The entire tavern was on the verge of collapsing; Thatchet's brief battle with Rummy's group had completely torn the building apart. Rummy's explosive attacks blasted massive holes in surrounding buildings, and Spike's flames set chunks of wood and other flammable materials strewn about ablaze. Gin and Raiel were nearly drained of all their strength by Thatchet's passive Brand ability, but Spike and Rummy fought on, determined to defeat the mischievous pirate commander. In the corner of his eye, Rummy looked down the long road that stretched further into Mystwood, spotting a group of vampires closely guarding a large cluster of civilians. He made a split second decision, realizing that Thatchet was far too powerful for either mare to fight. He fired blasts of compressed gunpowder from his hands, detonating them upon impact with Thatchet's body, holding him back to provide Gin and Raiel enough time to escape.

"Gin, Raiel! Get out of here!" Rummy motioned towards the hole in the wall. "Thatchet's too skilled with his Brand for you to fight him!"

"But, Rummy, you two can't fight him by yourselves!" Gin pleaded to her brother, reluctant to abandon him like she did her father.

"No, Thatchet's attacks are too deadly for you two! I need you two to free those civilians down the street, okay?! You get to the battlefield and help Pisces once you're done with them!" Rummy ordered the two mares, firing balls of gunpowder from his hand at Thatchet.

"We'd only be collateral damage in this fight, Gin, he's right." Raiel convinced Gin as she stepped through the hole in the wall.

"Oh no, you don't!" Thatchet growled as his body melted away, rematerializing right in front of Gin and Raiel. "You two tossers ain't gettin' away! Gaines told me to kill you both-!"

"Dragon King's..." Before Thatchet could attack, Spike intervened, knocking Thatchet back into the bar with a fiery roundhouse kick to his side. "Blazing Sweep!"

"Be careful, Spike..." Gin warned her comrade as she stepped outside with Raiel, who also looked quite concerned for him as well.

"Don't worry, you two! I'll make sure to kick his ass no matter what!" Spike winked at them both as emerald flames coated his fists. "Now get going!"

Thatchet scoffed as he got back up, dusting off his clothes as he narrowed his vision towards Spike. He was strong, stronger than he expected, and he was fast enough to catch him off guard without Dragon Fury. Thatchet retooled his fighting strategy on the spot, rushing forward at Spike and outstretching his whole body into a grotesque mass of black tar and bones. Spike rolled to the side, but his leg was caught in Thatchet's sticky body, trapping and immobilizing him. Thatchet rose up to finish him off, but Rummy cut him off before he got the chance.

"Gunpowder: Grapeshot Kick!" Rummy shouted as his hoof came in contact with Thatchet's face, blowing it apart like a watermelon as the gunpowder coating his leg ignited; this gave Spike time to escape.

"Damn, I could feel him withering away my magic..." Spike cringed as he grasped his shin. "Rummy! Gin and Raiel made it out! What now?!"

"We don't have to worry about the tavern, that's what! Go all out!" Rummy shouted back at Spike as he used his gunpowder in mid-air for a boost to dodge balls of sludge Thatchet threw at him.

"All out, huh? Then stand back, Rummy!" Spike yelled as he kneeled, taking in a deep breath as he bowed his head. A mane of flame suddenly shot out of the fins on his back, and his eyes were blazing like torches; he had been working on this technique the most. "Dragon Fury!"

"Eh?" Thatchet raised an eyebrow at Spike as he pulled back, reverting to his normal state. "What the bloody hell is this rubbish? You got flame hair now? What the hell is that gonna do?"

"Get ready, jerkface..." Spike grinned at Thatchet as he crouched, his right-hand flat on the ground to aid with his balance, and his left hand resting on his knee. "Furious Dragon King's..."

"An attack? From that distance?" Thatchet cackled, confident that the five-meter gap between him and Spike would be sufficient to render any attack from the dragon predictable. "Try it, brat! You ain't got shit-!"

Spike vanished out of thin air, then reappeared a foot front of Thatchet, two snapping noises following the young dragon; the first from his movement, and the second one from his attack— a blazing punch to Thatchet's gut. "Thruster Fist!"

"Aarrgh!" Thatchet hacked up blood as he flew back into a load-bearing wall of the tavern, causing the whole structure to collapse. Thatchet was not expecting this kind of speed from Spike, and thus, he was unable to activate his intangibility in time to counter the attack. Thatchet emerged from the rubble with minor splinters, angered at the fact that a mere hatchling was able to touch him. "That bloody wanker! Where'd you go?"

"Holy hell, Spike! Nice one!" Rummy remarked as he launched himself up into the air with a blast of gunpowder, safe from the debris of the ruined building. "Alright, lemme get my shit together too!" Rummy let out a jolly laugh as his right hoof popped and fizzed from tiny explosions of gunpowder. However, Spike followed up before Rummy even landed back on the ground. "Or not..."

Spike sprang forward like a bullet, ricocheting off a nearby building, bouncing off the air with a gust of fire, and crashing down on Thatchet with a flaming kick to his back, driving him into the ground. "Thruster Axe!"

