Ch.9 Final Fight Part II.5-Taylean Vs Spike & Skyress
Taylean snarled in anger when he saw that four of his fellow Dark Paladins had fallen to their lovers and their partners, despite the vast amounts of Darkus power that Kyurem had placed within them. He'll have to step this up a notch.
"Weaklings. I'll make better of the power that Mistress Kyurem gave to us..." Taylean thought to himself with a snarl as he snapped out his gauntlets, causing the Sky Blades to whip out with an eerie shing! He then lunged at the four purified Guardians, their lovers, and their partners before a green blur, with a purple blur on top of him, slammed into him in a package of fury.
Taylean bellowed in surprise as the force sent him flying head over heels into a large rock, which collapsed on top of him with a rumbling roar. Skyress then flapped her wings furiously, stilling her acceleration and causing her to hover in midair. Spike, riding on his guardian's back, bared his claws and fangs with a hissing growl. He had promised Rarity he would get Taylean back, and by all means, he was going to keep it.
The rock trembled, before exploding into several shards as Taylean used the Typhoon Star to smash his way out. Skyress shielded herself and Spike with one enormous wing and used Steel Wing to coat her feathers with steel. The rocks pinged off the steel-clad wing like spitballs against a window.
Taylean then leaped out of the rubble, and landed on the ground squarely, the Typhoon Star withdrawing into his left gauntlet as the Sky Blades slid out, replacing it.
"So, you two have come to purify me?" he hissed with a viper's grin. "I shall show you the results of such stupidity!"
"Rarity's heart would be broken if she saw you like this!" Spike roared. "You're her protector, her guardian, Taylean! You vowed to protect and serve to the very end. Your Skyress's lover! She loves you more then anything in this world! Why did you just take her love and throw it aside, Taylean?" Taylean's visor contorted into an ugly snarl as he responded with one simple word.
"DIE!" With that, Taylean lashed his gauntlets. Instantly a barrage of razor sharp Ventus wind blades rocketed out of the glowing Sky Blades, aimed directly for Skyress and Spike. With a loud caw, Skyress flapped her wings and rose into the sky with astounding speed, before aiming her blade tail at the incoming barrage. With a thundering roar, her blade tail became wrapped in a huge, whirling tornado. She then slashed through all the wind blades with a single sweep.
She then leaped forward at a mach speed, prepared to slash through Taylean with a Whirlwind Lighting Blade. Taylean snarled as he activated his Slash Hyper- Sword Storm ability. He disappeared in a flash, before reappearing in front of Skyress, the Sky Blades wrapped in tornadoes of their own. They smashed into Skyress's bladed tail, and a massive explosion of wind and air appeared between them, propelling the three combatants away from each other.
Taylean then steadied himself with a snarl; these foes of his were much stronger opponents than he had originally estimated…No matter. His body flared with Darkus energy as he lunged forward, the Sky Blades aimed to slice open Skyress's throat. However, she wasn't about to let this happen.
Flaring her wings, she did a powerful U-turn and avoided the move. She then did a quick, agile turn that caused Taylean to fall beside her. The corrupted Ventus Ninja snarled as he aimed a scything cut at her. Spike, however, easily deflected the blow before aiming a flurry of quick cuts at his corrupted friend. Taylean blocked them in turn, and flew away before rushing back towards them.
This pattern continued for a few minutes, with each side becoming more and more frenzied and angry by the moment. Finally, Taylean withdrew the Sky Blades into his left gauntlet, before pulling out the Typhoon Star. He then began swinging it with immense force, increasing its momentum to a devastating speed within seconds.
He then swung the massive morning star at Skyress. The Ventus Phoenix, however, leaned over, allowing Spike to take the blow full in the chest. The Typhoon Star slammed into the golden armor... and shattered into smithereens. Taylean roared in sheer disbelief and shock as he stared at the broken remains of his prized weapon. So long, in fact, that he didn't notice Spike opening his maw at the same time Skyress aimed her glowing tail at him...
BAM! A massive green fireball and powerful green beam of Ventus energy blasted out of Spike's maw and Skyress's tail respectively, before combining into a fireball powered up by the beam. They smashed into Taylean, causing a flaming explosion of wind and fire to flare around him. After the smoke cleared, though, Spike and Skyress were shocked to discover that Taylean was still standing, smoke curling off his armor, but still standing. He leaned his head up, and his eyes glowed an eerie, sinister crimson red.
