brawl here, and we need all the help we can get!”

Several explosions blasted behind the two mares, both of them turning around to see that the Ghouls were being defeated, with their mana being devoured by Beast’s buckle. Beast brought his talon up to his mouth guard and stifled a slight burp. “Whew! Been a while since I could just gorge on that! That’ll keep Khimera on the sidelines for a while.”

As Beast strolled up, he stopped and looked at the dazed Wizard. After a second for that to sink in, the golden armored griffon gripped his sides and laughed loudly, “Bwahahahahhaahhahahaahaa! Oh, oh, that is hilarious! Was this a one hit KO?”

WHAP!

“OW!” Beast yelped as he held the back of his head. Dash had smacked the golden mage over the back of his head with her hoof. “What was that for?”

“Cause you’re the one who’s gonna carry Wizard,” Dash answered back. “You’re the only one with talons, and can carry him.”

“… What?” Beast questioned.

That was when a large surge of dark smoke exploded from where Dullahan had been kicked to. Beast and the two mares turned to see that the smoke completely covered the Phantom’s form. “Such power… Such ferocity! I find myself in a conundrum – Should I no longer hold back? Yes…

“Yes I should!”

The smoke flittered away to reveal that Dullahan’s armored body had changed – While his torso and arms remained the same, it was his legs that had dramatically changed. The two armored legs were replaced with four legs that seemed to be made up of black flames in the shape of regular pony legs, the front legs kicked up with a loud neigh.

“Oh… Plop!” Beast cursed before he yanked Wizard by the tail and tossed him atop of AJ’s back as Dullahan slammed his hooves into the ground. “GET HIM OUTTA HERE! NOW!”

“Huh? What the hay’s gotten into you?” Dash questioned.

“Look, even if this is a Phantom,” Beast growled, standing on his hind legs and holding up his rapier up defensively. “This is a Centaur! Something ponies shouldn’t be near! Trust me!

“Now… GO!”

Both mares took a moment to look at each other…

“GO!” Beast roared loudly.

That loud roar echoed through the air, which forced the two mares to run off, Wizard being carried on Applejack’s back. When the two mares and dazed dragon were out of sight, Beast lifted his rapier up towards Dullahan, “So tell me – What are you? Phantom? Headless Knight? The Headless Horseman?

“Or how about I just call you a Centaur?”

Dullahan laughed loudly as he slowly trotted towards Beast, “I prefer referring myself as Dullahan – Has a nice ring to it. But how quick you are to send your friends away, is my new form such a threat that you send them away?”

Beast aimed his right shoulder towards Dullahan, the Bull Mantle gleamed in the light, “Better to be safe than sorry. I know all about Centaurs, I’ve seen ancient drawings depicting a Centaur actually stealing magical energy from not just unicorns, but earth ponies and pegasai as well.

“Who knows if you have the same ability – If you do, then Dashie and Jacks wouldn’t be able to defend themselves from another assault from those Ghouls you like to use.”

There was an odd moment of silence, it was hard to tell if Dullahan was staring at Beast since he still didn’t have his head. But then Dullahan bellowed loudly with his hands lifted up, “BWAHAHAHAHA! I know not of this Centaur, but I assure you that this form of mine is just something for me to gain an upperhand!

“As a blue Phantom, I only possess the ability to absorb magic from unicorns: Although, it’s an interesting thought… No Phantom has tried to absorb magic from the other pony types, might be something…”

“FOUR!!

“BUFFA SABER STRIKE!!”

Before Dullahan could continue, four golden phantasmal bulls crashed into his chest plate and forced the larger Phantom back. “URK!!”

It was then that Beast tossed his rapier to the side and slammed the ring on his right talon into the slot on his belt, with a red aura over his mantle and then his body.

“GO! TACKLE STRIKE! BUFFA MIX!”

A large, dark red aura appeared over Beast’s body, the aura took the form of a large bull that snorted loudly. Beast roared before he and the aura charged quickly towards Dullahan, who had tossed the other bulls away.

