Metal Working

by 1000Fights

Rise of the Viking-Ice and Fire

Ow.

After the bell rung, Aquinas felt the large mass of a fist hit his face with the amount of heat that should only come from burning magnesium. In a partial daze, the naval officer shrugged off the pain and regained his lost footing. Even though his vision was clouded in the left eye, he still could make out that horrible smile on Phoenix Right-Wing's face. His smile made his bulb shaped nose crease and his auburn eyes light up. Right-Wing's toothy smile was made up of pearly white, sharpened teeth. They weren't to a point, but they were filed to an edge that gave his opponent's pause for thought.

Aquinas wasn't scared of him. Even if he had a mouthful of half inch long choppers, Aquinas would deal with him the same way that has dealt with all his other opponent's. By beating the living fuck out him! However, it wasn't going to be as easy as the other ones were. Phoenix had a temper not unlike Aquinas', yet it didn't come from annoyance or frustration, it came from years of mental torture by his parents and family. The right-Wings had taught him to be a ruthless killer, and he already nearly killed one contestant by giving them third degree burns on their chest.

Aquinas knew that if he was to win, he would have to use what he had learned from Loki and apply what he knew of his own anger. Again, Phoenix's temper was just like Aquinas', but his was not as controlled. So, using the same tactics that Loki had previously used should work. Annoying him should do the trick, and making him work harder should put a little more strain on him. And he had the best idea of how he was going to do that.

He wanted to try out a new spell, but never got the chance until now. He slammed one fist into his other palm, and when he did, white flakes flew from his hands on impact. He alternated hands until both his hands were white. He rubbed them together, and more fakes came falling from his hands. Phoenix just stared at him blankly, gauging what type of spell Aquinas was cooking up. He was about to charge a spell up himself to counter until the officer flicked his wrist and threw a white ball at his opponent and hit him in the eyes. Right-Wing howled in pain as he rubbed away the burn of not magic, but cold, icy snow. Snow as cold as the Frozen North. He burned off the frozen material only to be met with a cold blast from an icy fist in his left eye. Aquinas kept up his attack on Right Wing and slugged him once with his left and twice with his right. Aquinas didn't really know how to box, so faced up against someone who did, he could block as the now enraged mage gave the Naval officer a nasty uppercut with a bonfire in front of it.

Aquinas was back in a daze, but held himself firm against the barrage of flame that came his way. Jab after jab after hook came Right Wing's attack. The fire mage came at his opponent with no intention of slowing. He just kept stepping forward and pressing Aquinas towards the arena wall. The latter only held up his huge forearms encased in ice in a defensive posture.

Twilight and Shining Armor shouted from the stands.

"Come on, Aquinas. Hit him back!"

"You can't just keep blocking!"

"You're getting pulverized out there!"

"He's going to be fine." Ignatius said firmly.

The siblings looked at Ignatius, once again, in confusion. "What is it this time?"

"Do you see what it is that my brother is doing?" the black coated man asked.

After exchanging looks, the pair had the question answered for them. "Take a look at his feet." Upon saying so, Shining Armor and his sister looked at Aquinas' feet who was stepping back in the same rhythm as the punches Phoenix was punching at. "He's counting the movements." the soldier said.

"He's taking note of the rhythm at which Phoenix Right Wing is dishing out his punches." Ignatius further explained. "This fight has only just begun, but Aquinas seems to gaining the upper hand slowly. He'll be alright."

For now.
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Phoenix Right-Wing was not a stupid man. In fact, he was quite intelligent. When it came to tests, he struggled, but when it came to applied knowledge, it was like he was a born genius. One thing that he knew very well was combat. Being able to use his body and the flames that he produced to beat down opponents and destroy any sort of hope they had of defeating him. He would usually win by now, but this time was different. He was not facing some punk kid with as much magical knowledge has a school boy. He was facing off against someone with enough combative skill under his belt to rival Phoenix himself. This would not stand in his world. The Right-Wing family had no rivals. Only dead opposition. And this blue coated inferior will be made to see that.
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One jab came from high, but Aquinas blocked the attack with a rising block. Then another fist came below and using the same arm, Aquinas slammed his fist down onto Right-Wing's. A jab to the middle came but with a quick jerk of his shoulder Aquinas snapped his icy forearm in to block.

