Chapter 4: Spike VS Raiga
Chapter 4: Spike VS Raiga
Spike was sitting at the edge of the grade the dragons tasked with carrying back to the arena left him on. The very same grade had been sitting on before his fight against Sluriasma. He was now currently watching the last match of the second bracket, although it was hardly a fight seeing how Xinzhaya did his absolute best to stay away from Mok Bal’s enraged state until the later tire himself out. What did surprise him, however, was how Mok Bal could still fly despite his injured wing.
After his second victory, he had been summoned by Ember to tell him that by order of the Elders, he was forbidden from using the ‘lowly pony ability of singing’ again or any other pony related tricks or risk disqualification. He complied, of course, and was returned without further interaction aside from a gentle smile and a fast thumb up from Ember. And after a quick yet massive torrent of fire from Torch, the arena was cleaned from the venom Sluriasma left behind.
Right now, although he was watching the current match, his focus was on the two previous matches victors: Zhaitan and Raiga.
“Vanishing Zhaitan,” Spike whispered to himself. He had been wondering why the black dragon carried the title of ‘Vanishing’. The answer came during his match against Ptolomeo.
Ptolomeo proved to be a fierce, tricky, and an absolute terror in battle. His previous display of fire control had been but a ruse as it was nothing compared to the level of control and finesse he showed during that match. The fight had started with both of them trading blows that never once hit home and by showcasing their flying capabilities. Both of them searching for a possible advantage over the other.
Then the real fight began with a blast of purple fire coming from Zhaitan and an overwhelming fire shield from Ptolomeo that bounced back the fire of Zhaitan. They then landed and Ptolomeo created four whips of intense orange fire to relentlessly attack Zhaitan. The black dragon could barely dodge the attacks of Ptolomeo, and when he was able to close the gap between them, Ptolomeo would create a fire shield or a fire sphere around himself and move away; all the while the whips continued to attack his opponent.
Zhaitan was struck by several strikes that he was unable to dodge; the speed of the whips and the random patterns Ptolomeo used proved to surpass the black dragon’s incredible agility and reflexes. For a moment it looked like Ptolomeo would win the match, but then Zhaitan stood still allowing the whips to hit him freely. And the whips were torn apart the moment they made contact with his scales. Ptolomeo roared before creating more whips, several more whips, and hit Zhaitan with a seemingly never ending tide of whips, but all of them had the same result when hitting their mark.
And then Zhaitan did as his brand title indicated: he vanished.
A moment later Ptolomeo was sent flying back across the stadium for more than a hundred meters. Meanwhile, Zhaitan had reappeared in the spot Ptolomeo had been. Enraged, Ptolomeo created an armor of fire around himself before he took to the air and charged at Zhaitan with a fire sword in each hand. Zhaitan, for his part, waited until Ptolomeo closed the gap between them at incredible speed before he vanished yet again and reappeared an instant later a few meters behind Ptolomeo.
Ptolomeo forced himself to stop and spin in mid-air, he then launched himself at Zhaitan. This time Zhaitan didn’t vanish, he let Ptolomeo hit him with his swords but like the whips, they dispersed upon contact with the black scales of Zhaitan.
Fury took over Ptolomeo, so he attacked over and over again with his fire forged weapons; all of them proving to be next to useless against the dragon that simply withstood every attack sent at him. In a surprising move, Ptolomeo created a sphere of fire around Zhaitan and launched it up into the sky with a geyser of fire. Ptolomeo then created a massive pincer before he crushed and sliced the sphere with it. Much to his surprise and dismay, Zhaitan emerged unscathed with his wings flapping to keep him from falling, and then the black dragon vanished yet again.
A large shockwave was heard and a dust cloud formed in the spot Ptolomeo had been. Moments later Zhaitan emerged through the dust cloud without losing his step, ignoring the few bleeding scars and missing scale or two the first attacks of Ptolomeo caused him. A short few seconds later the dust cloud cleared out enough to reveal a small crater with Ptolomeo lying unconscious in the middle of it. His fire armor provided no protection against his foe.
The medic wasn’t even necessary to declare Zhaitan’s victory. Although Ptolomeo had his two arms broken, several scales were missing, a snapped wing, and would probably need months to recover from all the damage he received, he would live.
“You didn’t vanish,” Spike whispered eyeing Zhaitan on the grade with his fellow black dragons with both awe and fear. If living with Twilight for so many years had taught him anything thus far, that would be to be perceptive of everything. He felt a sudden thrill mixed with nervousness as he smirked. “You just moved really, really fast. Somehow.” He said turning his gaze to one of the small craters Zhaitan had created after vanishing during his fight. “Still, that doesn’t explain why you didn’t take damage from Ptolomeo’s attacks when they were working so well at the start of the match.”
“And speaking of not taking any damage…” Spike whispered shifting his gaze to Raiga.
Spike saw the thunder dragon watch the match with apparent disinterest while he was leaning against a wall with his arms folded.