"Time to finish this," he whispered as his body flared with energy. "Shooting Destruction Slash!" He roared as he disappeared in a flurry of airwaves. Skyress and Spike tried to detect him using the method Spike invented during his Courtship Battle with the Ninja, but to no avail. Skyress then felt a powerful kick in her side, and gave a cry of agony as the force sent her spiraling to the ground.
Spike flared his wings as he felt his guardian fall from under him, and with a few flaps, became airborne. He then leaped down and wrapped both arms around Skyress's neck. With a powerful heave, he managed to keep both himself and his guardian suspended in the air as Skyress tried to heal herself. However, this ended as there was a glimmer of energy, and with a thundering boom, the Sky Blades flashed as Skyress screamed in agony.
"SKYRESS!" Spike roared as an ironclad gauntlet smashed into his face, forcing him away from Skyress.
"SPIKE! Taylean, stop this! I LOVE YOU!" Skyress cried as Taylean then executed one more immensely powerful slash. Skyress's eyes widened as a large cut was opened on her chest as she screamed, before a pair of armored gauntlets wrapped around her neck, pulling her to a stop. She then felt cold steel at her neck, and looked up to see Taylean looking down at her with a sinister grin.
"So much for you saving me, huh, my little Skyressy-Whyressy, isn't it?" Taylean mocked in a crude imitation of his original, prim voice. "This is the end for you. HYPER STO-"
He was cut off as a torrent of green energy flowed out of him. The Attribute of Ventus left his body and flowed into that of Spike, who had stood up, glaring at the corrupted Guardian. His body flared with a mixture of green and purple. His eyes had changed colors, like the four warriors before him. His right eye flared with the purple aura of the Element of Generosity, while his left eye glowed with the green aura of the Attribute of Ventus.
"No matter! You cannot win this anyways!" Taylean shouted. "HYPER STO-"
"SLASH RISE THUNDER!" Taylean bellowed in pure shock as Spike, now wielding spectral Sky Blades attached to his paws, a copy of his own attack, attacked him furiously with a series of powerful right hooks and uppercuts, chopping up his armor and rattling his eyes in his helmet. Skyress, now seeing a perfect opportunity, smashed a powerful Steel Wing into Taylean's chest, winding him, before kicking him away with a powerful kick of her talons.
She the leaped into the air and her body flared with Ventus energy as she charged her ultimate attack... Taylean kicked Spike away before raising his gauntlets to finish him off.
"Bad mistake. The last thing you'll be seeing is this. SUPEREME WIND-"
"DESTRUCTION METEOR STORM!" Taylean spun around in shock as Skyress screeched. Her body flared green as she whipped her wings and flew back, vanishing into the horizon with a flash.
"Hah! Seems that your guardian abandoned you as well!" Taylean mocked Spike. The purple dragon simply grinned.
"Look again," he simply responded. Taylean stared hard... before he saw a glint. His eyes widened in pure disbelief as Skyress, her whole body now engulfed in blazing emerald flames, charged towards him, her wings extended and the razor feathers glinting in the sun. With a roar, she smashed into him.
Spike covered his eyes with an arm as a huge explosion of wind and flames flattened everything around him. He then removed his forearm to see a downed Taylean lying in the crater generated by the force of the attack, a giant hole in his shoulder. The Darkus energy left his body as his armor returned to its normal green coloring.
Spike then sighed as the Attribute of Ventus left his body to return to its Bearer. Like Wolfurio before him, the healing light of the Attribute enveloped him, and instantly healed all his injuries, including the grievous hole in his shoulder left by Skyress's Destruction Meteor Storm. He then groggily sat up, opening his eyes and staring at his Skyress.
"Skyress?" he whispered, tears in his eyes as he looked at her. "What did I do? I'm so-" He was cut off as Skyress wrapped her wings tightly around him and pressed her lips to his, tears in her eyes. He placed his hand on her cheek as he closed his eyes and returned the kiss. They then separated as Skyress glared at him fiercely, tears still shimmering in her eyes.
"Don't ask me if I'm okay!" she snapped, "I just used my strongest attack on you and you're the one asking if I'm okay?! It should be me asking if you're okay, you dunce-cap!"
"I'm so sorry, Skyress. I thought that because of my love for you, I could resist Kyurem's dark powers. It turns out not so much." Skyress simply smiled as she kissed him on the cheek.
"Don't worry about that, Tay. Right now we have to help the others before Kyurem and Chrysalis destroy Canterlot and Ponyville!" Taylean nodded grimly before he stood up, whipping out the Sky Blades with a flourish.
"Let's go." With that, the three left to go help their friends defeat the menace once and for all.