Phoenix broke off his attack by jumping back two steps. The fire mage stepped lightly around Aquinas, and the former copied. Each scanned the other's fighting stance. Aquinas and Right-Wing utilized the standard boxer's position and planted their feet in the eleven and five o'clock position and kept their left hands at eye level and their right fists at mouth level.

Neither had the advantage here it seemed. Both weighed about the same and had similar strength levels. So, what would be the deciding factor, it seemed, would be straight luck.

Aquinas' face grew a fine grin, while Phoenix's twisted into a bloodthirsty scowl.

"Just what are you smiling at?" Right-Wing demanded to know. His fiery hair seemed with flare up along with his red face.

Aquinas chuckled as he said. "I'm just thinking of how much of a little bitch you are."

"What?!" Phoenix Right-Wing cried in anger.

"Yeah!" Aquinas chuckled menacingly. "You're a little bitch."

Words were not spent. Only a roar of anger mixed with a dragon's mouth worth of fire was heard as the fire mage charged into the fight with his fists full of intense energy. Aquinas' own white, frosty hands grew ever colder and readied his forearms by giving them an extra half inch of ice.

Both goliaths met with fire and ice as Phoenix renewed his attack by giving Aquinas a jab with his left and then a hook with his right. Aquinas blocked with a rising block again and an outward block to cancel the hook. The fire mage repeated the attack over and over again, but each time becoming faster. Aquinas repeated his blocks with equal force, but when the attack's heat was high, Phoenix changed the game, and gave Aquinas an uppercut to the chin. The Naval Officer's head snapped back and was met with a fiery fist in the side of his face. Aquinas fell to the his side and would have received a nasty hammer fist, but the ending bell saved him.

The first interval had ended. Both took to their respective sides. Phoenix Right-Wing's crew greeted him with harsh criticism and scorn for being sloppy and untimely. He greeted each word as someone who was trained by the Right Wings should. With silence and acceptance.

Aquinas rose with little complication. He was a little rocked, but that wore off as soon as he got to his chair. Waiting for him there was his own growing cheering section. Each gave him words of encouragement and slight criticism. Well, Ignatius was being harsh, but that was to be expected from his brother. He sat on his seat and took a drink of water as he absorbed their words ranging from simple fighting tactics to the use of deception tactics that threw him off guard.

"Don't worry, guys." Aquinas said as he slugged down another helping of liquid. "I got him right where I want him!"

With a thank you to them all, and a middle finger to his brother, Aquinas rose from his seat. Every Wonderbolt, mage, and blacksmith but a hand to his shoulder. The Naval officer, with a silent smile looked to his opponent who was giving him the worst look he had ever gotten. Aquinas just smiled at him. For behind those blue-lit eyes, he saw not hate or scorn, but something else entirely.

The bell rang for the second interval to start, and put a hold on Aquinas' pondering. He would have to think on that look. For it told him everything he needed to know about who he was facing.
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Aquinas and Phoenix put up the dukes a second time. Aquinas decided to take the initiative and attack first, just to mix things up a little. He started with two left jabs and right straight punch. Each attack was easily blocked, but Aquinas didn't stop there. He kept coming in with a hook-uppercut-jab combo. The last jab connected with the side of Phoenix's face. The ice on Aquinas' hand steamed as it connect to Phoenix's hot skin.

The fire mage came with his own uppercut and jab combo. Both connected on Aquinas' torso and face, but as soon as another jab with the right came, Aquinas didn't block it, he side stepped it. Another punch came and he just kept dancing around the fiery man. Aquinas' smile grew as he tucked his thumbs into pant waist and started a line dance routine around Phoenix Right-Wing. The officer's silliness was coupled with laughter that only seemed to bring on more anger from the afore mentioned fire mage.

Phoenix was beside himself. He was a proud soldier from a prestigious family, and here he was, being mocked by this tramp from nowhere. How dare this inferior pest make a fool of him! The anger in the fire mage's blood boiled and he pressed his attack with the speed that should only belong to lightning. Right-Wing came with three consecutive left jabs and a right hook to boot. Each was either dodged or swatted away by Aquinas who gave small, high pitched grunt noises.

"Why won't you die?!" Phoenix Right-Wing said between punches. His level of rage was mounting. He started to slip into a blindness as he compacted his feelings with harsh discipline. But for all his training and torture, seeing this foolish, blue coated man dance with a smile and enjoy himself made it hard to remember that he was still human. Uppercut after uppercut, and hook after jab took the pair around the whole arena in a dance that seemed eternal. Well, at least until the bell rang for the end of the interval.