During his match, Raiga did his absolute best to do nothing but laugh, taunt, insult and push back at Flamethrower. At first, it had no effect on the dragoness, she stuck to her own plan of attacking Raiga with her fire from the distance with short but intense streams of fire. When that failed, she began throwing rocks as hard as she could. When that proved fruitless against the thick and tough scales of Raiga, Flamethrower tried to provoke Raiga into attacking her.
But Raiga simply laughed at her attempts with his thunderous and potent laugh. He then did the unthinkable act of offering her a free strike on him without repercussion. He even closed his eyes and covered them with his hands. This act angered Flamethrower to the point that she flapped her wings to get off the ground and then charged with all her might at Raiga. When she was about to reach him, she began to spin and then hit his neck with her tail.
A shock wave followed the powerful hit that would’ve broken his own neck easily without the protection of Amplitude. And even with it, he would’ve been seriously injured, Spike mused.
Raiga laughed again to the shock of Flamethrower. But the dragoness didn’t back down, she quickly stomped his chest to gain some distance, the push didn’t make Raiga move an inch. Landing, Flamethrower did a spin to kick dirt at Raiga’s eyes as he was now uncovering his face. The dirt hit Raiga but he was impervious to it since Flamethrower, thinking he was momentarily blinded, went for his left leg with a powerful bite.
What followed was nothing short of shocking, no pun intended. A veil of electricity covered Raiga’s body at the same time Flamethrower bit him, sending her body to convulse in agony.
It ended soon but Raiga wasn’t finished. He grabbed a dazed and stunned Flamethrower by her tail and tossed her into the air. This caused the dragoness to snap out of her electrical daze and regain her balance and flight before she hit the ground.
But it was too late. Raiga was about to fire a stream of electricity like he had done previously. Flamethrower panicked when Raiga shot it a second later and flap upwards to avoid it. She moved quick and fast, doing sharp turns and zig zagging all over the sky. Like in Raiga’s previous match, the stream of electricity followed the dragoness everywhere she went catching up to her by the second. That is until she dived zig-zagging all the way directly at the unmoving Raiga.
Her intentions were clear: force Raiga to stop his attack or let his own attack hit him.
What she didn’t expect was an electric sucker punch that sent her flying backward… straight at Raiga’s lightning stream. Flamethrower screamed for several seconds until she finally fell to the ground unconscious. Raiga immediately roared with all his might. Flamethrower was taken away by some miracle not dead.
Spike glared at Raiga while he gulped feeling the same way he did towards Zhaitan and his mind raced. “You did the same thing against Thorn. Now I know you’re showing off with that attack. Your main attack if I’m not mistaken.” His glare intensified. “Your control over electricity is ample and effective.” Spike sighed.
“You really are a disgrace to us true dragons, Spike.”
Spike turned to the right and saw Garble hovering about two meters away from him.
“You’re so weak and pathetic that you have to use cheap pony tricks to win?” He asked not with an insulting or mocking tone, but with an angry one.
Spike eyed Garble up and down for a moment finding he had some minor injuries and that his injured eye had swollen to the point it blocked most of his vision. “How I win my battles doesn’t concern you, Garble. I didn’t break the rules, it’s not my fault those Elders are so ignorant and self-centered on their own stupid pride to not know anything outside their own species.” Spike spat.
Garble snarled. “Those sissy, wimp ponies have ruined you, Spike! Look at you, they have turned you against your own kind! You even dare to insult the Elders.”
“I don’t answer to them or you or any dragon for that matter.” Spike snarled back. “I get that most dragons don’t like ponies, but why do you hate them so much, Garble?” Garble glared. “You wanna know something funny? After Ember became Dragon Lord, I spent months digging up clashes, disputes and other possible negative events between ponies and dragons over the past five hundred years. I did it to help improve the relations between Equestria and the Dragon Lands.”
“Do you know what I found? Three events. Three. And none involving anything too serious. Hay, the worst one was about that dragon that crossed the border without permission and wanted to take a nap near Ponyville.” Spike took a more firm stance while he traded glares with Garble. “I don’t know how or why, but you can read Equestrian like you did during the Dragon Migration. So, tell me, why do you hate ponies so much, Garble? What have they ever done to you to despise them so?”
“You sound like my father,” Garble groaned. “ ‘Ponies are nice’, ‘Ponies are friendly’, ‘Ponies are my friends!’, ‘We can learn a lot from Ponies’. He’s wrong! Ponies are weak and puny and sissy and liars! My father forced me to learn how to write and read them when I was a hatchling because he wanted me to like ponies.” Garble spat with venom. “Look at them, hiding behind their namby-pamby pony Princesses because they’re so weak and pathetic that they can’t even protect themselves. They make me sick.” Garble flew closer to Spike until their snouts were mere inches apart. “And you’re just like them. You stinking Wingless Disgrace. You no good Kin Traitor.”
Spike and Garble stared at each other’s eyes for several moments until Spike closed his eyes, backed away and sighed. “Celestia saved me from death. Twilight hatched me. Ponyville is my home. Equestria is MY home. Ponies are my friends and my family; they love me and I love them back. I know I’m not a ‘true dragon’ even among my family and friends, but you know what? I’m glad I’m not. I’m my own dragon, Garble. Maybe you should try to do the same when you finally take your head out of your tail hole.”