When Dullahan threw the last of the phantasmal bulls to the side, Beast was only a foot away and had jumped up to ram his right shoulder right into Dullahan’s chest, the horns actually pierced through the large Phantom’s body. With the force of the bull at his back, Beast’s charge pushed Dullahan back, the Phantom’s shadowy hooves dug against the ground as he tried to push back Beast. “W-WHAT THE?! WHERE DID THIS COME FROM!?”

“I’m not gonna let a feast like you disappear!” Beast snarled loudly, as he continued to charge into the Phantom. “Something like you isn’t gonna be tasty, but I’ll make sure that you don’t touch my FRIENDS! So I’ll gladly eat a nasty meal like you!”

“Noble words!” Dullahan sputtered out as he lifted his arms up over his empty collar. “BUT THAT’S ALL THEY ARE!”

Dullahan slammed the bottoms of his fists into Beast’s back, not only breaking the horns on Beast’s mantle when the golden mage was flung to the ground, but also dissipating the aura around the golden mage. Beast was flung into the ground, a large amount of dirt and dust flung from where his body had made the impact.

The armored griffon slowly pushed himself up, only to get a pair of hooves slammed into his back, sparks flew from his back as Beast was forced into the ground once more. Dullahan’s hooves lifted up once more and slammed even further into Beast’s back. “URK!”

The hooves remained on Beast’s back as Dullahan brought a hand to the two large holes in his chest, “… You… You managed to hurt me, I must applaud you. However, this just means that I’m going to have to give you just as much force that you threw at me!”

Dullahan lifted his front hooves up once more, and immediately brought them down on Beast’s back once more. “GARGH!”

As the dust fall to Beast’s sides, the golden armor on the griffon’s body shattered, leaving a bruised and battered Kosuke underneath his hooves. The griffon’s eyes were glazed over as Dullahan lifted his hooves off of Kosuke and lifted the griffon up by the hood’s collar. “… What a surprise, you’re still alive.”

Kosuke groaned and slowly lifted his talon up. ‘Plop… Armor disappeared… Body bruised and battered… Consciousness starting to slip… Brain! Status report!’

‘Blargh… I need pants…’

‘That… Is not… Good…’ Kosuke thought to himself before his eyelids closed.

“… I could probably use this to my advantage,” Dullahan muttered out loud before he tossed Kosuke over his shoulder.

TTT – TTT

While Dullahan was putting the smack down on Beast, both Applejack and Dash, with Wizard still knocked out on the earth pony’s back, managed to get to the original path that they were on earlier. With not only the race but fight on their shoulders, the two mares slumped to the ground, with Wizard rolling off of AJ’s back.

“I can’t believe Wizard got knocked out by his own weapon,” Dash sighed loudly before she brought up a hoof up to her forehead to wipe some sweat off. “That was totally not cool…”

“Ah think we’ve got bigger problems at the moment,” Applejack pointed out with a flat look in her eyes. “Ah’m not too worried about Mistah Nitoh fighting that Phantom, but wasn’t he a tad bit… Excessive in trying to get us away?”

“Neato’s a goofball,” Dash admitted with a shake of her head. “But he’s not the kind of guy who would freak out like that unless there was a reason.”

“And he had good reason to.”

Both AJ and Dash turned around just in time to see a bruised and battered Kosuke land on the ground behind them, and a few yards away behind the dazed griffon was none other than Dullahan, still with the shadowy hooves for his legs but with two large gaping holes in his chest where smoke slowly filtered out.

The tall phantom lifted his arms up proudly, “He obviously wanted to prove that he was capable as a fighter and protect you. However, I don’t know why he sent you two away, do I look that weak that he thought that he could take me on himself?”

“You’re a headless guy running around,” Dash counted off with a roll of her eyes. “You got a pair of holes in your chest, and you look like you’re part pony with those hooves. You’re more than a little freaky.”

“Really?” Dullahan questioned as he rubbed the collar of his armor. “I was always told that I was quite the handsome devil.”

“Ah don’t think ya can be called handsome without a head,” AJ pointed out. “How exactly are ya talkin’ anyway?”

“I’d tell you,” Dullahan countered back with a shrug. “But it’d probably go way over your head.”

There was a moment of silence, save for the lone cricket that chirped in the background.

“Are ya being serious here?” Applejack sighed with her head lowered.

