What it takes

What it Takes

Act 2: Chapter 2: Chains vs. Chains

By: N30N-THUND3R

-(T)-

"You still want to go through with this?" Tourmalyte asked Ches as the two made their way to an open expanse of land. There was a dull pop and thunk as Twilight conjured and set down several chairs of the observers to sit in.

"Of course I do. So weapons or not?" Ches inquired.

"Not. I don't want either of us to definitely die." Tourmalyte responded. He and Cheshiren chuckled a bit before removing their weapons, both hidden and not, from their persons. Nathanius walked up to Tourmalyte and Ches and stood between the two.

"Are you both ready?" Nathanius asked.

"Of course we're ready." Tourmalyte and Cheshiren responded, the both of them adopting a fighting stance.

"Then you may begin." Nathanius announced.

-(T)-

"MINUS SIXTEEN!" They both shouted just as Cheshiren dove at Tourmalyte. He then began to throw punch after punch in extremely rapid succession. Tourmalyte ducked and dodged around each fist at an equally blinding speed. Tourmalyte hit Cheshiren in the center of his chest with a open palm, sending Ches sliding backwards. Tourmalyte rushed forward and threw two punches at Cheshiren. Cheshiren then mimicked Tourmalyte's earlier strategy and pushed him back. That pattern kept on repeating between the two.

"MINUS TWENTY-FOUR!" They both shouted at the same time, both of them anticipating the other's next move. Their movements soon became nothing more than colored blurs to the ponies and people observing. Every time Tourmalyte and Cheshiren collided, the air and earth seemed to shake with the force of their blows.

Every few seconds, the dust surrounding Tourmalyte and Cheshiren would clear slightly, giving Tourmalyte a clear view of the awed expression on the ponies, Jet's and Skylar's faces. Tourmalyte paused slightly, his hands glowing green slightly. Cheshiren took advantage of the opportunity and charged at Tourmalyte.

-(N)-

Nathanius looked on in shock as the dark figure that was Ches moved in a blur through the light dust at Tourma. There was a loud, sickening crack and Tourma yelling, "IRON DEFENSE" as Ches's fist collided with Tourma. The dust grew thicker and then dissipated, revealing Ches with his bruised right fist in the middle of a crater that had been made in an iron wall between him and Tourma. Tourma's hands, which had been glowing a soft green, were now coated in a dark green aura.

"It seems that your magic can serve as a last line of defense. Let's see how powerful that defense is!" Ches shouted before taking his fist out of the crater. The wall of iron dissolved into iron sand and started to swirl around. Cheshiren charged at Tourma again, rapidly throwing punch after punch, each punch was blocked by a new wall of iron that was created by the floating iron sand. After realizing that his attacks were useless, Ches backed off slightly. "Let's see what you can do!" He taunted.

"MINUS FOUR" Tourmalyte shouted, charging at Chew with both of his hands glowing a bright green. The green faded fast and was replaced by iron.

~-(T: Flashback)-~

"So what are we going to learn today, Sir Nightingale?" A sixteen-year-old Tourmalyte asked a man of six feet with white hair and chains snaking their way up his arms and legs. The man's bright blue eyes were tinged with green from the amount of green magic he had used in his life.

"Today, I'm going to show you a technique that Lord Sustine himself created. This technique was designed specifically for people like you and I. It is called 'Precious Metal Attack Strategy'. Now let me show you how to do it." Nightingale answered. Immediately, a green glow engulfed both of Nightingale's hands and a patch of the ground a couple of feet away from him. The glow dissipated, leaving his hands covered with a pair of gauntlets with four circlets of different metal attatched to the iron gauntlets. The circlet connected to the iron itself was made of bronze. The next one was made of silver. The one after that was made of gold. The last one was made of platinum. Standing in front of Nightingale was a stone golem. "These gauntlets are modeled after Sustine's own precious metal gauntlets. Supposedly, they were imbuned with magic to increase the wearer's strength dramatically, but were lost over time."

"So how does the technique work?" Tourmalyte asked curiously.

"The user begins by knocking their opponent back about ten to twenty feet. Then, the user uses their green magic in order to coat their hands in iron gauntlets. The user then charges at their foe and delivers a powerful uppercut, launching them into the air. Next, the user covers the iron with bronze while simultaneously jumping into the air above their enemy. They level their enemy out in mid-air and knock them down into the ground as hard as possible with both hands clenched together. After that, the user would coat the bronze in silver, along with creating a silver spring board behind them, and use the silver as a point of leverage, throwing themselves to the ground, punching their enemy in the gut. After that, even I don't know. I wasn't taught about what to do for gold and platinum." Nightingale said with a slight chuckle. "I guess you'll just have to come up with an addendum of your own to add to that technique. Now let the demonstration begin." Nightingale charged at the stone golem, the chains on his arms and legs disappearing. He hit the creature in its jaw, sending it flying into the air. He jumped after the golem with his gauntlets now coated in bronze up to the circlet made of the selfsame metal. He leveled the golem and immediately smashed it down into the ground with both hands. He immediately coated his gauntlets in silver and created a silver wall above and behind him. He kicked off of the wall down towards the golem stuck in the ground. He heavily brought his fists down upon the golem, which immediately shattered upon impact.