“I hope you die in this tournament, Sparkle Warkle.” Garble spat before flying away, moments later Flizzle and Matchflick appeared to greet him once Garble was out of his hearing range.
“Now that last comment was unnecessary.” A familiar voice said.
Spike turned to the side and saw Sluriasma moving towards him. She stopped about a meter away from him.
“Hello again,” Sluriasma greeted with a gentle smile. “Good match, Spike. Congratulations.”
Spike turned to face her. “Sorry about that.” Sluriasma tilted her head. “About roaring right at your ear.” He said with a sheepish, genuine apologetic tone.
“No hard feelings, Spike. It was a fight and I had a lot of fun in the end!” She smiled while clapping her hands.
Spike chuckled returning her smile. “The Elders think otherwise, though!”
“Bah, the Elders, who cares about them?” Sluriasma hissed playfully. “Looks like the last match is almost over.” She said tilting her upper body to the side for a moment or two.
Spike looked back at the arena and saw Xinzhaya standing on top of Mok Bal while the latter was unmoving. “Looks like it.” He said turning his attention back to Sluriasma.
“Uhmm, my friends are waiting for me, I only came to say hi and to wish you good luck, Spike,” Sluriasma said making a short bow with her head. “Good luck!” She then closed the gap between them catching Spike by surprise.
Spike felt a pair of scaly lips against his right cheek for five full seconds before Sluriasma retreated.
“I’ll be cheering for you, handsome. Bye~” Sluriasma gave him a parting wink before slithering away in a hurry.
Spike watched her go for a couple of moments, then he chuckled and turned back to watch the arena. What he saw was Mok Bal being carried away and Xinzhaya walking away while the crowd cheered.
It didn’t last long since Torch’s mighty roar silenced them all. He looked up to Ember’s private grade and saw her getting up followed by a wave of red light that covered the stadium.
“Congratulations to the eight winners of the second bracket of the tournament, I salute you all!”
Spike heard Ember’s voice loud and clear thanks to the magic of the scepter. The crowd cheered with roars. The roars died soon after.
“The third bracket shall be displayed shortly. However, I would like to take this chance to personally congratulate the eight of you for giving us thrilling match after thrilling match. All of you are powerful in your own way and a living testament to the innate power of all dragons! May the bravest and most honorable amongst you win!”
The crowd roared their approval to the sky.
Meanwhile, Spike looked at Ember and noticed she was looking at him a moment before she returned to her throne. Spike smirked while he shook his head a couple of times.
The roaring began to die down moments later when a few flying dragons went to the furthest edge of the stadium to write the newly selected bracket.
Spike took a quick glance at each of his seven would-be opponents. Not one of them he liked to face in combat now, except for Ballista.
I hope Zhaitan and Raiga face each other now, without one of them out of the way my odds increase a lot. Goliath is also a problem, out of the eight of us he’s the one that has won without even breaking a sweat, faced any sort of injury or show off anything special. Raiga is a close second, though, Spike thought looking at the three he considered as the biggest threats to him. I hope to be lucky enough to fight against Ballista or Xinzhaya or even Drybone, hay, I’d even take Garble at this point.
Spike felt his heart pound against his chest as he saw the flying dragons had finished with the diagram and were now writing the names for the matches.
“Ballista VS Goliath, The Colossus. Are you kidding me? How lucky can this guy get?” Spike groaned reading the first match combatants, uncaring that now those that had titles had them added to their names. A few seconds later the second match was written.
“Vanishing Zhaitan VS Drybone, The Tunneler,” Spike whispered. “Talk about a fight between polar opposites. I’ll be cheering for you, Drybone.” A moment later the third match was displayed.
“Xinzhaya VS Garble, The Fire Fist,” Spike said feeling a cold shiver run down his spine. His heart was beating fast and hard, his entire body slightly trembling. “Then… that means.” Spike whispered, watching in slow motion the fourth and last match of the third bracket appear in the sky.
“Raiga of the Thunder VS Spike,” Spike whispered before gulping. He then shifted his gaze to where his opponent was. Spike found Raiga still leaning against the same wall, only this time he was looking up at him with a look full of disdain and a cruel, mocking smirk.
“Great pony feathers, buck me…” Spike cursed. He heard Torch roar and the diagram disappeared. Soon after the first competitors were called to the arena, but before they even entered it Ballista surrendered. There was a momentary stadium-wide silence before Torch announced Goliath’s victory and called forth the next competitors.
Spike watched Zhaitan and Drybone descent to the arena. Spike closed his eyes and rubbed his temples. “Alright Spike, recap, Raiga is absurdly strong and resistant, has a lightning breath that he can control at will in both direction and speed, and if I had to guess in intensity, too. He can create an electric veil around himself for extra protection and create a similar veil around his fists to deliver an overcharged electric punch. He’s like a walking dreadnaught that shoots electricity. Buck me to Tartarus.” Spike cursed again.
