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If Realgar was fire, then Serpentine was ice. The Captain with the brightly colored uniform took a step back, not out of fear but merely to compose himself. The butt of the whip remained at the ready in his hand, but its damaging edge curled around his cream colored boots as he absorbed his sparring partner's emotional shift.

"If you are afraid, we can stop." It was said with a toss of his hair and a critical glance. He was willing to advance the fight further, at least in this controlled setting. "The enemy will not be as kind."

The more controlled of the two raised a single rainbow brow at the fury swelling in his fellow officer's voice. His eyes followed the movement of his sparring partner's hand, and although he could not hear the metallic falling sound of the weapon over the angry snarl... something had clearly occurred. He remembered Realgar's description of the caltrops and momentarily stood still.

Serpentine knew that with sharp, pointed metal death traps scattered all around in front of both Realgar and himself, there was only one safe place to avoid them. That place? Behind the increasingly angry Captain. He did not try to hold a large distance, probably within range of a good elbow back, but he put himself in such a position for two very particular reason. First, the Captain tried a tactic that had held up well in the past; he moved to wrap his whip around the other man's throat.

Second, the point of training was to learn how to overcome one's weaknesses - and often, one could not see his or her own weaknesses. Serpentine, an outside observer, could see what he percieved as a weakness in Realgar very clearly. If he did not share what he saw, then what good would it do either of them? "Control your anger, rather than allow it to control you."

Serpentine's eyes narrowed as he struggled to pull the whip closer to the other captain's throat. They were equal in strength, which made the matter more difficult... but more perturbing was Realgar's seemingly inability to rebottle his anger. They were on the same side, ultimately. Yes, the vain whip-wielder was safe in his own superiority, as far as he was concerned, but that did not mean that the escalation had to include a personal grudge. If the fight continued to escalate at this pace, however, that personal grudge was going to be cemented, however.

Realgar's slam backwards was seen, but not completely avoidable. Serpentine lifted his head to avoid being hit squarely in the face... but that left his throat exposed. The back of the other captain's head crashed into his windpipe and made the victim gag. Distracted, his grip on the whip became more lax. The weapon ultimately tumbled to the ground. At the last minute, Serpentine attempted to use his open hands to take hold ofo Realgar's elbows and pull them down together.

That strike had been entirely too close to his fabulous face for Serpentine's comfort. In response, the green-and-gold clad Captain's hiss became tinged with anger, "Then stop acting like one."

Serpentine endured the kick in order to take the man down with him. On the ground, both of them were equal. Weapon, strength, emotion... they were too equally matched in other ways. Maybe this would make them equal.

"Yield," he hissed. He was swiftly growing tired - literally tired, thanks to employing his teleportation ability. Yet, his pride would not allow him to be the one to stop this fight. He could, and would, broke no weakness. Realgar was not the only one who had control issues.

Serpentine immediately released Realgar whenever he yielded. No, the other Captain had not used those exact words, but that was how his vain sparring partner chose to take them.

The green and gold clad Captain pushed himself to his feet and immediately began brushing off his uniform. He tilted his head to show he was catching his companion's words, although when he did, he openly snorted.

"Perhaps." Serpentine replied stiffly, summoning his whip to his hand. He coiled it together and then placed it in its customary position inside his sash - a final sign that the fight was over. "But worth trying. I avoided injury and could continue fighting."

Then, since they were obviously to the part of the training where they made observations, he asked, "Why are you angry?"

There was truth in his sparring partner's words, and he accepted them with a nod. It was a disadvantage to the straregy. If he had been fighting a true opponent, then it could have cost him dearly. "True. I will need reserves, in the future."

Serpentine did not really care about his Realgar's personal problems. They all had issues, either in their powered lives or in their daily lives, to deal with. Still, he had been the one to ask the question, so he shrugged, "Either. It fuels you, but also blinds you. A dual-edged sword."

Every word that the other Captain spoke was carefully recorded into Serpentine's memory. Clearly, he had problems with how others handled themselves. It was a frustration that the florist cetainly understood. The Negaverse had begun changing for the better, in certain respects. That did not mean it was perfect. Was it not their job to make it so?

The question was strange, but Serpentine gave Realgar the benefit of the doubt that it was of importance. So, he merely raised a rainbow brow and answered, "Over a year. Why?"