“How often are you gonna deal with something like me?” Dullahan chuckled before he reached into the collar and pulled out a small notebook. “Now before I make your own heads roll… Eh? Eh? Get it?”

This time the cricket didn’t chirp, but a cough did echo through the woods. Dullahan coughed out before he lifted the pad of paper, “Anyway, before I instill despair in you two, I need to annoy you with bad head puns.”

“Ya know, you’re not as threatening as you were a little bit ago,” Dash pointed out bluntly as her wings unfurled out. Without another word, Dash flew towards the Phantom with her front hooves.

Dullahan couldn’t move past enough as Dash slammed into the large Phantom’s stomach, which pushed the Phantom back quickly. “Urk?!”

It was then that AJ leapt over Dash and slammed both of her hind hooves into Dullahan’s chest, adding a pair of dents to match the pair of holes in the Phantom’s chest. Dullahan stumbled back as Dash and AJ landed back on the ground before him, making sure that they were between him and their knocked out magical friends. “Heh… Hehehehe… Not bad, not bad at all! But heads will roll when I get warmed up.”

“Boo!” Dash jeered as she waved a hoof towards Dullahan.

Dullahan ignored the comment and crossed his arms over his chest, a large amount of smoke billowed from his body. Before either mares could do a thing, Dullahan threw his arms to the sides and the smoke transformed into various weapons once more: Daggers, swords, chain flails, a toilet plunger, a small hammer, a baseball bat with nails hammered into it, a stick with a flag that said ‘Bang’ on it, an old soda can, and various other knick-knacks and weapons.

Both mares looked at the amassed arsenal, their eyes widened as the weapons now floated up in the air. Dullahan on the other hand chuckled as he gently brought one of his hands forward with his pointer finger lifted up. “Behold! My ultimate attack! Gilgamesh’s Arsenal! Now, let the despair of death take you!

“FIRE!”

All of the weapons shook for a moment before they were propelled towards the two mares and dazed griffon…

MULTI DEFEND – PLEASE!

Several stone walls erupted from the ground and immediately blocked the onslaught of attacks, most of the weapons shattered against the blockade while others just bounced off.

“I don’t know how you managed to knock me out,” A familiar voice sounded out as the walls slowly sunk back into the earth. “But, I think it’s time for the show to get to act two!”

Everyone turned to see that Wizard was back on his feet, lifting up the ring that was left claw. “I hope you’re ready for the show!”

“Think we should tell him what knocked him out?” Dash asked, trying to whisper to AJ.

“Ah reckon so,” AJ whispered back with a hoof lifted up over her mouth. “But we should wait till later.”

“What are you two whispering about?” Wizard asked, his head tilted slightly.

“Nothing,” Both AJ and Dash answered back, AJ’s muzzle scrunched a little bit.

“Ah, so you’re finally awake,” Dullahan chuckled as he pumped a fist up towards Wizard. “To be honest, I was hoping that you’d wake up before I had a chance to defeat you… There would be no honor in killing a knocked out enemy.”

“Would you two mind if I take over?” Wizard asked, ignoring Dullahan and keeping his focus on the two mares.

“Did… Did you just ignore my small speech?!” Dullahan gasped as he brought his hands up to his neck hole.

“I don’t mind sharing the spotlight this time,” Dash answered back, a smirk plastered on her face. “Make sure you get one in for Neato!”

“… What happened to Kosuke?” Wizard questioned before he looked down to see the bruised and battered griffon on the ground. “Oh.”

“Yeah, ya might wanna take this elsewhere,” AJ advised.

“Both good suggestions,” Wizard stated before he stepped in front of the mares and leered at Dullahan.

“Got something to say to me, mage?” Dullahan chuckled as the smoke began to flow from his armor once more. The smoke flew into his hands and transformed into an obsidian broad sword that he rested on his shoulder. “Any last words?”

“Yeah, I got some for ya,” Wizard answered back before he threw his left claw in front of his belt. “It’s SHOWTIME!”

LAND – DRAGON

Dan Den Don Zu Dogon – Dan Den Dogon!

A large yellow runic circle popped from the ground with several bits of debris being flung through the air. A loud roar echoed through the forest when a dragon made up of rocks and dirt flew from the circle and began to wrap around Wizard’s body.