“On the plus side, he’s not on the fast or agile side. He can fly, but I doubt he’s a graceful flyer. Still, I’ll have to take care of that if I see my chance. It takes him a few precious moments to charge up that lightning breath attack of his and he can’t move while he’s charging it. He also can’t move much when he’s firing it, shift around a little at best maybe. And as far as I can tell he needs to keep a visual contact of the target he’s going to strike, although I may be wrong given what happened with Thorn.”
Spike looked at the arena where Zhaitan and Drybone were taking positions to start their match. With a groaning sigh, Spike began to walk away.
“I’ll have to take this time to plan on how to beat that monster of Raiga. I’ll have to use Amplitude against him, there’s no way around it. Let’s hope I don’t have to resort using Fire Jet.” Spike sighed. “Now… where’s the armory again?”
********Thirty minutes later*********
Spike came out of the armory in time to watch Garble beat Xinzhaya to a pulp. From what he could see, Garble had taken his fair share of punishment, although it was mere scratches compared to what he was doing to Xinzhaya. Garble stopped his assault and ended it all with a mighty kick and a thick stream of fire. Xinzhaya’s scales were left scalding hot and glowing with intense heat.
The medic dragon came a moment later to confirm Xinzhaya was knocked out and signaled Garble’s victory. The crowd chanted Garble’s name with loud roars after Torch made official his well-earned triumph.
Spike closed his eyes and did a few repetitions of the calming exercise. Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul. Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul, Spike thought before opening his eyes. He heard Torch call in the next combatants to the arena. With a final strong and decisive huff, Spike climbed to the edge of his grade, jumped down and landed softly. He then made his way to the arena, uncaring for the looks almost every dragon was sending at him.
When he entered the arena, he saw Raiga land at the center while looking at him. His eyes now reflected nothing but contempt. It took him a couple of moments to reach the center of the arena, standing about six or so meters in front of Raiga.
Geez, Ember wasn’t kidding with the weapons and armor thing, Spike thought taking a glance at the curved, serrated blade in his right hand. He had spent more time than he had hoped searching for a useful weapon to use against Raiga, but he found it in the end. It was a bizarre sword. A strange hybrid between a kukri knife, a Saddle Arabian scimitar, and a dented Equestrian broadsword. Although, calling the meter and a half long piece of heaping metal a sword was a mistake.
The ‘sword’ was heavy, incredibly so. Not to mention large, bulky, difficult to handle properly, and ugly. Crealy esthetic appeal wasn’t in the mindset of the forger. Just like every other weapon and the mismatched armor sets stored in the armory in the lower parts of the stadium were. But what it lacked in some minor areas, it more than made up in every other aspect.
It was also sturdy, masterfully crafted, and made with the sole purpose of being crude, effective, versatile and intimidating. With this ‘sword’ he could tear, rip, slash, crush, split, pierce, shred, gnaw, and impale an enemy all at the same time. It lacked a properly covered handle and pommel (like the ones the Equestrian swords have), favoring instead a single elongated and thick handle piece. Meaning that the weapon was forged and carved from a single, solid, unique piece.
There was no doubt that it was forged and intended to be used only, by dragon claws.
Spike took a grip of the sword with both hands, he then moved it until the tip was the only thing touching the ground while he held it in place in front of him.
“On my right, we have Raiga of the Thunder!” A thunderous roar of approval overtook the stadium, even more so than previous times. “And on my left, we have Spike!” Most of the roaring shifted from approval to booing and insults.
Spike eyed Raiga closely while he continued to stare at him with the utmost contempt. Then Torch roared signaling the start of their match. The entire stadium went silent.
“Surrender,” Raiga ordered with his echoing, brass, thick voice that held immense power behind it.
“No can do,” Spike replied with a stern expression.
“Save yourself the pain, Wingless Disgrace. I rarely offer mercy to my opponents, you should be wise to take it while you still draw breath.” Raiga said with dreadful seriousness. His larger body and stature a testament to his power, a living mountain that only moved to its own volition and command and no one else's.
A presence of might that Spike knew could deliver on the threat to take his life or any other one for that matter. “Thanks, but I ain’t taking it. You can surrender if you’re so eager to get this over with.”
Raiga grunted. “Your words and taunts are as empty as the honor you lack, Disgrace.”
“Says the brute that boasts like a rabid fool over his victories. Victories, may I add, in which you take pleasure in showing your power and humiliating your opponents. I think that’s even worse than having no honor at all.” Spike said, unchanging his stern expression.
Raiga grunted again. “I can only hear cries and senseless blabbering coming out of your pony loving maw, Disgrace,” Raiga said, ignoring his comment. “I offer you salvation one last time, Disgrace. Surrender now or I shall end you in front of your precious Lord Ember.”
“Oooooohhhhooohhhooo, scary~” Spike mocked. Damn, trying to anger this guy is impossible with mere taunts and insults, Spike thought while watching Raiga’s expression morphing to one of disgust.
“Fine, have it your way then,” Raiga took in a deep breath. “I PLAN TO KILL THIS LIVING DISGRACE TO ALL DRAGONS, FOR HE INSISTS ON FIGHTING ME, RAIGA OF THE THUNDER!” Raiga shouted with all his might without breaking eye contact. A good portion of the crowd roared and cheered in approval, calling to see the blood of Spike staining the dirt of the arena.
