Punished For Victory

Under the cover of the smoke screen that he created, Wes was able to use all of his Skills as he needed to. Of course, using all of them was probably not the best move, but he could at least get away with using one or two extra ones... and that would be just enough to give him the edge here. "Here I come!" he called out, and he began to tap into the Space Framework within him. Teleportation would be far too obvious under normal circumstances. Of course, he had already used the Skill to compress the space between him and Andrew, allowing him to land a hit with his Far Impact Skill earlier in the match.

He hadn't done well with his teleportations before, against the Beast, but now was a good enough time to practice, when his life wasn't in danger. The smoke screen was starting to fade, so now was going to need to be the time. His eyes closed, and he imagined the space just in front of Andrew. He knew that the man would have expecting him to come around from the sides, or if he had a teleportation Skill, that he would use it to come around from behind. Or at the very least, to come charging out from the front, and that would allow Andrew time to defend.

But teleporting directly in front of Andrew was going to be the best strategy that he could think of in this short time. The call that he'd made earlier faded, and the smoke screen was nearly gone- now was the time to act. He felt himself being pulled along with the space displacement, and after what felt like little more than an instant, he found himself just in front of Andrew, the other young man realizing just what Wesley had done.

"Hey-" Andrew began before Wesley's fist buried itself into his stomach. The revenge was sweet. Andrew had struck him moments ago with a powerful hit- and now he'd gotten to return the favor. Beyond that, the high-and-mighty jerk had been nothing but rude to them since the beginning. Sure, he had listened to Wes when they had done those hit-and-run tactics against the Beast, but he had been argumentative during it, and wishing to flee and leave the others behind.

And Wesley was not fond of that sort of cowardice at all.

So the hit to his opponent's abdomen carried with it not only the weight of revenge from getting punched before, but also the justice of being able to finally put him in his place. It felt exhilarating, and he reveled in it for a long moment before realizing that he was definitely starting to enjoy that a bit more than he probably should have. With a small sound, he grit his teeth before standing back up to his full height, looking down at Andrew, the man still on the ground and holding his abdomen where he'd been struck. "C'mon, I didn't even catch you in the jaw. Get back up."

Andrew snorted slightly, grunting as he shifted, rolling over onto his stomach before he began to steadily pick himself back up. "You haven't the faintest idea who you're dealing with, do you?"

Wesley lifted a hand up to his jawline, the place where he'd been hit before still aching slightly. "No, not really. I don't think it matters either. I don't care what family you come from or who your father is. Once we're out there on the front lines, we're all equal and what will matter is how well you're able to deal with the Beasts."

"All right you two, all right," Faremont called out, coming forward toward Wesley and Andrew as the two young men seemed to be about ready to stop sparring in combat practice and start fighting for real. "Go cool off with a run. Andrew, run laps back and forth from here to this end of the school. Wes, you do the same to the other. I'll tell you when you're done," the man continued as the two young men continued to glare at one another for another long moment. "Now," he barked, and both of them turned, beginning to do as they were told.

Jay frowned as he watched his brother head out, before he glanced back to their teacher. "So what is up with Andrew's parents anyway? He doesn't quit talkin' about them, man," he spoke, he and the other he'd been sparring with not really seeing much point in continuing at the moment when it came to the fact that two of the soldiers had nearly thrown down in an actual fight. "Is it anything that we need to actually worry about, dude?"

Professor Faremont gave a small breath at that, before he ended up shaking his head slowly. "Yes and no. He's from the family that had setup The Wall- a whole family of Stonemasons who had gotten rather wealthy from the payments they'd received from the governments to do it. Most of their family are actually Earthshapers, but a few of them, like Andrew, ended up with a higher Death Framework, and became Fireshapers instead some years back. That caused a rift and they splintered from the main family but they're still held in high regard."

Jay frowned at that, scratching his head. "So he's just being uppity and rude because he's not from a family that's as good as he thinks it is?" the young man asked, which caused a snort of laughter from his sparring partner.

Faremont didn't seem to take nearly as much amusement in that statement as some of the others. "All right. You go join your brother," the man spoke, frowning. "You start when he's reached his destination. No running together," the man called after Jay as the other began to jog out toward where Wes was coming back toward them. He glanced back at Andrew, who was coming back from his first lap. "All right, you're done. You need to remember your family isn't here to bail you out, you understand?"

Andrew frowned. "I understand, Uncle Faremont."