As the dragon faded away, Wizard’s black coat was replaced with a yellow one, with the shoulder pads now rectangular with large topazes on them, and there were pair of horns that stuck from his helmet.

Wizard took a deep breath before he tucked his elbows at his waist and growled under his breath.

“A palette swap isn’t going to intimidate me!” Dullahan cackled before he galloped towards Wizard, the broadsword held over his head. “NOW – DIE!!!!!”

As Dullahan’s broadsword fell down towards Wizard, the yellow clad mage lifted his right hand up with his pointer claw extended…

CLANK!

And amazingly enough, that was enough to block the attack! Dullahan’s sword was stopped by Wizard’s finger, with dust flying up around the two.

“Fer land’s sake!” AJ yelped with her eyes widened.

Dash’s jaw was agape at the sight.

And Dullahan – Well, somehow he just gulped, “Uh… Okay, that’s a little intimidating…”

The hoofed Phantom made to pull his sword away, however, while everyone was awestruck by Wizard’s logic defying block, the dragon had lifted his claws up and latched onto the weapon’s blade with the rest of his left claws. Dullahan attempted to pull back, however, Wizard yanked the Phantom’s weapon and pulled the Phantom close to him…

WHAM!”

“GAH!” Dullahan yipped in pain as Wizard’s helmet collided with chest plate, adding to the growing collection of dents and holes to the armor.

The sudden attack was enough to have Dullahan release the weapon, and with a quick toss, Wizard drew his right claw back and immediately slammed his claws into Dullahan’s stomach, which forced the Phantom to double over.

With his opponent stunned, Wizard spun around and slammed his tail into the front hooves of the Phantom. Dullahan cried out as he fell towards Wizard once more, however, Wizard had lifted his hands up and caught Dullahan.

And with relative ease, Wizard lifted Dullahan over his head as he stood up straight. “Wha… What the Tartarus!? Where did this strength come from!?”

Wizard didn’t answer verbally, and instead spun around before he tossed Dullahan several yards away from the group. The large phantom bounced off of the ground a few times before he landed on his hooves, skidding about, ‘Seriously! What the Tartarus is going on here?! I was expecting a decent fight – But this… This is….’

“Wow, now Ah don’t feel so bad putting ya to work on Sweet Apple Acres,” AJ joked with a large smile.

“I highly doubt that,” Wizard sighed under his breath.

“Okay, I can dig this power,” Dash pointed out. “But couldn’t you use the green one? Twi said you got that one, and I know the green one can make you fly.”

“Yeah, but this is new,” Wizard countered as he slipped a new ring on his right claw. “Next time, I’ll use the green one.”

“You better,” Dash scoffed.

“You must have a lot of confidence if you’re able to carry on a regular chat,” Dullahan sputtered as a large amount of smoke poured from his body. The smoke then transformed into the massive arsenal that he had before. “But do you think that you can stop my Giglamesh Are…”

VERY NICE– GRAVITY!

THE BEST!

That was when a powerful surge wrapped around Dullahan’s body with the massive amount of obsidian weapons clattered against the ground. Dullahan struggled to stand up, but his hooves buckled under the increasing weight of his body. “Wha… WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME?!”

Wizard’s right hand was lifted up, the ring on his claws glistened brightly. He then lifted his hand up and Dullahan flew up into the air along with the movement. For a few moments, Wizard suspended Dullahan in the air before he threw his hand down, and consequentially, had Dullahan fall to the ground, creating a large crater in the forest path with several leaves falling around. “You can control gravity?! I didn’t hear about this! I didn’t hear about this at all!”

With a snap of his fingers, the ring’s glow disappeared and Wizard quickly swapped rings on his claws, “It’s time for the finale.”

His body no longer pinned by the gravity spell, Dullahan pulled himself out from the hole. “Fine! If weapons won’t work, then I’ll just use my own fists! ARGH!”

Wizard threw his hand over his belt as Dullahan charged towards him, his right fist pulled back. Wizard also drew his right fist back as a powerful yellow aura drew over his arms.

VERY NICE – SPECIAL

THE BEST!