Spike gulped. “Clear mind, tempered heart, steady soul,” Spike whispered before taking a deep, slow breath.
“Go on, show me,” Raiga said taking a step towards Spike.
“Show you what, exactly?” Spike asked lifting a proverbial eyebrow.
“Your masterful ability with that sword. Do try to impress me.” Raiga said with a smirk, the slimy tone in which he said it didn’t elude Spike.
Spike took a quick glance at the sword and the looked up at Raiga again. He lifted the sword for about two inches, he then brought it down to the ground again. “Tadaa?” Spike smiled.
“...Do you even know how to use a weapon?” Raiga asked with some amusement.
“Of course I do! The pointy end goes into the opponent.” Spike explained.
“...” Raiga stared at him for several seconds in silence doing only an occasional blink. “HAHAHAHAHA!”
Spike flinched at the volume of Raiga’s thunderous, bellowing laughter. Whatever bad things I’ve said about Thunderlane’s laugh, I take it back. I take it ALL back. This… this is one horrible laugh, Spike thought.
Raiga stopped laughing a few moments later, now looking at Spike with something the purple dragon could only describe as a mix of pity and disdain.
“You don’t even know how to use a weapon? By the Gods, you are pathetic. Killing you will be mercy upon us all.” Raiga mocked.
“We shall see,” Spike replied. I hope this works, Spike thought before he jumped in the air about two meters, sword held steady. When he began to fall, Spike did a quick spin with the sword held tight and facing down the earth. Spike then landed, impaling the sword into the ground until two-thirds of it disappeared below the surface. Spike then let go of the handle, rose up, and took four steps forward.
Staring at Raiga's face, Spike saw him smile showcasing his fangs, he could even see a few electric sparks coming out of his beard.
“Hoooo? Now that’s more interesting, Disgrace.”
“The name is Spike, Raiga,” Spike said taking a crouched position.
“The mighty care not for the names of insects and the dead, Disgrace,” Raiga said with a cruel smile. Spike saw several more sparks coming out from his entire body.
“Before I beat your sorry scaly ass, you will say my name, Raiga,” Spike said in a louder tone, his maw partially open to show his fangs.
“You are welcome to try, worm!” Raiga called back taking a solid stance.
“That’s the idea,” Spike whispered before he snorted a stream of green fire through his nostrils, he crouched a bit more before he lunged forward; the impulse of his legs creating a shock wave and a small dust cloud behind him.
Spike watched how Raiga’s expression changed from cockiness and sadistic overconfidence to one of surprise at his sudden display of speed. Spike crashed against Raiga’s stomach with a powerful punch. The impact of their scales created a loud shock wave, the punch was powerful enough to slide Raiga backward for about three meters.
Spike took this moment see his right fist, noticing it had a few sparks of electricity around it. He then looked at Raiga and saw his expression was one of anger. His electric field has limits and can’t protect him well if I strike fast enough. His scales are also a lot less sturdy than what I thought, they’re not even as sturdy as Grunkle’s. But look at him, he obviously felt pain, but it doesn’t look like he took any physical damage at all. That can’t be right, Spike thought narrowing his eyes. His right fist ached, but it didn't hurt him anywhere near like during his fight with Grunkle. Only now he noticed the entire stadium had gone silent.
“You’ll pay for that, Disgrace,” Raiga hissed spreading his wings.
Spike didn’t reply, instead, he lunged at Raiga once more. Despite his superior speed, Raiga was able to dodge him by flying. Spike stopped himself by punching the earth and used his tail to turn around with a sharp turn in time to see Raiga almost on top of him with his fists surrounded by a veil of crackling electricity.
Leaping to the side, Spike managed to dodge Raiga’s fists, he was, however, unable to avoid his tail in mid-air. Spike felt a searing pain as electricity traveled through his body, an instant later he was pushed back with brute strength sending him rolling on the ground for a couple of meters.
“Ugggghhhh,” Spike moaned. It’s just as bad as getting hit by a pegasi lightning--Oh buck! Spike thought before opening his eyes. Once they were open they went wide and he screamed in his mind seeing Raiga falling on top of him.
Spike’s expression turned stern, he then went belly down, dug his claws into the ground, snorted a thick stream of fire through his nostrils, and met Raiga’s right fist with an upward double kick of his own. Another jolt of searing pain crashed through his body, but his powerful kick sent Raiga backward with a pained roar of his own.
Spike shook his head and got up a bit shakily at first. Once on his feet, he turned to see Raiga up in the air looking down at him with jolts of electricity coming out of his maw.
“Like Tartarus you are!” Spike yelled before picking up a pair of stones. He then tossed them at blinding speed to Raiga, both of them hitting him square in the face. The impact of the stones almost made Raiga fall down. Spike watched Raiga regain his stability, he was ready to throw another stone when Raiga looked down at him, his eyes reflecting nothing but anger. Spike threw two more stones at Raiga, but this time the thunder dragon stopped them with his arms.
One moment later Spike heard Raiga roar followed by a stream of lightning shooting out of his maw directly at him.
Spike smirked before turning back and began to run away.
