Axel smirked when the kick was blocked by a nonchalant forearmed block. Lowering his leg, he tried again. To be honest, he wanted to just play around a bit, see what he was going to get himself into. But he still couldn't afford to have his ass handed to him like Jace. His pride would never live again.
Left. Left. Rright. Roundhouse, roundhouse, drop, roundhouse, sweep.
"Get on with it," he heard Jace drawl dryly from his post nearby. Axel, not taking his eyes off his task, raised a hand in a gesture that showed Jace exactly what he thought.
"No thank you," came the extra dry response.
Axel snorted and ducked low when it came. Gauss was obviously getting bored, so it was time to dance. The punches came, the speed incredible. One block from his left arm made it feel like it was going to shatter from the impact. That meant he would have to only use his right arm for blocking. At least that would stand more of a chance against the force. After all, metal against flesh had no competition right?
Axel dodged and blocked, ducking every so often to sneak in a blow to the other's midsection or leg. It took some doing but he managed five hits before he himself was on the ground with a blade near his eye, blocked only by his trusty right arm.
"That was only thirty seconds longer than me." Jace again.
"I lasted longer, bitch, so I still win," Axel retorted, still peering wearily over his right arm.
Gauss pulled back with a slight frown. "You're always using that arm to block and take damage. What's so special about that arm?"
"It's stronger than the other," Axel stated blandly. It wasn't a lie either. Metal in that age was always stronger than flesh. Look at the swords they came up with.
"Both should be equal in strength," Gauss pointed out. "If you lost your best line of defense then you'd be screwed otherwise. you'd be raped like a defenseless virgin on the battlefield."
"Chastity belts for the win," Axel stated blandly. He got a chuckle from his mentor and the foot blade was removed. Axel got to his feet.
"How'd you get the blade fixed to the boot?"
"Some kid named Lucas forged the boot to facilitate. Crazy lady named Kriss made the blade and put them together."
"Lucas?" Axel asked, working his arms to prevent cramping. He started to feel the bruising already. "You mean, tall, blond, looks like he could be toppled over by a light summer breeze?"
"Yup," Gauss replied. "You know him."
It wasn't a question.
"Yeah," the flippant teen answered. "He's damn good at what he does. But he can make the weapons himself if you offer the right price. Made me my guns."
Jace meandered over. "Guns?"
Axel nodded, pointing over to the heavy bag. "Guns, cannons, cross bows. Here."
He walked over to the bag and squatted, making quick work of the zipper. He looked over his shoulder, noting that the other two hadn't moved. But that was just as well. He flashed them a wild grin and went back to work. Inside the duffel, on top was his prized cannon. He removed his right glove and pulled back his coat sleeve to reveal an arm made of dusted, reinforced steel. The memories behind that still made him mad but he had gotten over it for the most part. Flexing the metal fingers, he sucked in a breath, ready for the pain that usually followed whenever he took the arm apart. Teeth locked, he twisted the hand around and off before placing it into the bag. Again, he repeated the action for the forearm. A three part arm sucked most of the time but it was worth it in the long run.
So he told himself.
Taking out the cannon, the bag seemed to deflate, making him grin to himself. He attached the back end of the cannon to the stumped upper arm and screwed it on, securing the bolts and latched before loading up one of the medium sized dark cannonballs. Inside each of the titanium suckers was good gunpowder and some chemical Lucas concocted to make it go 'boom' so to speak. He loved them. Axel stood, a little bit bent over until he hauled the cannon into this left hand and turned so they could see it. From that distance, all they really saw was him holding a shiny metal cannon with serpentine designs on it and an almost bell shaped nozzle. He cocked the cannon -- another thing he liked about the unique design. It was loaded with a magazine filled with the smaller cannonballs and could be reloaded like an auto rifle.
Jace had a raised brow while Gauss looked impressed.
"Ain't she a beauty?" Axel nearly gushed with a grin. He looked around for a suitable target to test. "Hey boss man," he said to Gauss. "You mind if I use that wall over there?"
He didn't even wait for approval. Axel aimed the cannon. Because his weapons were made to respond like muscles, all he had to do was think and it shot out a smoking cannon. The recoil caused the cannon to move to the right, making him flail a little to keep his balance, sommersaulting backward to shoot again. It hit the wall with a bang, and the roar of the impact shook the ground. Another hit built up the smoke and shook the earth again.
When the dust cleared, Axel whistled low and grimaced. But he was still proud. Half the guard wall was eaten out, and in the ground in its place was a sizable crater.
Jace seemed a smidgen impressed. So that was good enough. Gauss looked mighty pleased.
"Hot damn, kid," he said, coming to walk to Axel and give him a pat on the shoulder. "But Blair's going to have a dog and a half if she sees this."
"I can fix it, I swear," Axel said, paling a bit. This Blair person sounded a little angry. And he knew the wrath of a woman was nothing to be tinkered with. At least...not often.
It was fun, what could he say?
"You'd better," Gauss muttered. "That all you got, though?"
"Hell no," Axel grinned mischievously.