Both magical beings threw their fists towards each other, however, just before they collided, a pair of three bladed claws appeared over Wizard’s arms. The right claws crashed into Dullahan’s fist and shattered the armor into millions of pieces.

Dullahan staggered back a foot but then roared as he threw his left fist towards Wizard – While Wizard did the same. The fist and claws connected with sparks flying, however, Dullahan’s fist shattered once more and he stumbled about with his armored biceps wagging about. “Oh no! I’ve been unarmed!”

Wizard stopped for a second and tilted his head, “You’re…. You’re really taking this in stride.”

“Let’s face it, I’m screwed,” Dullahan laughed loudly as smoke billowed from his arm holes and wrapped about until they formed into obsidian fists. “My smoke constructs can’t be made to move like regular limbs – All I can do is try one more bum rush against you and hope for the best.”

“You don’t have to fight though,” Wizard stated as he lowered his claws slightly. ”Surrender now, and I can promise you not only your life, but a safe haven from other Phantoms.”

For a moment, Dullahan stood there quietly. But then shattered that silence with a loud laugh, “BWAHAHAHAHA! Quite the interesting fellow you are! However, I cannot accept those terms! As a Phantom, nay, as a stallion! I cannot back down from a fight – Even if it will cost me my life!

“This battle will not end unless one of us falls this day!”

And with that, Dullahan charged towards Wizard, who in turn lowered his head for a second before he lifted it along with his claws. “Finale!”

TTT – TTT

While the battle was raging in the forest was drawing to a close, at the finish line, Twilight sprinted across the finishline while many of the other ponies were gasping for breath and were barely able to walk.

“And coming in third place is the underdog – Twilight Sparkle!” Spike announced from the hot air balloon.

“Silly Spike,” Pinkie Pie giggled with a bright smile. “Twilight’s not wearing a red jumpsuit with a blue cape – But you’re right about her being third place! Who knew she had it in her?”

“Uh, right,” Spike muttered away from the megaphone, for the last half hour or so, he had been commentating with Pinkie Pie: All the while having to listen to her weird comments. Now, he didn’t have anything against Pinkie Pie, but there was one point during the race that he wanted to jump off of the balloon. ‘So much for a career in announcing.’

“And here come the rest of the racers,” Pinkie Pie chimed into the megaphone. “However, I still can’t see the two ponies of the hour – Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Think they took a wrong turn at Albuquerque?”

“What’s Albuquerque?” Spike asked, this time actually interested.

“Oh it’s a trope that’s usually caused by, oh, say,” Pinkie Pie muttered as she lifted up a small book labeled ‘TVTropes for Idiots’. “Road sign reversals, your other lefts, short cuts make long delays, or even random teleportation! Oooh! Maybe there’s a giant floating head in a tube that needed to recruit five ponies with attitude to fight evil, so Dash and AJ got recruited!”

‘I think I might be able to survive a jump from here,’ Spike thought to himself as he looked over the edge of the balloon basket.

However, instead of continuing the pros and cons of jumping, Spike noticed that a familiar red jeweled bird was flying up towards him with a scroll in his beak. “Huh? Garuda?”

The ruby familiar chirped a few times before it dropped a scroll into Spike’s claws. The young dragon blinked a few times before Garuda landed on his head and pointed at the scroll. Spike unfurled the scroll and began to read it, his eyes widening as he read it.

“Did you get good news Spike?” Pinkie asked. “Did you save fifteen percent on insurance?”

“Uh, Kosuke’s hurt,” Spike pointed out.

Pinkie brought her hooves up to her muzzle with a slight gasp.

It didn’t take long for Spike and Pinkie to tell Twilight of the situation, and thankfully in Garuda’s note, they were told that Kosuke was going to be taken to the local hospital. And when the three managed to get to the hospital, they saw Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Haru seated in the lobby.

“Everyone! Is Kosuke alright?” Twilight gasped, trying to catch her breath. “Are you three okay?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” Dash sighed with a roll of her eyes. “It’s just a Phantom attacked – Those things seem to happen every other week.”

“And yet it feels like it takes a month for the next attack to happen,” Pinkie Pie chimed in as she leered at the ceiling. ‘I’m looking at you author!’