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Sitting at the edge of her throne, Ember watched Spike running away from Raiga’s attack at an impressive speed aided by his Amplitude technique. Despite that and his constant zig zagging, Raiga’s lightning stream was closing in by the second.
She honestly didn’t know what was going through Spike’s mind or what was his strategy, she only hoped it to be a good one. Although, angering Raiga after he had promised to kill him during the match was the very definition of a bad idea.
Raiga of the Thunder, the dragon that never misses his target, Ember thought with dread. A dragon who was known far and wide for his power and equal cruelty against those he considered weak. It was obvious to her that Raiga saw Spike weak, and to be proven wrong by her purple scaled friend as soon as the fight began was a direct insult. And that made him more dangerous than he already was.
“Whatever you’re planning better be good, Spike,” Ember whispered gripping her scepter tight. She felt her heart stop for a moment when she saw Spike stop, turn around, and openly receive the impact of Raiga’s lightning.
“AARRRRGGGGHHHH!” Spike screamed in agony for several seconds. When it all ended Spike was still on his feet, she could clearly see a bit of smoke coming out of his body. She dug her left-hand claws deep into her throne unable to do anything for her dear friend. Her eyes moisten when she saw him fall to his knees and then forwards hitting the ground creating a paltry cloud of dust.
She then saw Raiga land a few meters in front of Spike, roaring a boasting on his victory to an equally cheering crowd that called his name.
Ember focused on Spike, ready to interrupt the match when she saw something she didn’t notice before. His tail was wrapped around the handle of the sword he had impaled on the ground. Wiping away her tears, she clearly saw his tail moving and all the dread and fear in her heart was replaced with solace.
“You and your crazy ass plans,” Ember whispered knowing that the match was not over yet. And that Raiga was about to have a nasty wake up call.
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Spike watched with one eye Raiga’s towering figure while he boasted and roared, throwing his arms up to showcase his power and body. He removed his tail off of the sword’s handle, pretending it was falling to gravity’s will. I am never doing that again, I’m glad it worked, but that still hurt as all Tartarus, Spike thought watching at Raiga intently. A second or two later Raiga turned around to continue boasting with spread wings.
Spike’s eyes widened and he snorted another stream of fire through his nostrils. He got up on all fours and then launched himself against Raiga’s back.
“RRRRWWWWAAAAA!”
Spike smiled hearing Raiga’s pain filled scream the moment he hit his back making him fall forwards onto the ground. Unlike Spike had expected, his feet claws couldn’t penetrate Raiga’s scales, but he was able to snap Raiga’s wings in two. With his momentary superiority, Spike began to punch Raiga’s back over and over again, each hit creating a shock wave and tearing a scream of pain from Raiga.
Spike jumped to the side when he began to hear the crackling of electricity. He landed right next to Raiga’s head and snorted another stream of fire through his nostrils. He took a firm position that he had learned over the years to heart. The loud stomp causing Raiga to turn his head to see him.
“Apple Bucking Kick!” Spike shouted before kicking Raiga in the face with his right leg as hard as he could. The sheer force of the kick sent Raiga flying back for more than ten meters.
Meanwhile, Spike felt a blush appear on his face. Horseapples, I said that out loud! Spike thought embarrassed. He forgot about it the next moment when he heard a mighty roar coming from Raiga. Looking at him, he saw the dragon was up on his feet again, his broken wings hanging limply on his back, and shooting him a death glare of intense hate.
Spike took a half-second long glance to his leg and saw it wasn’t stained with Raiga’s blood. Looking back at Raiga, Spike frowned. I hit him as hard as I could while using Amplitude and he’s still standing without a single scale out of place or a hint of blood? Spike questioned himself before taking a look at the useless wings while Raiga shook his head a couple of times. But I was able to break his wings, and it shows that the impact of the kick had an effect on him. What the hay is wrong with this guy?
“H-How!? How are you still standing!?” Raiga shouted taking a step forward and almost stumbling. Raiga shook his head again while a thick curtain of electricity surrounded his body.
Can’t get near him now… unless…, Spike thought taking a low guard position. “What’s wrong, Raiga? I thought you were going to kill little old me! Your lightning was little more than ticklish!”
“I WILL END YOU, SPIKE!” Raiga roared.
Spike grinned. “HA! Didn’t I tell you that you were going to say my name!” Spike yelled back. His grin increased when he saw Raiga’s expression change upon the realization of it, and then it morphed to an even angrier face. Spike could see Raiga’s hair and beard upright, moving from side to side as electricity danced all around him.
Spike’s eyes widened when he saw Raiga open his maw once more, the amount of lightning coming out of it more than twice of his usual lightning stream attack.
If Amplitude isn't enough, then I have no other option but use Fire Jet, Spike thought with grimly. Spike closed his eyes for a moment before they went wide open. His entire body trembled for a few short seconds and then he came to a halt. He began to breathe, each exhalation sending out a short puff of fire through his nostrils.
“DIE!” Raiga roared with all his might, loud and powerful enough to create waves of gushing wind on all directions. A thick stream of lightning shot out of his maw an instant later.
