The Kirin didn't wait, charging me down while leaving a frosty smog in its wake, forcing me to evade left, the back hooves bucking against my forearms the second I did. The equine turned suddenly, threshing its head as a small wall of ice erupted from the tip of the dark purple horn, freezing my left arm in place while the body of the Kirin slammed through the ice, throwing me backward while it neighed, gathering a small plume of mist around it, my fur standing on end.
"Evade-Evade-Evade!" Pulling by my claws I flung myself from the aura, several large columns of ice expanding around it while smaller crystals manifested in the lingering cloud, shattering as they struck the dirt road. I drew my right leg back, kicking up while the navy Elder Dragon charged toward me. "Blaze Kick!" Through the frigid storm, my leg erupted, melting through the veil as it slammed into the steamrolling Kirin, fire singing its mane while it nickered at the powerful halo of orange flames that scattered on contact, myself spinning around on my heels once I landed.
Puffing out my cheeks I let out a massive barrage of purplish-blue energy with 'Dragon Pulse' the torrent rippling through the horse as it roared, ice sharpening its horn into that of a blade of ice, slamming the weapon forward to cast dozens of ice spikes in my wake, forcing me to evade into the second row of protruding ice spines, some grazing my body while a thicker one slammed into my stomach, throwing me up against a wall, leaving me open to the ramming speed of a crazed dragon.
My cross-guard conjured up a transparent shield, deflecting the horn but not the hooves that kicking and attempting to trample me, the large head of the beast hooked around my side as I found my world view invert, quickly followed by my body drowning in one of the many large piles of snow a second later. For a few seconds, there was silence. "ACHOO!" My loud sneeze cleared the snow off of me, using 'Life Dew' to mend my injures and hopefully warm me up. "Man, why'd it have to be an ice Kirin...?" Rubbing my biceps the Kirin observed me critically, hooves digging at the soil. "Waiting for me? Why thank you."
After that literal thrashing, I think I finally got this thing's moves down. Whatever subspecies this was it had the same move-set as a normal Kirin only replaced with Ice and a frost aura that could trap me if I'm not careful. Cracking my knuckles I motioned for the Kirin to proceed, to which it did a large backflip, ice and snow enlarging the horn into a sword once more with the gathering aura of frost. It was doing something big. My confidence fell apart, ears flattened against my head. "I should start running now - YAAAAAH!!"
Zipping into Quick Attack I sprinted up a mound of snow, diving up onto a rooftop in time to avoid and take in the massive tsunami of ice and snow that swept the street, several walls of gradual ice expanded from the earth before exploding under the Kirin's hooves, the ice-blade atop its horn sweeping twice to conjure two more walls either side of it, flinging projectiles that pierced walls and almost skewered me had I not fallen onto my haunches. "That was close!" If my paled face didn't say otherwise.
Kicking forward with bronze feet I dislodged mounds of packed snow and stones into the air, kicking the bullet-like balls toward the Kirin, seeing it grunt with each rapid strike of snow-fire I unleashed with twirling kicks. "Brick-Break-Snow!" Came up with that just now, haha!
Several rapid strikes broke the ice off its horn, the Kirin skipping across the street, leaving behind small clouds that showered the ground in dangerously sharp ice shards. Then it swung its head, a trail of ice snaking up the wall and across the roof beside me. Narrowing my eyes I broke into a sprint, springing over the second trail of ice with both my fists glimmering like stardust. "Retaliate!"
As though I were a blur of black and blue, my fists collided with the Kirin's flank, bringing the beast around as I caught the horn inches from impaling me, the tip of my chest spike grazing it as the mere sensation made my paws go numb, like cupping a blizzard between my fingers. Resisting the urge to pull away I held firm with my feet, even as the Dragon thrashed to relieve me of this hold. Taking in a breath I spoke gently. "Reversal."
The white veil traveled around my arms, gravity and my swaying stance doing the rest as I held the Kirin steady, pulling and eventually tossing the large equine across the road, taking that aura of frost with it while that same substance stuck to my fur, making my movements stiff. Shaking a misty breath I closed my eyes to focus on 'Calm Mind', feeling my woes ease while a rise in heat from the dancing swords above my crown bolstered my muscles to brace the harsh environment the Elder Dragon brought with it.