"What was that noise?" Raiel gasped as she looked back at the collapsed tavern.

"Looks like they're fightin' hard..." Gin stated as she grabbed Raiel's hand, racing down the street. "C'mon! We got no time to dawdle! Let's free those townsfolk!"

Spike retreated to give himself air, panting heavily from the toll Dragon Fury was taking on his body. Although Spike trained with the technique well, he still was unable to reduce the strain it put on his cardiovascular system; to sustain such intense internal fire required tons of oxygen. Upping the power of his attacks required more oxygen, which burned off more of his fire, which wore away more at his stamina. He put everything he had into those first two strikes; this consumed an enormous amount of energy.

"Rummy, keep him busy! I need a minute or two!" Spike shouted up at Rummy, who started spinning in the air as his whole body became coated in a cloud of gunpowder.

"Will do!" Rummy nodded as he dropped the back of is hoof down on Thatchet, who quickly came to his senses, forming a barrier of sludge above him. "Gunpowder: Flechette Heel!" The attack clashed with Thatchet's defenses, but it didn't seem to make any progress. Rummy stepped back, loaded up gunpowder in his hand, then let loose a column of explosions that formed a cone in front of him, consuming Thatchet in the exploding beam. "Gunpowder: Dragon Breath!"

"Ya bloody bastards..." Thatchet grimaced as the gaping holes in his slimy body healed over. "I'll kill you both and bring your heads to Gaines!"

Thatchet's body began to morph again, his right arm splitting into three limbs, which all transformed into deadly scythes. More tar poured from his mouth and eyes, coating the ground in the sticky substance and wearing away at the ground beneath them until the whole tavern fell through the earth into the sewer below. Thatchet snickered as his body absorbed the putrid water inside, gaining more biomass from the decayed matter in the sewage system. He sneered at Spike as his eyes disappeared entirely and were replaced by empty black pools of nothingness spewing tar at an alarming rate, and his arms outstretched, turning into giant, dripping limbs. He swung his fist at Rummy, and he quickly avoided the attack with a blast of gunpowder that launched him backward. However, the arm kept stretching out, still barreling towards him.

"Rummy!" Spike shouted at he watched Rummy get pounded into the side of the stone sewer.

"I'm... fine Spike..." Rummy coughed as he got back on his hooves. "We have to be careful. He's gotten stronger now that he's in his element."

"Die!" Thatchet shrieked as his left arm erupted into a mass of black tendrils that all honed in on Spike.

"Damn!" Spike grit his teeth as he put all he had into his speed, dodging the tendrils left and right in mid-air. Unfortunately, their numbers overwhelmed Spike, and one of them slashed at his leg, cutting deeply into his shin. He fell to the ground, falling on a pile of wood left by the ruined tavern and cringing in pain as a large wooden splint lodged itself into his left arm. "Shit! My arm..."

"Hahaha! Die!" Thatchet sneered as he tossed a huge ball of sludge at Spike.

"Gunpowder: Cannon!" Rummy vaporized the attack with a large blast of gunpowder before it could reach Spike. "You okay, Spike?!"

"Yeah! I'm fine!" Spike winced as he removed the hunk of wood from his forearm and cauterized the wound with his flames. He activated Dragon Fury again, racing forward at Thatchet, avoiding his fists. He got past his guard, pulled back his arms, then fired off a fiery double-palm strike to Thatchet's chest. "Furious Dragon King's Thruster Rocket!"

Thatchet wheezed as all the air got knocked out of his body, and he was thrown backward into a pile of rubble from the collapsed street. He coughed as he got back on his feet, gritting his teeth in a mad rage as his legs dissolved into a blob of a black goo. Rummy loaded up another gunpowder blast, but Thatchet scoffed at it, knocking the attack and Rummy away with a massive tendril made of ooze.

"Shite..." Rummy hacked up blood as he hit the side of the sewer again; he struggled to get back on his feet that time. "Spike... we've got to think of something to take him out quick! The sewer is giving him his strength! He'll just keep healing over in here!"

"Dammit..." Spike muttered to himself as he got back on his feet, recovering from another tendril striking him as well. "Yeah... I think I have an idea."

****

Gin and Raiel eliminated most of the vampire guards surrounding the few dozen civilians by then, and only a handful remained. In desperation, they resorted to attacking foals and mares, trying to grab them. The two mares would have none of this, and they quickly dispatched their foes. Raiel gracefully cut them to ribbons with her saber, and Gin blew them away with her blunderbuss and array of pistols.

Gin fired her blunderbuss into the chest of a vampire, stopping it dead in its tracks as it charged at her. "Fuck you, ya pointy-toothed bastard! Raiel, how you doin'?!"

"Fine!" Raiel shouted back to Gin as she cut the head off of one vampire who was about to attack a miriad family. "There aren't many of these vampires! I don't think they were counting on us to go free the civilians!"

"Thank you, your majesty!" An older miriad stallion shouted to his princess as slew another vampire.

"It is my duty, good sir," Raiel nodded to him as she raised her blade to another group of vampires. "Now go with the others!" Raiel gestured to the edge of town where the other civilians were mustering. "We will come to your aid once we've liberated Mystwood!"

