Chapter 11: Frost and Blaze.
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What Is Better? To be born Evil, or to overcome your good nature through great effort?
(Angel's Actual P.O.V)
Shade is hesitant at first. Naturally. He doesn't speak much, only saying what is needed.
And even when I do conversate with him for a long time, barring his monthly reports, it's usually when he's asking a question that has deeply been troubling him.
Like now.
"Young Master, this is it. Are you sure?"
Like usual I don't answer quickly.
I think about it first. And while thinking about it, I pass by Candi's room. My little sister. She has to be asleep by now. It's already 12.
Though she hates the name Candi and prefers to be called Scandal, her real name.
But she's just so cute when she's mad-
Focus. The question.
Am I sure of what I'm about to do?
It's Patricide. The killing of one's own father.
The hallways and stairs blur together and only as I stop before the door to the Sparring room do I answer.
"No."
I exhale.
"But Vandal Savage needs to die for me to live. It's that simple."
And it is.
Then it hits me like a 12 wheeler truck. This wasn't just about succeeding him.
I HATED VANDAL SAVAGE even more than I hated my last Father.
And that was because he had turned me into himself.
The door swings open, and finally,
Father and son stare at each other grimly.
(General P.O.V)
They were in the wide chamber reserved for training and sparring underneath the mansion. Something that Angel had liberally made use of.
Taking measured steps forward, a strong sense of Deja vu hit Angel.
The last time he faced his father like this was in the Warehouse that was now mere ash in the Gotham docks. That was 5, almost 6 years ago.
Back then Angel had been weak.
So weak in fact, his 4 year old self- despite having his powers already- could offer no resistance when the Immortal was kicking his ass.
Vandal could have easily killed him back then, cutting off Angel's chance at a second life, in a premature fashion.
Angel hated that feeling. And by extension, he hated Savage as well.
"You've grown stronger, My Son."
Savage noted with a little pride, shrugging off his robe and stepping forward into the sparring mat.
The light from the ceiling above hit him, revealing a naked torso with powerful arms and a large chest, that seemed to be carved out of oak wood and stone.
An aura of animal agression surrounded him, tempered only by the WILL of a MAN, who considered himself higher than even the GODS.
Without a word, Angel shrugged off his coat, leaving him in a black gi with a white and red sash across his hips to keep the Gi in place. His arms were left bare in a style reminiscent to Goku.
He sensed the coat sink into his shadow, and then Shade's presence faded away into the background. Watching, not to intervene but to witness, as the Son tried to surpass the Father.
"Oh, you have no idea...old man."
The young boy, not even in his teens shot back, falling into a martial arts stance with both hands stretched and the fingers curled into claws.
"A pup mimicking a dragon."
A note of interest flickered in Savage's eyes.
He wasn't mad at being called Old. He even thought the boy's petulance was amusing.
However.
"You should know that I won't go easy on you. You still need to be punished for your mistakes."
The Father informed the son, motioning for him to attack first.
"So come on Boy. I've seen all martial ability. Show me yours."
Angel naturally understood that he was outmatched in almost all physical parameters, skills and experience. Training for 5 years did not mean he could stand up to 5000 years.
Hence he didn't waste time and immediately attacked, dashing forward with a burst of flames from his right heel, propelling him towards his father with his left leg poised for an attack.
The Immortal calmly watched his son's approaching figure before strafing to the side, neatly avoiding the ice that spread across the floor and extended to the ceiling in massive crystal pillars.
Angel slid on an ice ramp with the expertise of a skater, calmly following Savage, who had started to run across the room while avoiding the incoming ice attacks and occasional flames.
"Stop running like a coward Father!"
Angel mocked, punching out with his left hand, and creating a huge snow ball, before kicking out with his right leg and turning the ice into a thick mist that rapidly cooled.
Sshhwweee!!
Sshhwweee!!
Thousands of sharp needles descended to the floor, only to shatter against the Immortal's skin as easy as glass.
"Fine boy. This time I'll break your Jaw first."
Savage growled, running up the wall at crazy speeds before taking a leap towards Angel.
Angel was fast to react, already condensing spikes of ice outside of the Ice shield he had trained to form at a moment's notice.
The Immortal kept flying forward, uncaring of the spikes headed his way.
They pierced his chest and stomach, sinking in so deep the tips came out of his back.
Only for a bloody smile to appear on his face as he slammed right through the ice shield, startling the boy who was only now just turning around...
And then Vandal was seeing red as his vision was overtaken by fire. His body instinctively froze.
Fire was something sacred. Even to him. Especially to him. And although he would never admit it, having a son that could tame it was...
"I almost bit out your throat boy."
The Immortal chuckled, showing his sharp canines.
"These teeth are strong enough to bite through steel."
Angel calmed his racing heart. First, the environment.
They were now above the spar area, standing on a ramp/slide that Angel had created with his ice.
'Good. He can jump but can't fly, meanwhile I can slide on ice constructs and manuaver through jet Propulsion.'
The thought passed through Angel's mind as he propelled himself forward.
The telegraphed kick he threw was easy to forsee. So Vandal casually raised his forearm for a block while preparing his own strike.
Mere feet from connecting, Angel released a jet Propulsion from his right leg, stalling his momentum enough that instead of crashing onto his Father, he instead slammed the heel onto the ramp, destroying the Ice.
Savage was initially surprised, and then he begun to jump off the falling chunks of Ice in a bid to slow his descent.
Bam!
Finally he landed on the sparring area with chunks of shattered ice surrounding him.
An instant later, Angel joined him and then it was back on.
With a curious glint in his eyes, the Immortal blocked the first salvo of attacks from his son easily.
Claws tipped with icy and fiery nails landed on his skin, leaving behind small wounds and burn marks that immediately healed afterwards.