Curses and shouts of hate coupled with strikes to the head with large sticks were what Phoenix Right-Wing had waiting for him when he took his sit on a chair with broken glass on the seat. Not a single Right-Wing was without words to throw at the young man.

"Wow." Twilight Sparkle said in amazement. "Phoenix Right-Wing is getting a thrashing over there."

"I know." Aquinas said. "And that's why I'm afraid."

"Why?" Shining Armor asked. "You should have the upper hand. He's the one that's angry, and you're completely calm. You have nothing to worry about."

"I'm not the one that's in danger." Aquinas stated. "Everyone else is."

"How?" The guard asked.

"Because the human mind can only take so much." came a familiar voice from behind the soldier. Loki stepped into the crowd. "Aquinas' carefree attitude and his enjoyment of the battle are a complete contrast to what Phoenix Right-Wing was trained to believe. He had been brought up to think that only those possessed of great fury and power can survive in battle. So, you can see why he harbors a great resentment to Aquinas."

"And that resentment being compounded with his jealousy isn't helping." Ignatius put in. "All that rage being pent up for so long and now seeing his beliefs contradicted right in front of him is too much for him to bare. He'll snap at the end of this round if you don't put him down first."

Aquinas digested their words. Nothing they said was wrong. Phoenix Right-Wing was a loose cannon with an overstuffed breach, and if Aquinas continued to make him mad, it would be too much to control. Aquinas saw him first hand during his classes.

The boy was dangerous, that much was true. However, he took issue with their assessment to him. Phoenix was a monster, but all monsters are created, not born. There was always a shred of light in the tortured that can be the saving grace they would need in order to return to the good they used to be. Aquinas was determined to make the flame of his heart greater than the flame of his rage. But to do that, he would have to extinguish the first flame, in order for the other to grow. With the ring of the bell to start the third interval, Aquinas rose to that challenge.
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Fire and Ice circled the arena. Each measuring the other. Frost started to grip the ground and cover it in a thin layer of blue and white shine, while fire left tongues dancing where footprints should be.

Aquinas took the offensive first once more. He slammed his white fist into the ground and shot a line of jagged ice spikes toward Phoenix. The fire mage unleashed his fire and burned the ice away in a large cloud of steam. As the white smoke disappeared, a white fist appeared and struck Right-Wing in the side of the face. Aquinas kept up the attack and pressed forward with an uppercut and another jab. Each blow sent Phoenix back as many steps as there was hits. The fire mage put his arms in close to block the barrage of hits. Phoenix stood his ground and took two more hits before he threw his own jab Aquinas' way. The latter anticipated the attack and reeled back four steps. The fiery haired brawler took this opportunity and charged forward. He went in with a jab-hook-uppercut combo and got a strike in with the hook. Aquinas gave ground through the attack and settled into his blocking routine fitting the fighting combos. The Naval officer matched the speed of the attacks well enough, but blocking wasn't what he wanted to do. Phoenix Right-Wing pressed his attack faster and increased his speed until he got his chance to throw another uppercut. He saw how Aquinas settled into the attack and figured now would be the perfect time. With a swift jerk of his hip and shoulder, the fiery boxer threw his foot forward and slipped and fell on the seat of his pants.

The fire mage rose with swiftness, but was only thrown back down to the ground after he lost his balance due to the thin layer of slick ice underneath him. Phoenix growled in frustration and lit his hands ablaze. The steam from the evaporating water clouded his vision, but as it cleared, he was met with more obstructions to his vision. Those obstructions took the form of jagged ice pillars.

Phoenix Right-Wing's looked around him and tried to find where Aquinas would attack from. He stepped lightly around the structures and peaked around the cold spikes coming from them. The flame from his hands burned at the ready.