Spike watched how the stream, thick as one of Raiga’s arms, didn’t go directly at him, it instead went from side to side, up and down in perpendicular directions. The most distinctive aspect of this stream was that the spearpoint of the attack had the form of a dragon with its maw open wide and ready to bite. It, nevertheless, was coming at him.
Spike felt time itself around him come to crawl while he stared at the lightning stream of death coming towards him. Spike stood still, to anyone watching from the sidelines it seemed as though Spike had accepted his fate. When the stream was mere inches away from his face, uncaring of the brilliant light the stream emitted, Spike tilted his head to the side and ducked evading the deadly attack.
He then impulsed himself forward going below the body the stream had created in its path. In mere instants he reached Raiga, the thunder dragon looking at him with an intense death glare. Spike then saw a supercharged fist coming his way to push him back to the lightning stream. Spike used his tail in company with his momentum to shift and spin upside-down. Spike hit the forearm of Raiga’s right arm with his left knee sending the massive fist crashing to the ground, forcing Raiga to drop to a knee to keep him from falling over.
Spike then kicked Raiga with his right foot under his chin, making him close his mouth and end his attack. Using his momentum again, Spike spun back up in time to watch Raiga directly at on wide open eye. He could see many things reflected on that eye: hate, anger, shock, surprise, unbelief, contempt, fury, and many more things. But in the depths of that eye, he could also see another thing.
Fear.
Green fire came out from the thin space his scales on his right arm had. His claws were ready and in a position to strike.
“Fierce Claw,” Spike whispered.
He then struck down at the right side of Raiga’s abdomen. His claws tearing away his scales and flesh with a brutal force faster than the blink of an eye.
Spike stopped and saw Raiga roar in searing pain while he dropped on all fours. The stream of lightning disappeared into the air, its crackling noises turning to silence along with it. The entire process had taken less than five seconds, but the fight wasn’t over just yet. Spike snarled, green fire erupted from his nostrils, and he took once again the traditional Apple Bucking position of the Apple Family.
“APPLE BUCKING KICK!” Spike shouted to the four winds without a trace of shame this time around. His kick connected directly with Raiga’s wounded, exposed and bleeding side with tremendous force. With the use of Amplitude, the contact made a great shock wave, causing him to hear a couple of somethings crack inside of Raiga. This time Raiga wasn’t sent flying away, but it was strong enough to make Raiga roll to the side a few meters followed by another roar of pure, unadulterated pain.
Once on his back, Spike watched Raiga cough up blood then look at him from his downed position.
“I… Raiga… de-defeated… b-by you?” Raiga asked while wheezing.
Spike didn’t reply, he merely watched Raiga for a couple of seconds before the eyes of the thunder dragon rolled back, his hair and beard went limp, and he fell motionless.
Spike then took his chance breathe out and use his knees for support while he caught his breath. A few moments later he saw the medic dragon land at Raiga’s side.
“Wait a moment,” Spike called making the medic stop. “Could you please check if Raiga has any kind of hidden amulet or ring?”
“Every contestant was checked before the start of the tournament if you remember.” The medic replied.
“I know, but could you please do it anyways?”
“What is your justification?” The medic asked crossing his arms.
“I don’t like to brag, but I can hit pretty darn hard if I want. It looked awfully strange to me that despite taking several of my hits, Raiga never bled. If you recall my fight with Grunkle, I broke his hand in one punch, Raiga withstood several without a problem but still felt pain because of them.” Spike explained. “Humor me, would you kindly?”
Spike stood as the medic dragon stared at him for a couple of seconds before sighing. “Fine, but after I check if he’s still alive.”
“Thank you.” Spike waited until the medic finished his check and rose his arms above his head in an ‘X’ shape. Then, a group of dragons arrived ready to carry Raiga away but they were ordered by the head medic to search Raiga for anything suspicious.
After a minute or so, one of the medics said he found something in Raiga’s beard. A moment later he pulled it out revealing a small smooth rock attached to a dark twisted metal strap, the rock had a rune carved on it. The head medic took it to look at it closer.
“He said this is a memento for thunder dragons and a sign of their clans and has no magical properties. We confirmed it was the truth,” the head medic glared at the rock. “But I wonder…” He gripped the memento tightly and his eyes went wide.
“You, hit me,” the head medic ordered to his subordinate next to him. “Do it as hard as you can.”
The dragon medic looked confused for a moment but did as told and punched the head medic on his upper left arm. The hit was strong enough to make a loud impact and make the medic wince and rub his pained fist.
“I barely felt a thing.” The head medic said. “Take this to Lord Ember and the Elders, inform them that contestant Raiga brought a defensive magical object. The rest of you, take him away. See to it that he doesn’t die until he faces the consequences of his dishonor.” The head medic ordered before turning to Spike and hand over the memento to one of his fellow medics. “Why didn’t you say anything before, Spike?”
Spike shrugged. “I didn’t have any proof and was nothing more than a mere suspicion. Glad I was right!” Spike grinned.
The head medic grinned back for a moment before leaving.
Suddenly, the stadium erupted in roars and cheers calling out his name. Spike jumped in surprise but recovered soon, he then walked up to the place he had impaled his sword and pulled it out.