There! Angel thought, leaning back from his father's kick, only to slide below and smash his heel on the Immortal's ankle, destabilizing his footing by sweeping the leg out from under him.
Only for Savage to smoothly spin using his hands for support before swinging his legs in a wide arc, smashing Angel's ice and fire away using an unexpected burst of air.
The younger of the two made no extra move as his opponent created distance between them.
"What was that?"
Angel couldn't help but ask.
"It felt like martial arts but looked like magic."
The Older Savage merely cracked his neck.
"Beat me, and I'll teach it to you."
"Fine!"
Angel snorted, rushing forward once more.
This time he opened with a blast of flames aimed at the entirety of Savage's side of the room.
Fortunately, the chamber had been fire proofed for this same exact moment(having trained with Fire and Ice in it before).
Vandal watched the flames with amusement before his expression changed as he sensed the temperatures radiating out of the fire curtain headed his way.
The flames were much much hotter than before.
Without a single ounce of hesitation, he unsheathed his short sword, stepped forward and with a yell, parted the flames.
Only to find Angel's form, his right side shrouded by ice, jumping through the opening, left hand extended with the palm open.
"Ice bullets barrage."
The boy quietly intoned, shooting out spikes of ice that covered the distance between the two.
Too fast for Savage to completely dodge, the Immortal blocked what he could and tanked what he could not.
When the barrage ended, Savage had a few ice spikes puncturing his body. All of them were in places that would not impede his fighting strength. And besides, the wounds were already healing.
Something that angel had already anticipated as he landed, cartwheeling through the air to add more momentum to his next move.
Above his right hand, held closer to his hips was a red ball of flame compressing at a very high rate, warping the very air infact.
"Fire bomb."
Calling out the name of the attack once more, saw the release of the ball of flames, which upon leaving Angel's control, instantly destabilized and exploded in Savage's face.
The Immortal and the weapon racks on the sides were thrown back, sending them on a collision course with the furthest wall.
The entire chamber trembled with the shockwaves.
And above them, the servants in the mansion couldn't help but notice the effects.
In one room in particular, A pretty little girl in pig-tails was drawing on a piece of paper, when she looked up just as the chandelier above her broke and fell down.
Before it could slam into her and turn her to paste, the chandelier slowed down, covered by a shroud of green energy.
This incident went unnoticed by everyone except for Shade.
Meanwhile in the sparring chamber down below, Angel calmly stood- watching as Savage extricated himself from the debris caused by the explosion.
Almost poetically, his right hand lay limp, broken at the elbow.
Savage grit his teeth as he snapped the bone back in place, glowering at Angel who for the first time since they begun actually smiled.
"How's that for Martial ability?"
At the slightly mocking words, Savage chuckled in a hollow tone. Then he fell silent, before saying,
"You will pay for that brat."
And then he moved.
'Shit. He's fast.'
Angel thought, jumping back while unleashing elemental attacks at his father, obstructing his way while trying to actively land a blow.
However, senior Savage demonstrated his wealth of experience and power by simply bursting through any and all attacks that came his way.
And whenever he was faced with something he couldn't logically take on, a few quick slashes with his sword would take care of that.
'That weapon...is not normal.' Angel noted to himself as he created an ice shield to block the sword slash, only for his ice wall to immediately get cut through and Vandal to fly throw the opening just like Angel had a few seconds ago.
'It's over boy.'
Savage thought, relishing the vitriol in those hateful black eyes glaring at him.
Hateful eyes that brought out a brief sensation of fear in him. Which made him furious.
'I'll kill him and save myself the trouble of getting betrayed in the future.'
The Immortal decided, bringing his sword down on Angel's head.
The boy might have been impressive with the way he used his powers but that was it. No ice or fire could stop his Adamantium blade. It had been forged to deal with this exact problem.
Homo Magi.
'Goodbye son. In your next life...'
Savage's thought process was interrupted by a loud clang!
Looking down, he was shocked to find his sword blocked by a strange blade. The metal glowed a soft blue and the shaft of the blade was covered by Ice which extended up Angel's left hand.
"Wha-"
Once more, Savage was cut off mid sentence, only this time he did it to himself- jumping back to avoid a sharp arc of fire that still managed to wound him on the chest. Although the injury healed almost instantly.
"Thank you Shade."
Angel said to the shadows behind him, brandishing two distinct looking swords in each hand.
"Father, I would like to introduce you to Frost..."
He held up the sword covered in flames.
"...And Blaze."
He held up the sword covered in Ice.
"Funny."
Savage stated in a tone that suggested it was anything but.
"Oh, if you're thinking I made a mistake with the names, you're very mistaken."
Angel responded, pointing the tip of Frost in his father's direction.
"Made of Orichalcum, Frost can channel and enhance my Heat Mana to such a degree that it creates a thermal inversion field, in other words instead of radiating pure heat, it emits cold heat. Like so..."
He slashed out with Frost, aiming it at the walls to the side.
A white flame silently flew off the blade, leaving a slash mark on the wall before disappearing.
However, a strange phenomenon occurred where the wall started cracking before it disintegrated into nothing, revealing the wine cellar on the other side.
Immediately, Savage's eyes fell on the other blade in Angel's hands.
If Frost could convert hot mana into Cold Fire, then he guessed the opposite was true.
The blade covered in ice could paradoxically convert Cold mana into hot Ice.
"I know what you're thinking Father."
Angel smirked, holding up Blaze in his right hand.
"If Frost is this powerful, what about Blaze?"
Savage's face remained expressionless but to Angel who was proficient in reading body language, he easily noticed the slight twitch on Savage's jaw.
"Don't worry old man."
Angel chuckled, dropping Blaze onto a shadow pocket behind him.
"I've already been holding back 50% of my true strength. Using Blaze and Frost at the same time on you would be overkill."