Samus and Spike raced into the sky towards where they saw Ridley, who glowered down as he waited for them. Samus took the opportunity to scan him, since he was holding so still, figuring the information would help them plan a strategy.
Recorded to Logbook
Shadow Ridley
Unable to completely scan. Excess of Dark Magic interferes with Visor tech. Data will be added as it is acquired through combat.
I suppose I should have expected that, Samus thought to herself as she and Spike peeled away from each other to come at Ridley from both sides. Coming up from underneath him, Samus fired off her Hyperion Beam while Spike used his breath attacks. Unfortunately, Ridley proved quite mobile, leaping aside to avoid both blasts as he countered by dropping several dark magic charges in his wake, primed to detonate as the pair of Hunters approached. Though each of them managed to pull back out of range of the actual explosions, the shockwaves still caught each of them.
As soon as the shockwaves passed, Ridley was down between them, slamming into Spike's back with talons as he slammed his spiked tail cap against Samus, knocking her back. Samus reeled, but discovered quickly that she'd barely taken any damage from the impact. In point of fact, Spike seemed to be taking more from the talons digging at his energy shields and scales than she did from being hit with the force of a speeding bus. I don't know how this armor has such power, but damn if it isn't impressive! she thought to herself, activating the Electromorph to body slam into Ridley, knocking him off Spike's back. As soon as Spike was free, he came up spitting, lunging at Ridley's underbelly, only to pull back as a gout of acid from Ridley's mouth burned against his shields.
"Spike, get range!" Samus called out. "Keep him pinned!" With that order given, she dove in anew, lobbing a bomb to knock Ridley away as the shaped charge slammed into him.
Spike didn't need to be told twice. Taking to the skies, he took the role Samus had so many times in their battles with Ridley, watching from a distance for an opportunity to strike and keeping Ridley from getting any distance. Despite the power of Ridley's new form, it seemed no match for Samus with her Metroid and Dragon traits fully manifest.
As Ridley tried to pull away for distance, Samus grabbed hold of his tail just above the spike ball. Folding her own wings tight to her back, she rolled up the length of the tail, finding that the Omega Systems even amplified her Spider Ball so she could cling to large enemies. Using that, she raced up Ridley's back and delivered a Final Missile straight to the back of his skull. She took grim satisfaction in the scream of pain he let out as she leapt away, turning to slam another Shinespark into the center of his torso. As he gasped for air, she grabbed his lower jaw and fired another Final Missile into his mouth. Acidic blood fountained out of the damaged mouth as the lower jaw hung limp.
Samus readied herself for another attack, only for a magical lightning bolt to lance from the crimson horn, catching her off guard and sending her slamming hard into the ground. Grunting, she levered herself up to take to the air again. Spike, meanwhile, moved in, keeping his distance while striking at Ridley from above, keeping him from gaining an upper hand while managing to do a certain amount of damage with his own breath attacks. Seeing Ridley start to flounder, he dove in, trying to strike at the horn as it gathered energy...only for Ridley to vanish.
"Spike!" Samus shouted out as she saw Ridley reappear, having somehow recovered from his previous injuries. "Above you!"
Turning, Spike quickly dove down and to the side to evade the dropping strike Ridley had attempted, plainly trying to damage Spike's wings and take him out of the air. Samus, for her part, used her Electromorph to race up to meet the dive. This time, however, she led with her left arm, her fanged fingers slamming into Ridley's chest as she started to leech him of energy.
Ridley shrieked in pain as he warped away again, breaking off what would have been a lethal grapple as he reappeared further away. Samus chased after him, going higher and higher into the sky. Eventually, Ridley stopped and faced her. "To think I was always so dismissive of you, Hunter," he hissed out, his voice oddly echoing as he hovered near the shadowy clouds that magically blotted out the sky. "I had thought it debasement to be bested by a human...but you are far more than that. As you are now...I would have considered you a worthy opponent."
Samus snarled derisively. "I think you should double check," she snapped out. "See who's been kicking whose ass all over the sky and town! I've got you whipped, and nothing you can do now can stop me from putting you in the ground where you belong!" She gnashed her teeth as she glowered at him. "And this time, I'm keeping you there!"
Ridley merely chuckled in response. His voice echoed again...but it didn't seem to be coming from his mouth. "Samus, do you know what powers Dark Magic in this world?" he asked tauntingly. Not waiting for Samus to respond, he continued. "Fear and hatred. The more I hate you, the more you hate me, and the more all those pathetic ponies down there fear what I can do...the stronger I become. And as long as I hate, or am hated and feared, I cannot be killed, certainly not by one fueled by hate as you are."
"I sure seem to be doing a good job of it!" Samus snapped out, but she felt her bravado lessening. With all the damage she'd inflicted on Ridley, he should be terrified, or at least enraged. He was far too calm.
Ridley's wicked laugh echoed...from above. "How blind your new power has made you!" the voice barked out as the Ridley before her vanished...and a massive figure plunged out of the clouds.
Ridley - the real Ridley this time, easily twice the size of what she'd fought before - plunged out of the sky like a dark god as a clawed hand bigger than Samus' entire body lunged out and grabbed her, gripping her in only four of five claws. She let out a cry of sudden pain as he squeezed, and she felt her armor - which had seemed so invincible before - starting to give under the crushing force.
Of all things, her Scan Visor beeped an alert.
Recording to Logbook
Nightmare Ridley
The true form of Ridley, amplified by fusing with the Emperor Ing, the Nightmare spirits of this world, and having absorbed a Phazon Core from a Leviathan into his own body. There is nothing holding his power back. While his armor is no more resilient than it has ever been, his sheer size means that tactics that were once debilitating are hardly noticeable. His Dark Magic abilities include being able to animate Shadows of himself, smaller and weaker duplicates to fight in his place while he recuperates, or merely sounds out the battle.
Little late there! Samus snarled angrily at her own tech as she freed her buster arm, firing off as many Final Missiles as she could at Ridley's face.
Ridley simply moved his head to the side, shooting the missiles out of the sky almost contemptuously with lightning from his horn. "As I said," he sneered, "you would have been a worthy opponent. But I am no fool. I knew you would have new tricks, and I let you play all your cards. I knew this form couldn't last forever, so I let a few of my Shadows wear you down and lead you to my trap." He squeezed tightly, and Samus screamed in agony. The crushing pressure proved more than her armor could take and it collapsed, leaving her in just her Zero Suit in Ridley's claw.
"And now," Ridley snarled, "you are nothing but an appetizer, to the feast this world shall give me." Callously, he tossed her upward, his jaws opening wide...only to jerk as something dove out of the clouds on top of him.
As Samus fell towards the ground, she saw the transformation that rage and the sight of her almost dying had put her son through. Apparently, the marks upon his soul his foes had left remained. She could only hope this time, Dark Spike was on her side.