"It's a little disorientating, isn't it?" came Aquinas' voice. "Having something blocking your vision and obscuring your path." Phoenix shot a fireball at a structure where he thought the voice came from, only to see nothing beyond the hole the magical attack made. One of the structures near to him started to grow and shot icy spikes his way. Phoenix dodged away from the pillar, but then was ensnared by another. The cold ice gripped him and dug frozen needles into his flesh. The mage roared as he unleashed his fiery rage in a dome of flame. The structure melted under the inferno and made a great amount of steam. When his vision cleared once more from the white, a host of icy structures closed in on him. "Having no direction to go and using only your anger and mounting rage to solve you problem." They grew and presented their spikes to the battlemage, but the latter was quick to put his hands out and push out enough flame from them to give a dragon a run for its money. However, no matter the amount of flame he used, the stiff coldness of the ice was encroaching too quickly. He started to back pedal a bit until he was against the wall. And just like a cornered animal, Phoenix Right-Wing fought for his life. He poured out his rage, anger, and panic into his attack and used the flames from his fists to make the ice explode from the force of impact and thermal shock. Phoenix smashed through every structure that pressed him against the wall and when they seemed to have slowed their march, he pressed even harder.

Every last bit of emotion went into his attack. No thought, just feeling. He was so ensnared by his ferocious barrage that he didn't expect to feel an icy fist smash into his face. The fiery battlemage recoiled and put his arms up to block a wave of frozen strikes. Phoenix regained his footing and stood his ground enough to throw out a punch, but instead of hitting Aquinas, the latter had caught the former's wrist. Phoenix pulled his arm in and threw the second out to punch, but that was also caught. Aquinas held firm under the roaring struggle of Right-Wing. The Naval Officer gripped with the strength of a constrictor and used his magic to extend the frost from his hands into Right-Wing's wrists. The latter howled in pain and tried to combat the cold stiffness that was encroaching in his muscles and bones. However, by the time even the first sparks of a fire spell came to charge, Phoenix's arms bent in and he fell to his knees. The entire of both his arms were too cold to continue. His shoulders and neck felt the sting of ice as Aquinas spell reaped away all the warmth.

With chattering teeth and cooling breath, Phoenix gasped out the words, "No more! I yield!"

With the words spoken, Aquinas let Phoenix go, and heard the sweet sound of the bell. The fire mage, so full of anger and determination, was now nothing more than a shivering heap. The Naval Officer waved a hand to produce a spell. He cast a blue hue over his opponent. The hue brought with it warmth. Within seconds, the fire mage was warm again.

With shaking arms, Phoenix propped himself up of his elbows and started on the journey that would bring his hands and knees to bear the weight. But as he made that journey, he saw his family come towards him. Right-Wing felt a pit grow in his stomach. He knew that when they made it to him he would be punished for his failure. As they came so close that Phoenix could see the fire in their eyes, his view was blocked by the boots of Aquinas.

The officer wasted no time making it known that they would not touch him, by sending out a wall of needle sharp ice spikes. Caught off guard, the family recoiled. Aquinas turned his back to them, and his attention toward the fire mage. With hardened eyes, and an even stiffer tone, the battlemage spoke.

"You are mighty, Phoenix Right-Wing." He began. "I was expecting nothing less than a challenge from you. However, what I didn't expect was your family's treatment of you. You fought with the rage of a forest fire and your form was with little flaw. Yet, you are still scorned." As Aquinas spoke, Phoenix slowly rose to his feet. "I see your anger and frustration, and I know how powerful that can be, but using that alone will leave you blind. Blind to what you are doing. Let your fire not be of emotion, but instead be that of resolve. For the flames held by chaos will by extinguished, but the fire held by those of righteous might will burn for ages like a star."

It was either his fatigue, or the realization that this one man had given more wisdom than the forty or so people who have mentored him; whichever one, it made a stone hard face melt into a soft frown. The fire mage would not have believed it to be true if he had been told it, but after experiencing it, he knew that his most treasured weapon, rage, had not only failed him, but it also now made him feel weak.

Phoenix, the Mage of Angry Fire and most stubborn of who would never admit defeat, shed a single tear and bowed low.

"You have said more to me than anyone else ever has." Phoenix in his low, roaring voice. "For that, I call you, and no one else from this day forth, teacher."

Aquinas put his chilly hands on his counterpart's shoulders and said, "Grow your fire, Phoenix. Make it glow bright, and show others to do the same."

Without another word, Right-Wing turned and left, but not before having, for the first time in his life, a genuine smile grow across his face.

Author's Note:

Please leave a comment on what you all think about this new addition. I know it has been long awaited and I am sorry for not posting it sooner. Thank you for your patience,

Stay strong,
1000Fights

Comments

[Moongaze14]

The chapter was great. I'm glad to see this story again.

[PoptartCat400]

There's one problem. I'm a South Paw fighter. My dominate hand is forward. Other than that. A flawless victory.

[John bostock]

Update?