The second my aura expanded I threw myself backward, two Aura Spheres crashing into the large forehead that was inches from my throat. kicking backward I dislodged a large segment from the road, the dirt, and rock smashing into the backside of the Kirin while the legs bucked through, pressing to my forearms that immediately made our fur stand on end, followed by a flash of golden bolts, backhanding its legs away while several columns of ice obscured my path. "Thunder Punch!" The first right hook tore through the walls of hardened water, then the left crossed the muzzle that snapped into view, giving me a clean shave of its snout, flinging the Kirin off to the side, the trail of ice nicking my hip a second later.
Tearing away from the frosty surface I split the crystals forming above me with sudden swipes and kicks, although I had to forcibly take one to the shoulder and foot to evade the equine's charge, leaving only a frozen scape in its wake. Slipping backward I found myself pinned between a wall of ice and the sights of the Elder. That was when another, vastly darker shroud clouded my vision, tossing me to my left sharply without my body's consent.
"What the... yah!?" Twisting my neck I was surprised to see the Kirin had also suffered from the same effect of the dark cloud, body battering against a nearby wall as it attempting to regain its footing.
"Can you go one day without risking your butt, just one?" Oh boy. A did sigh happily at the voice all the same. From a distance, Yui stomped over with her hood flapping in the wind, her mane tucked inside and under a blue scarf to match. Those purple orbs never once leaving my face. "Why am I not surprised you figured it was another Rift - and never told me!"
Sweating a little I put my paws up slowly. "It's the holidays, besides you worked your own butt off in our last job so I didn't want to bother you with this - duck." I grabbed her by the waist, tugging her back from another wall of ice spikes. "You can hit me later, that sound fair?" Not really the time to argue morals with my adorable partner.
Even though she was mad her hoof tapped to my cheek, eyes softening for a moment. "I'm using you for snuggles later, this is absolute." Mustn't laugh... It could be the end of the world but her angry face was just too funny. Setting her down, we quickly parted ways as the body of the Kirin swept by, ice raining down from above, keeping us on our toes. "Zen, I think the horn's the weak point!"
"Usually is with Kirin!" I relayed, skipping back from the trails of spikes erected around me, the ice forming a blade atop its crown. If it did that massive ice stunt again it might cause far more damage to Ponyville than to us. "Yui, your third spell, hurry!" Dashing toward the center of this ice storm I kept my body low to the ground, zipping by the falling ice and waves of frost that exploded at the Kirin's command, spires of ice conjuring to deflecting my aura attacks from so much as interrupting its conjuration.
Even though I drew closer to the epicenter, the sudden drop in temperature was making it harder to keep moving, the frost was dampening my fur and my joints felt locked and jittery. It was even getting harder to see straight through the small torrent of white. Off to my far right, Yui hadn't budged, even as the same effects licked her grey body, she held a hoof to her heart and closed her eyes. Beyond the wail of wind and snow, her voice traveled like a soothing siren's melody.
"Seep from shade. Grasp from veils. Drag toward dark," My fur stood on end at the rush of my own shadow pulling itself beyond my motions, centering around the Kirin, the horn coming down to graze the earth, frost rising like metal powder to a magnet. "Tenebris Hamo."
The mere lick of the last letter sprung darkness from every corner of the battlefield, dark hands reached out to clasp around the Kirin's body, snagging its legs and flank, across its stomach and shoulders, some snaked and joined by the collarbone and throat, tugging the head back from the ground. While the Elder Dragon threw itself around, stretching and attempting to undo the binding I used one of the manifested columns of ice as my leverage, bringing myself high above the Kirin's bucking form.
"Mega-!" The left heel cast a sharp scarlet, blinding those caught under its dazzling hue, my bones and muscle fibers straining under the force applied to a single point. Gritting my teeth I flung downward for a tremendous ax-kick. I wasn't done though, this put a sudden strain on my leg, so much so I almost lost my focus entirely, I had to grin and bear it, just for one blow straight to the head! Fire trailing down my leg, igniting in a furious red blaze that cut through the blizzard's veil as though it were a mere gust of wind. "Blaze Kick - hyrah!!"