Spike smirked. The reason he had taken so long searching for the weapon wasn’t because he was picking a deadly one, he was looking for one made out of the right materials.
“Forged from pure iron with traces of aluminum, gold, and bronze. Exactly the lightning rod that I needed.” Spike said to himself as he walked away from the arena. His right arm ached and he could still feel residual shocks from Raiga’s electricity. “Time to put you back where you belong.”
Before he left the arena completely, Spike looked up at Ember’s grade with a frown, a moment later he walked continued on his way.
----------------------**********************
“I can’t believe he defeated Raiga of the Thunder!”
“I can’t believe Raiga was cheating the entire time. Voltika won’t be pleased.”
“That was an ingenious way to use a weapon, I’ll give Spike that.”
While the Elders chatted among themselves, Ember relaxed on her throne seeing Spike walk out of the arena and down to the armory.
“I swear I’m going to punch you once this is over, Spike.” She smiled. “But I’m glad you won.”
“He has become stronger since the last time I saw him.” Torch said while looking down at his daughter.
“You saw him last week, dad.”
“Before that.” Torch cleared his throat before raising his head and roar demanding silence. Once he was done he looked down at his daughter again. “It is time, Ember, make the announcement.”
“Do you think he’s going to win, dad?” Ember asked standing up.
“No. I don’t think he’s going to win. I believe he’s going to win.” Torch said with a smile.
“I believe so, too.” Ember then cast the spell that allowed her to project her voice across the entire stadium.
“We are nearing the end of the tournament, my subjects! And we have been blessed with amazing battles to witness this day. Now, only four competitors remain, all of them mighty warriors, but only one shall win my claw in bonding! Each four of you have my blessing to perform at your best during the semi-final bracket.” She deactivated the spell and looked back she saw the Elders already finished with the new selection.
Raising her scepter, the flying dragon tasked with writing in fire the diagrams flew to fulfill their duty. Looking down at the Arena, she saw Spike had returned without the sword. She looked at the almost finished diagram due to its size. The first match was soon after written.
“Garble, The Fire Fist VS Goliath, The Colossus.” Ember read out loud. A moment later the second match was written.
“Spike VS Vanishing Zhaitan.” Ember read feeling her heartbeat increase. She looked down at Spike and found him looking up somewhere. Following his gaze, she soon found that he was looking at a grade filled with the infamous black dragons of the Blackwings Clan. She noticed one of them was standing at the edge of the grade looking down at Spike. She immediately knew that was Zhaitan.
Using her scepter to look at them closer, she found both of them were smiling.
End.
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You sure Ember says she's going to punch Spike because that's codename for making out.
Excellent observation.
Samurai jack ref?!?! How did I miss that!
good job
Great chapter much love
Mate, your stuff really could use some more editing, but these fight scenes are fun as hell.
good dammit this fic is so good, and i cant click upvote more than one time
Awesome fight can't wait for more!
an excellent match even with the odds stacked against him spike still came out on top but he needs to be careful he still has two hard fights left before he has won this tournament and he has shown some of his best moves and his next match will probable bethe hardest yet. he needs to be wery of not over taxing himself before the finals
7914756 maybe you could point them out? hmm.
Garble as a dragon who had been tried to be taught the pony ways but rejected them is pretty good.
Because what's an anime style combat story without a good and solid foil.
OK WHAT THE HELL!! You did the pipe role and gut punch yet you didnt lead into the most kick ass finishing move in anime the Dempsey ROLL!!
Small Error: "What she didn’t expect was that Raiga straight up sucker punch her with an electric punch when she practically at arm’s reach so hard it sent her flying backward… straight at Raiga’s lightning stream."
Corrected: What she didn’t expect was an electric sucker punch that sent her flying backward… straight at Raiga’s lightning stream.
Second Catch: I spent months digging up clashes, disputes and any possible negative events ponies and dragons may have had during the past five hundred years after Ember became Dragon Lord.
This phrasing is ambiguous. It makes it sound like Ember has been Dragon Lord for 500 years.
Better: After Ember became Dragon Lord, I spent months digging up clashes, disputes and other possible negative events between ponies and dragons over the past five hundred years.
7920816 Thank you kindly!
I wonder if there's some secret character yet to be revealed. Afaik, five characer tags are allowed, and there are four. Garble has enough of a role to justify a tag by now.
Regarding Garble... that's going to be interesting. His hatred reminds me a little of the situation with Starlight and Chrysalis. It's obviously gotten worse and worse.
Wait I missed a samurai jack reference. .........
I am so ashamed I must rematch the entire show when I can get my hands on it.
Only then can I reclaim my honor.
7967829 Go watch the show to enter season 5 with a fresh memory! But the reference I'm talking about is during the episode where the Scotsman saves Jack from the Sirens.
You know I just remembered. I'm surprised Spike didn't bring Peewee along. Then I remembered that dragon teenagers smash eggs like Peewee. Still...such a shame.
Spike's a Pokémon see:
What would you like to do?
Fight.|Weapons.
Cheat.|Quit.
Fight:
Fierce Claw|Apple Bucking Kick
Amplitude|Fire Jet