Winx 4
As the sun was about to set , Team SABER found themselves in HeadMaster Saladin's office.
Nervously ,Timmy asked "If you don't mind, why did you call us up here Headmaster Saladin?"
Saladin cleared his throat "You see, I've noticed your team's synergy has been declining lately. So I wanted to ask why."
"It's because he's dating that witch who sent the Minotaur after us." Brandon shouted as he pointed to Riven.
"How's about you shut it squire boy and butt out of my relationship." Riven retorted.
Saladin sighed as he furrowed his brow "Boys , I know squabbles like this happen but you're holding this grudge far too long. Even your grades are being affected."
Timmy nodded his head "The headmaster was right, you need to settle this beef sooner rather than latter."
Austin adds "True, it's like the only thing these two talk about lately."
"Are you really siding with him after everything that happened?"
Sky raised his voice.
"No, all I'm saying is if we actually talked things out instead of screaming at each other." Austin sighed as he slumped in his chair.
Saladin slammed his dragon shaped staff into the ground to gather the five's attention back to him. "If you're done arguing, I've come to you with a mission that should bring your five together."
"We're honored that you're giving us the chance and we won't let you down." Brandon said as he bowed before Saladin.
Saladin mentioned "While I enjoy your enthusiasm Brandon, Austin will be the one heading this mission." The headmaster emphasized his point by pointing his staff to the beast tamer.
"But why me? I'm the newest guy to the squad." Austin questioned Saladin's decision.
Saladin explains "A shake up in leadership might be what helps you boys get your squad in order."
Riven asked "So what's the mission, is it going to be another prisoner transport or protecting a diploma from bandits."
"Tomorrow afternoon, you'll be assisting an unarmed combat class at Alfea." Saladin answered as if the fate of the world was dependent on the mission.
Before anyone could question the the headmaster's choices , Saladin nodded his head "You'll head out after lunch to our sister school."
With those words , Saladin dismissed the squad. Just as the door closed behind them, Brandon states "Don't mess this up for us Riven. We can't have another screwup on our record."
"Why do you always have to blame me for everything. No one is as perfect as your prince." Riven scoffs.
Austin gets in between the two in an attempt to pacify them "Relax guys, like Saladin said maybe this switch up might help us in the long run."
Timmy nodded "True, let's take advantage of this situation."
"Just like you peasants always do, taking advantage of your better's goodwill." The group heard a voice mention.
Team SABER looked behind them to see the voice belonged to their classmate Louis. He was a young slim man with thick, brown wavy hair that is swept up at the back and large, downturned teal eyes.
"What do you want with us Louis?"An annoyed Brandon said not really caring for his response.
A vein pulsed from Louis's forehead as he hissed"How dare you, a squire should be honored to speak to the son of a Varandaian Earl."
Riven yawned "Look if you're done stroking your ego, get to the point."
Timmy and Austin chuckled at the joke while Louis states "It seems that Headmaster Saladin has been giving your squad special treatment."
"Yeah because we've been killing it since the Summer Orientation Camp, so he's been giving us extra missions." Sky said with a cocky smile.
Louis scoffs "That can't be it, after all my squad is comprised solely of Nobles." He looked towards Sky "Unfortunately yours is made up of a lowly squire, a street urchin and some tech geek who wants to play hero."
Riven balled up his fist as he took a step forward. But before he could make a move, Austin said to Louis "Sounds to me you're jealous, after all I heard Princess Stella dissed you at the Welcoming Party."
Louis boiled in anger as his face turned red "You dare talk down to me. My father will have your head."
"Maybe I'd take your threats more seriously if they didn't start with "my father", I'm surprised he didn't take your exams for you."
The rest of SABER could barely contain their chuckles as Louis stormed off in a huff.
"D..dude that was the coolest thing I ever seen." Riven said cackling while holding his sides.
Brandon nods "Yeah, that definitely put in his place."
Austin smiled "I couldn't let him diss my squad, so come on let's hit the mess hall for some dinner."
The following day at Noon, the squad were approached the school's gate and were greeted by assistant headmistress , Griselda.
"Welcome to our fine school gentleman, Headmaster Saladin has spoken highly of you and I hope you live up to the expectations." Griselda said as she looked over her clipboard.
The boys followed the Head of Discipline towards the training hall. As they were walking , Timmy whispers "Are you going to be okay, last time you saw the Winx was at the brawl."
"I'll do my best but I doubt they'd want to talk to me after that." Riven said as his eyes darted to the floor in shame.
Austin placed a hand on Riven's shoulder "Don't worry mate, we'll be here to support you."
Once Griselda opens the door to the training hall , she states "As Saladin already mentioned you'll be assisting a joint lesson between the freshman classes of Alfea and Cloud Tower."
Austin gulped at the mention of the latter as he saw a familiar face in the crowd. She was young, short girl with medium black hair tied back into a ponytail and brown eyes. She wore a red qipao style top, black baggy training pants and martial arts slippers.
The second she noticed Austin, she leaped up and aimed a powerful sideways kick to his head, but the beast tamer managed to dodge the assault as his hands formed half clenched fist.
"Seems you haven't grown since our last run in, Jackie."Austin mentioned.
Visibly annoyed, the girl says "Unlike some people, I don't eat a whole cow a day."
Griselda gets in between the two and shout "The two of you cease your fighting or I'll report you to your respective Head of Discipline."
