Even without any form of magical amplifiers, Barkhorn was already marginally stronger than Bucky, the strength of his cybernetic arm surpassing the witch just by a little bit. With them... especially with the one's that Twilight had made, she was probably strong enough to pick up a grind tank armor into dust with her bare fists. As much as she would have loved to do the same to Bucky... she couldn't help but hold back as she threw her punch, the force of the blow sending the man back several yards. Any lesser man would have had his neck snapped or a fracture in the skull from sheer force.
A super-soldier made by one of the world's most brilliant scientists? Nah. He just got up as though he'd been hit in the head with a dodgeball. Wiping blood from his mouth, Bucky sized up with the young woman. Standing over her by one whole foot, and having years of experience as an expert assassin and a soldier, he could easily offset Barkhorn's superior strength with mere experience. Besides... basics hand to hand training in 1939 in a world where people didn't even fight each other certainly wasn't the same of having the several advanced fighting techniques being literally shoved into your brains from a world where humans blew each other up on a daily basis.
But something told him... that this little kraut right here was holding back. Really... her height was literally the most unimpressive thing about her when she stood a WHOLE foot beneath him. That aside however, she was holding back. If she hadn't been... then wouldn't Bucky be probably lacking a face right now?
Deciding to himself, he would hold back too. You never strike a lady in the face... but the same can't be said for anything about the jawline. The vicious uppercut he swung with his regular almost knocked Barkhorn's shoes off as she staggered backwards, surprised she still had all of her teeth. A kick right into her gut sent her on to her knees as Bucky readied himself a last time, a blow to the top of the head that would send her into a rather unpleasant snooze. To be honest with himself... when his arm was caught, he really had this one coming.
For some reason, it felt awfully familiar as he found himself smashed against the ground, then the other ground, then the other as he was swung back and forth, leaving imprints within the grass. Surprisingly, it didn't hurt like hell as he thought it would. The grass almost felt soothing to an extent, until he realized he was being slapped against it like a bug on a windshield. Stretching out his mechanical arm, he stopped himself from face planting into the grass once again. From the leg that Barkhorn had grabbed, he swung her right onto the ground, leaving her facing upwards to the sky as her back hit the ground. She gave a small gasp of surprise as she struggled to recover and rise, only to be pinned down by Bucky by the neck. Knowing that his opponent was far stronger than he was, but definitely not more durable, he wrapped his hand around her neck, cutting off airflow and hoping that it would cause her to lose consciousness.
It was a small distance. Not enough to gain much force, but it was all that was necessary when all things considered, she still hit like a train. She had aimed for his gut... though maybe her fist swung a WEE bit low as it struck Bucky right in his weak point, causing him to cry out audibly in pain. It got the opposite effect of what Barkhorn had actually wanted however, as now Bucky's entire body was now right on top of her, about to smother her as his face went dangerously close to hers, the two almost as though they would lock their heads together. She hadn't exactly noticed it, but cunningly, and even with a pain no mortal could possibly bear, Bucky had actually removed both of her gloves. The first time when he was busy choking her, the second time when he took a fist straight down below. Somehow... he felt as though he still might be having kids despite what most men would have believed if they saw what had happened.
"Eh... guys... what are you doing?" Steve asked as he looked at the two. It was just then when Bucky realized how... badly positioned he as he realized the way he was on top of Trude. The fact that his head had dipped downwards almost gave the appearance to Steve the two had been making out. And if Barkhorn had been slightly taller, or if Bucky had been slightly shorter, than he might have also been thinking of other things that didn't just involve kissing.
He had been pissed just a few moments ago, and chances are, so had Trude been. But as of now, he took one look at the young woman to see the blood flushed straight to her face as she scowled at him, trying to push him off, which was a lot harder now when he not only weighed more than your average human, but that Trude wasn't exactly strong enough anymore to turn him into toothpaste with her bare hands now that she lacked the gloves.
He scowled back. The uniform... the uniform... which did a poor job of covering her rather hefty assets that had been brushing against him the whole ti...
Why was he thinking about this...?
Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he got up, his weak spots aflame with pain as he tried not to bend over in pain, which inevitably happened. Steve could only watch in confusion, haven't not been around to see the whole thing.
Though every other pony had....
"And that's how magic works!" Twilight said as she stopped her lecture. She took a look back at Erica who was currently slumped over in her chair, snoring gently.
"Gah...." Twilight thought to herself as she looked at the sleeping witch.
"I tink you a bit too boring frau Sparkle." Medic said as he looked over at Erica. "You know... giving lectures in such a vay... zere's no vay you could have made anyone vant to listen!"
"You got a better way of getting people to listen?!" Twilight asked as she recalled the whole thing with Rainbow Dash. Of course... learning about unicorn (or in her case, alicorn) magic wasn't too important since she wouldn't be using it... EVER but still... was it at least not an interesting subject? That SHE had even insisted on hearing upon?!
Boy... Twilight thought. She must have been the most boring pony on earth to have sent someone off to sleep this quickly! But that aside, she nudged Erica a bit to try and wake her.
"Fifty more minutes... Mom..." Erica mumbled in her dream-like state as she yawned rather loudly.
This one must have slept more than Rainbow Dash....
"Slade? You're here too?" Steve asked as the merc showed his face around the track, by now, whatever attention that they had gotten was now beginning to dissipating, everything reaching it's climax when the scuffle between Bucky and Trude broke out.
"Heard you all were having a party, and I wasn't invited." Slade said with a tone of mock injury. "Okay now... I always wanted a rematch Cap."
"If I remember last time... I won."
"Not how I remembered it. Besides... I was holding back."
"Funny... so was I." Slade said as he looked at Steve's shield. Dressed in his full suit of armor, along with the mask, the man looked dressed to kill, which was exactly the point if he actually wanted to look the part. Ballistic staff? Check. Swords? Check. Guns? Check. Other gadgets? Check.
"Then... no holding back?"
"No holding back." Slade said as he took out his staff. "Let's start.. .and hey kid... I was watching your fight."
"What about it?" Barkhorn asked. She looked back at Bucky with an expression that couldn't exactly be described with words. Hate? Respect? A new found liking? Regret? Annoyance? Every possible emotion in the human capacity.
"You really never fought once in your life have you?" Slade asked.
"What do you know about it?!" Barkhorn snapped, a bit angry that some old guy was belittling her abilities. She was a WITCH for crying out loud.
"I've been doing my job for about 65 years... and I've been fighting before I was even considered a man." Slade said as he took out his staff. "Watch how a master does it."
"Yes... watch how I am going to kick his ass." Cap said with a grin.
Bucky and Trude just watched... somehow even after attempting to smash his face in just a moment ago, Trude wasn't exactly TOO upset with being awfully close to him. He was a rather good looking fellow... maybe if only his personality matched his looks then he might be quite a great guy...
Seriously... what a schweinhund...