Whatever ice that remained was pulverized the second the dark horn connected with my foot, the nova of reddish flames spilling from the point of contact with enough kinetic force to disperse the frost and obliterate the ice and snow surrounding the street under a clap of thunder.
The Kirin found its head imbedded into the earth with a resounding crack, the horn splintered and shattered into thousands of pieces, showering the world with sparkles of blue snowflakes through the dust cloud formed among remnants of fire flickering away in the soothing storm above, its hazardous image silencing, the howls growing still once more.
"Okay... I think... it ain't getting up from that..." Panting from the small crater left in the fallout of that move, that, and I couldn't move my left leg right now. Through the leveling dust, I saw Yui wave toward me. "I'm alive...~"
"That much is obvious, dummy," She sighed, though relieved as always while lightly jabbing my shoulder. "You really had to go all out again, didn't you?"
With a sly smile, I held my paws against my leg, feeding Life Dew into my fur while I winked toward her. "But of course, I had to make sure I impress my adorable girlfriend, right?" My answer and her reaction were enough to draw a chuckle from my dry lips, seeing her face tinge a little under that scarf.
"..." She said nothing, even while the twinkling snowfall illuminated her face somewhat, that, and the fading form of the Kirin beside me, its body slowly evaporating into the ether once more, so it was a Rift manifestation, guess that's just less to clean up.
I leaned closer, eyes curved with mirth, "I'm right, aren't I?" The growing humor in my tone didn't help.
"...Shut up..." She was resisting, even as I poked her cheek.
"Your soul can't lie~-" Then her wing slapped my paw, eyes locking to mine.
"Yes! Okay, it was freakin' awesome! And you were awesome and... grah, are you happy now!?" Whether it was the embarrassment, her aura battering with a tidal wave of emotions, or the fact I'm tired from using up alot of stamina in that fight, I just felt happy to hear that. Leaning closer to her shoulder I sighed into her hood and fur.
"Thanks... I'm glad I'm still living up to your expectations," There were times I still felt... useless without my powers, that if I had them stripped away I'd still be nothing short of just your average guy stuck in another world. But who wouldn't? We all dream of escaping to a world where our inner selves can thrive, I'm just one of those fortunate, or unfortunate enough to land in that situation. It wasn't skill but luck, and I was afraid of that.
"Dummy..." I felt her leathery wing tug around my back, a hoof stroking my head while I let my leg rest a little longer. Her voice whispered into my ear gently. "You always live up to my expectations; Lucario, or even Human."
A few words and I felt that doubt trickle away, I even felt warmer. "I see... I hope you're -" I, ironically, froze mid-reply, seeing Yui's head tilt at my sudden reluctance to vocalize my thoughts, instead, I felt this rush of cold wind run up my spine. Gripping Yui tighter, more protectively I felt my chest stir. "Yui, something isn't right."
Now her own ears flattened, pulling away from me to inspect the area herself. The storm raged on, just the tempered clouds weren't as chaotic as prior to our involvement, so why didn't this feel right at all?
"Uhh, Zen...?" Feeling the tug of her wing to my scarf I craned my neck beside her, seeing that Yui's jaw dropped at the sight trotting down the road. Then, while my own lips sealed themselves at the sight, a steady beat rising in my chest, Yui vocalized it for me. "I think we're still on the clock."
"That... we are." Gulping down that lump I stood tall, Yui keeping herself knitted to my leg, withdrawing a red vial that she soon chugged the contents of, fur shivering from the strong taste that I could tell smelled of peppermint. "Ready for round two, love?"
The storm above rumbled stray, blue bolts of pure plasma discharged in the dark skies above. Clopping to a halt a Kirin played at the dirt with its front hoof, watching us with scarlet eyes. Unlike its counterpart, this was the original, though a closer look reveals that it is covered in scales rather than a coat just like the ice variant. Its majestic white mane and hair stood on end, charged with static. Crackles of stray electricity dancing between scales and hair.
For once, Yui shared my joyous tone, chuffing once. "You know it." Her wing and my fist bounced off one-another at the clap of thunder and a stroke of lightning
To Be Continued...