Austin says as he showed the red paw mark on his calf "Apologize, Professor Griselda. But this goes beyond our schools."
The girl showed off a similar mark on right wrist. Griselda nods as she moved out of their way "I see, care on."
With those words Jackie swung her leg to hit Austin with a roundhouse kick, but he dodged and lunged forward to punch his opponent in the stomach. Suddenly, Jackie swung her heel down and bashed Austin's head into the pavement as she was sent back into a wall.
"Hold on, why did Griselda let them keep fighting?" Bloom asked as the Winx walked over to Team SABER.
Brandon responds "The mark they showed her belongs to the Wild Beast-Fist Temple, one of the best martial arts school in Magix."
"And a part of the training regiment includes sparring against other practitioners they met outside of the dojo." Timmy adds.
Austin gets up as he tapped the brow of his fist "Man… your kicks still hurt like hell."
Jackie held her sides "Same with those punches, the score is 63-50 for you."
"It's 63-49, don't give yourself the win too early." Austin argued as he jumped forward and struck Jackie with a flying knee to her chin followed by an elbow strike at the top of her head.
She recovered from the attack and l swung her leg into Austin's neck. She followed the attack up with a downward kick to her opponent's shoulder, knocking him off balance.
Before Austin could brace for the fall, Jackie dropped into a one-handed handstand and kicked him in the ribs. She spun around using the momentum of the last attack and delivered a fast kick to the opponent's lower back.
Austin managed to hit Jackie with an elbow strike as he escaped from her vicious kick combo.
Back in the stands , Bloom questioned "If they trained at the same dojo , why do their fighting styles seem so different."
Riven explains "The Wild Beast-Fist isn't a traditional dojo, disciples are tasked in creating their own on styles based on their spirit animal."
The girls ignored kept silent until Sky added "Basically they've been trained to adapt to any style possible."
Stella nodded her head "Wow, guess that means he's pretty skilled."
Riven took a deep breath and decided to focus his attention back on the match. He saw Austin dig his feet into the ground and in an instant , he managed to cross the distance between him and Jackie to strike her with a solid punch.
But to everyone's surprise, the girl performed a pirouette as she countered with a kick to his chin.
Jackie aimed a stabbing kick towards Austin's chest, but the beast tamer jumped up and grabbed the witch's kicking leg while punching the instructor right on her jaw.
The witch smirks as she attempts to strike Austin with a series of rapid kicks, yet the Speaclist managed to avoid most of the strikes and blocked the rest with his shoulders.
Just as Austin went in for a punch, Jackie performed another a pirouette to counter, but to her surprise Austin spun around to hit his with an elbow strike to the forehead.
"Using my own move against me, pretty solid play. But that's the last hit you're getting on me." Jackie states.
Austin didn't question the comment as he went in for another attack, but just before he got into striking range, Jackie spun at inhuman speeds to repel Austin into the air.
The beast tamer's body was sent flying into the ceiling then crashed down to the floor as he went limp.
Riven ran over to check on Austin, but the Beast Tamer stood up with the stomach and chest part of his uniform tattered along with a massive bruise on his throat.
"Don't count me out just yet." Austin responds in a hoarse voice.
"Exactly how can you get up after that!?" Riven asked in complete shock.
"Its because he has monster like durability. I can never get a win off him without getting beaten black and blue myself." Jackie responds.
Austin charged at the witch to strike a punch on her chin, but Jackie dove to the ground into a handstand as she kicked over her head to hit right above her opponent's chest. To her surprise, Austin countered with a low kick to her forehead.
Both fighters were knocked onto their backs as they struggled to get up.
Jackie groans as her roommates Lucy and Mirta picked her up "I'll let you have this one, fighting you has always been a pain."
Austin smirked as blood started dripping down his mouth "Victory for the Jaguar Fist style."
Riven picked Austin up and asked "You okay man, that looked like a nasty hit." Riven asked concerned for his squad mate.
"I'm good, beside it's not as bad as you got hit by that Minotaur." Austin responded somewhat weakly as tapped his brow with his fist.
Riven sat him down next to Timmy as Sky slapped Austin on the back and said "Great match man."
Austin spat out blood as he fell to the ground writhing in pain and passed out in the span of 5 seconds.
"Okay, I don't think I hit him that hard." Sky said as he picked Austin back up.
"Don't worry, that's just an after effect of the Scorpion Fist's Scarlet Stinger. He should be fine in an hour." Jackie explains after passing out herself.
Hours latter as Austin woke up, he found himself with Riven on a Wind Rider. "W…what happened?"Austin asked groggily as he tightened his grip on Riven's waist.
"Seems that attack did more damage than we thought, you passed out after the fight." Timmy answered.
Somewhat disappointed, Austin said "Really, guess I messed up my first mission in charge."
Brandon says "Dude all everyone was talking about was your match. It even seems like we might be invited back after that showcase."
Austin released a sigh of relief before asking Riveb "So did things go okay with the Winx?"
"It wasn't as bad as I thought, but it's definitely going to take a while before they'll forgive me." Riven groaned.
Brandon nods "It's a start, but I'm willing to not be as harsh on you. Who you date shouldn't affect our friendship."
Riven smiled "Thanks man, that means a lot."
Austin chuckles "I knew it, you really are a nice guy underneath that bad boy routine."
Riven elbowed Austin in the rib "Maybe, but you can't spend that around. I've got a rep to maintain."