"Yes, your majesty!" The elder stallion said as he ushered the others through an alleyway.

The sounds of cannon fire and clashing swords echoed through the town, though, they all seemed to be overshadowed by Rummy and Spike's explosive attacks that shook the ground. Their battle was still raging. Gin had faith in her brother's strength; it had gotten him through many hardships before, and it wasn't going to fail on him now. Even through his rigorous training, his constant beatings at the hands of changelings, no matter what, his strength never failed him. And Spike had this quality as well; unshakeable determination, the strive to overcome his foe.

"They are both quite the fighters..." Raiel piped up as she stood beside Gin, who listened to the fight from afar.

"Yeah... Draven's got faith in Spike, and rightfully so," Gin chuckled lightly as she holstered her pistol. "He may say he's some useless bookworm, but that dragon is tenacious, more so than Draven, and that's saying somethin'. I think this is just the beginnin' for him..."

"What a place to start," Raiel laughed as she heard the chaos around her. "We should get back to the battlefield. I think Rummy and Spike can handle Thatchet."

"Yeah, let's get going," Gin nodded as they both ran down another back alley towards the fray. "Good luck, Spike..."

****

Rummy and Spike panted as they stood before their sneering foe, exhausted and battered. Rummy had taken the worst pummeling; Thatchet had pounded him senseless with his barrages of tentacles and sludge blasts. The passive effects of Thatchet's ability had worn at his stamina, and he was barely able to keep his balance. Spike had received a heavy beating as well, even a few of his scales were missing from his arms and back.

"Hahaha! This is bloody depressin'! Even with the help of this lil' squirt, ya still can't beat me, Rummy!"

"I haven't got much left in me, Spike. If you've something left in your bag of tricks I suggest you use it now..." Rummy breathed deeply as he clutched his ribs.

"Yeah... I think... I've got one thing I haven't tried yet..." Spike panted as the flames on his back faded; Dragon Fury had taken most of his strength. "Rummy, get out of here, okay? I haven't used this attack on anypony before, and I don't want you getting caught in it..."

"Alright, but don't hurt yourself too, huh?" Rummy grunted as gunpowder formed at his feet, launching him out of the sinkhole and back onto the street with a thud. "Hurry!"

Spike stumbled towards Thatchet; his whole body was aching. He had never gotten into such an intense bout before, and it was only then that he realized how much stronger he would have to become to face all the challenges that lie before him in the Blacklands. But he continued forward, determined to best Thatchet once and for all. He was going to surpass him no matter what— that much he knew. Spike's whole right arm was set ablaze in his green flames, forming an odd flame armor over his limb.

"What now? More flames? You know I'll just burn away your magic, right?" Thatchet sneered, unimpressed by Spike's so-called 'final move'. "What a joke..."

"We'll see..." Spike grinned as he took in a huge amount of air, focusing all his fire into his right arm as he pulled it back, causing the fire fist to expand until it became the size of a ship. It radiated a brilliant glow as it hovered beside Spike, and the heat from the fireball was so intense that it burnt the splinters of wood scattered on the ground. "I'm not gonna let you get away with what you did to Gin and Rummy! I'll kick your ass right here and now!"

"Oh really?! Big talk for a dragon who can barely stand! Try it, lil' sprite! Those flames'll get smothered as soon as they touch me!" Thatchet laughed as he created a massive shield of black sludge in front of him, confident in his Brand's defenses against elemental magic. "Bring it on!"

"Dragon King's..." Spike sprinted for a moment with the fireball next to him, then jumped high into the air, cocking back his gigantic fist for his one last attack. As he threw the punch, the enormous gauntlet of flame flew towards Thatchet's shield, picking up speed at an alarming rate until it impacted the shield. "Fiery Meteor!"

"Eh?!" The gauntlet did something odd Thatchet didn't see coming; it actually impacted his shield before the flames even touched the sludge. Without any effort, the fist broke through his guard, and without any time to react, Thatchet was consumed by the flames. The fist carried him forward faster and faster until it stopped abruptly, launching him far across the city, slamming him through the outer wall of Mystwood and into the depths of Crosis Swamp.

"Shite... he used the huge pressure wave that column of fire created as it raced forward to punch through Thatchet's shield without even touching the slime... smart." Rummy thought to himself as he got back on his hooves to see if Spike was alright. "Spike, you alright?"

"Yeah... I'm fine..." Spike wheezed as he fell on one knee, breathing heavily; the ground was charred in front of him, and smoke seemed to radiate off of the young dragon. "Did I win?"

"Heh, yeah you did, buddy. Nice punch. If he ain't dead, he'll be feelin' that one in the mornin'." Rummy chuckled lightly as he helped Spike back to his feet. "C'mon, we best be gettin' back to the ship. Pisces and the others'll handle the rest."

"Yeah..." Spike grinned as he slung his arm over Rummy's shoulder. "Hey... I didn't faint."

Author's Notes:

Well, wasn't that intense? This is just a taste of Spike's potential, and I'm excited to see him grow throughout the series from here on out!

As always, I hope you enjoyed! See you in the next chapter!