"Like this?" Tourmalyte asked, his hands covered in iron.

"Exactly like that. Now let's get to practicing!"

~(Flashback End)~

Tourmalyte closed the distance quickly, delivering an uppercut into Cheshiren's jaw. "PRECIOUS METAL ATTACK STRATEGY. IRON" Tourmalyte shouted. There was a sickening crack as the bone in Ches's jaw shattered. His open eyes lost all life as Cheshiren lost consciousness. Tourmalyte jumped after Cheshiren's unconscious body, his gauntlets now made of bronze.

"Tourmalyte, stop!" Formalendale shouted. Tourmalyte ignored him, his blood pounding in his ears. Tourma leveled out Cheshiren before delivering a powerful blow that sent Ches rocketing into the ground. "BRONZE" Tourmalyte's hands glowed green as the dirt turned into sand as Ches hit the ground. Then the sand changed back to dirt as Tourma's hands were coated in silver atop the bronze. A wall of silver appeared behind Tourmalyte in midair, which Tourmalyte proceeded to kick off of and launch himself towards Ches. Ches was tossed into the air by a silver pillar, and as soon as he landed, he punched the airborne Cheshiren in his shoulder, sending him flying. "SILVER. MINUS FOUR." He bolted after Ches, his hands a golden blur while the rest of his body became a green blur. Suddenly, Tourmalyte stopped moving. Ches hit the ground with a dull thud as Tourmalyte started swaying. Then he collapsed, his eyes going blank as he lost consciousness.

-(F)-

Formalendale stood, his mouth gaped in shock at Tourmalyte's loss of control and then his falling unconscious. Everyone who was watching the two rushed forward to the two combatants. Formalendale ran over to Tourmalyte to check on him. All of the others went to Cheshiren. Tourmalyte's eyes fluttered open, green light fading fast from them. Tourmalyte shot up immediately, his eyes immediately resting on Cheshiren's body. Tears began to stream down his face as he stood up.

"I've got to go." Tourmalyte whispered, only Formalendale being able to hear him. He only nodded in response. Tourmalyte turned toward the Everfree Forest, and ran.

"Where is he going?" Twilight asked, looking in the direction that Tourmalyte ran off towards.

"If he's doing what I think he's doing, then Tourmalyte's going to be gone for a while. Even I can't determine exactly how long." Nathanius replied. "Jet, if I remember correctly, you were in the yellow magic training program back at the Academy. If he's gone for more than two months, track him." Nathanius spoke calmly. Jet gave a nod in agreement.

"That strength." Skylar said in awe, staring at the severe cuts and bruises that marked Cheshiren's exposed skin. Most noticable was his right hand, with blood coming from his split knuckles and torn palm.

"He's going to need a few days to heal, even with magic." Twilight said, also noting the severity of his injuries.

"I just hope the injuries aren't lasting." Formalendale said.

"I hope so too." Nathanius agreed.

-(Unknown)-

"He's running yet again. This is the fourth time he's lost control over his other half." The blue figure known as Time spoke to his brother.

"Yes he is. That incident in his childhood shaped his other half and split it. I am worried." Space replied.

"It is the price that comes with strength like his. Remember our pledge to not directly interfere. We can only have one of the other's go down to help. Send down Life. She might be able to help the youngest Glare learn some control over his other half." Time said. Space walked over to a door with no frame and opened it.

"Life, we need you to help the youngest Glare. He needs to control his other half." Space spoke through the door. Through the door there was the sound of a balloon popping. "Alright, she's off to Tourmalyte's location now. I sure hope everything turns out okay."

"I hope so too." Time replied.

Another excerpt from the Journal of Prince Nathanius Aquus IV

Journal Entry #74 April 24th 5250

Graduation. It seems to far away for us but also so close. Tourmalyte, Formalendale and myself are only a few months away from that sweet goal that is on all of our minds. We are almost there. I almost fell as if I will explode with anxiousness. I just hope that our final exam will be manageable. I only want for the three of us to become fully fledged Legion members. We have been preparing everything. Formalendale had undergone special red magic training as Tourmalyte underwent green magic training. I myself found no need to go into the blue magic course because I already know everything there is to know about blue magic. I just hope that all of our training pays off in the end.