“Kosuke’s fine,” Haru explained with a shrug. “He just has a few bruises, cuts and got a concussion. The doc said that we can go in, the griffon should be alright, he just needed to get bandaged up.”

“Well, at least it doesn’t seem serious,” Twilight sighed as Dash, Pinkie Pie and Spike slowly followed the older dragon to Kosuke’s room.

Twilight was about to follow, when a hoof stopped her, “Say Twi, mind if Ah ask ya a quick question?”

“Sure, what is it?” Twilight replied turning to her friend.

“Mistah Neato was going on ‘bout that Phantom,” Applejack started as she adjusted his hat. “Normally, Ah’ve seen that griffon act like nothing more than a goofball who seems to be addicted to mayonnaise, but he really freaked out when the Phantom seemed to grow hooves – Called it… A centaur. Any idea what the hay that’s supposed to be?”

“A centaur?” Twilight questioned with a raised brow. “I… I’ve heard of a creature, but I don’t know what…”

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?”

Easily able to determine that voice belonged to Dash, and the two mares quickly followed it to Kosuke’s room – Where they saw that Kosuke was indeed alright: With a few bandages covering his body (a lot over his torso to cover up his secret), the griffon looked to be alright…

Especially considering that the Griffon was being spoon fed pudding by an admittedly cute unicorn nurse. However, when Kosuke realized that Dash was leering at him with daggers, Kosuke shooed the nurse away with a rather innocent smile. “Hey! Visitors! Try the pudding! It’s great with mayonnaise!”

“…” Dash’s glare suddenly went colder as she walked towards the nervous griffon.

“Uh, Dash?” Kosuke chuckled nervously. “You wouldn’t hurt a griffon who’s in a hospital bed, would ya?”

WHAM!

“OW!”

“I think that’s a yes,” Spike pointed out.

TTT – TTT

Back at Whitetail Woods, the remains of the finish line were being taken down as a familiar red pegasus landed on the ground near the edge of the leaf-deprived forest. Phoenix looked about, the look on his face grim.

“Looking for somepony, Feenie?”

Phoenix turned around to see Sora slowly float down from the sky, a number of party favors spilling out of his saddlebags, “Yeah, what’s it to ya?”

“Oh, Phoenix,” Sora sighed as he landed on the ground next to Phoenix and pulled the fellow disguised Phantom close for a hug. “It greatly pains me to be the one to tell you this – But, unfortunately, Dully is no longer with us.”

Phoenix’s eyes widened when he heard that, and immediately slammed his front hoof right into Sora’s nose… Only hitting the air.

“Awe, can’t accept the truth?” Sora sighed as he floated over Phoenix, his hooves brought up to his face. “I get it, its part of the five stages of grief… It is a big loss, after all, this Phantom went to all the trouble of…”

“Shut up,” Phoenix growled before he stomped off. “If you ever say his name in disrespect again, I’ll kill you where you stand or fly. I’m not against Pegasus barbecue, so don’t test me.”

Sora just floated in the air, watching Phoenix for a few moments as the red pegasus stomped off. When the Phantom Enforcer was no longer around, Sora smiled and slowly flew off to a deeper part of Whitetail Woods.

It didn’t take long for Sora to see his destination, a large clearing where a single Ghoul stood in it. When Sora landed, the Ghoul nodded towards his Phantom Master, “Ooh, you’re here, good, does that mean you found it?”

The Ghoul nodded once more and walked over to a nearby bush, where it pulled out a familiar helmet that had a few shadows spilling out from out of it. The eyes of the helmet lit up slightly, “Hmm, looks like I’ll be a head in life for a while. How’s it going Gremlin?”

“Good to see you’re in such high spirits,” Sora giggled with a bright smile. “I’m surprised you’re still alive though…”

“So long as my head is alright,” Dullahan explained with a slight chuckle in his voice. “I’ll still live, still since my head isn’t bolted to my body, I have a nasty habit of losing it – That’s the thing ‘bout me, by the way, you got any aspirin? I got a splitting headache.”

“Perhaps,” Sora answered with a smile. “But, Dully, I have a little favor I’d like to ask you.”

TBC

Author's Note:

Sorry it took so long for this chapter to get out - I don't have any excuse, but I hope you all enjoyed it.

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