Feinting one way, with all the speed he could muster, Steel then rolled the other. Done a little faster, it would have fooled his naga assailant, but the cold and the beating he'd taken over the last few minutes had caught up with him. A solid mass of tail whirled round, sending bits of paper fluttering into the air, before catching him a glancing blow on the top of his thigh, forcing him to cry out in agony, a new and unusual experience for him. Slithering back to the far side of the corridor, the naga now had a huge mocking smile covering his serpent-like face, as Steel, doubled over on the floor, tried desperately to pull in a decent breath, puffing and panting like an overworked husky, not needing to look up to know exactly how much trouble he was in. As he ran his fingers across his ribcage, trying to feel the damage he'd taken, his hands shook uncontrollably. If he was any judge, it was continuing to get colder, playing right into the hands of his foe.
"You certainly don't lack spirit," remarked the naga, barely a scratch on him, despite Steel's best efforts. "But I think now it might be time to concede defeat. I'll make it swift for an honourable dragon like yourself."
He supposed for some in his position, it might be tempting. But that wasn't how he rolled. If the naga couldn't see that, bigger fool him.
"Swift?" gulped Steel, now shivering all over.
"Think of it as a measure of respect, from one warrior to another."
After a momentary pause, still on his knees, Steel nodded and said,
"Do it!"
Slithering closer, Steel seemingly done, the naga gathered up the magic in his mind, ready to release it in one fell swoop. Pulling in a breath, Steel flooded every cell in his body with everything he had left, determined to go out fighting. From the very corner of his right eye, Steel could just see his opponent about to do exactly as he'd asked. Without hesitation, the laminium ball star threw everything into his shield, expanding it as far as he dared, before rolling up onto his feet and throwing himself at the naga. The slippery beast nearly choked on his magic, if that were possible. One second it was there, the next he was being knocked to the ground by an invisible force. Some of the magic released, all by itself, not finding its target, instead lighting up the walls of the corridor on both sides. Steel just let himself go. In the preceding moments, he'd told himself to do anything and everything to prevail, that the lives of those dragons who had nursed him back to health depended on it. It was all or nothing. So on hitting the naga full on, he withdrew his shield and let rip with a stunning mantra, putting all the belief and willpower he had left behind it, while at the same time punching, kicking and scratching for all he was worth. In truth, he'd gone berserk, without even knowing it. To the naga's credit, he gathered his wits about him quite quickly, but not before admonishing himself for being tricked. As he righted himself, throwing the pathetic looking dragon off in the process, he had one thought. 'NO MORE MISTER NICE GUY!'
Steel's head smashed straight through the glass separating the corridor from the solar recovery room. Half of his body had gone through the wall. Plaster dust blossomed into a small nuclear cloud. Razor-sharp shards of glass tinkled to the floor, those that weren't embedded in some way in the laminium ball player. With all the effort he could marshal, he tried to stand, well... pull himself out of the wall. Try as he might, he couldn't move. The cold very firmly had him in its grip.
Helpless to intervene, all they could do was watch the screen, apart from the two at separate computers, who were working feverishly.
"It needs to be now," begged 'Nurse Conscience'.
"Nearly there."
Never before having felt so powerless, she stared at the screen as the naga slinked back to an upright position, having tossed Steel almost through the wall like a rag doll. She willed him to get up. Get up and fight. Briefly she thought he would, but as the naga approached, full of magic, Steel's limp body hung there, half in, half out of the wall... totally static.
Wary of being fooled again, the naga, scratched, bruised and more than a little shaken from Steel's desperate attack, hung back a little, pulling in refreshing breaths of replenishing cold air. He had no more time to waste. No doubt his partner had monitored everything that had gone on and would berate him on his return, something he wasn't looking forward to. It did seem a shame to have to kill this one though. He'd fought valiantly enough. If it were down to him, he would just leave him here with his wounds. But it wasn't. And the orders had to be obeyed, that he knew. Reluctantly, he prepared himself for the grisly task.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!! The wall, windows, Steel, the naga and the entire corridor were suddenly engulfed in the mother of all fireballs. In the blink of an eye, the partition disintegrated, the glass melted, the naga was pelted with fiery debris and Steel... well, Steel embraced the warmth, the fire... the HEAT! It was glorious, delicious, overwhelming... almost. All he wanted to do was stand in the middle of it all and soak it up. But he was aware now that the cold had been peeled away and recognised just what the naga was about to do to him, and how much of a threat it still presented. So without hesitation, and as much for the others as for himself, he attacked with everything he knew. With the roles reversed, the naga struggled with the heat as Steel had been struggling with the cold, and after being hurled back down the corridor from the explosive force of the fireball, as well as being pelted with wreckage, the naga didn't stand a chance. Steel was on him in an instant, and almost as a mark of his respect, finished it instantaneously. With the explosive force of the fireball having passed, Steel stood in the middle of the burning wreckage, thick black smoke wafting all around him, burnt, battered, bruised and beat. Most importantly though, he was still alive. A tiny whirring further back down the corridor caught his attention. The security camera mounted on the ceiling turned in his direction. He could sense the dragon presences behind the technology.
"Thank you," he mouthed in its direction. It moved up and down in response. Plodding over to one of the only remaining pieces of wall, slowly he slid down it until his giant scaly bottom hit the floor. Slowly shutting his eyes, he savoured the heat from the blast and the fires all around him, waiting for them to come and find him.
Discovery was the watchword of the next two hours. Heroic staff in the control centre had to use all their wits to work out how to reverse the temperature change, which eventually they managed to do. As the staff arrived to find their injured patient, Steel couldn't remember ever having been so pleased to see other dragons. Heading back to the store room in the bowels of the building, the discovery there was nothing short of grim. After spending over an hour breaking in, they found that the doctor and his followers had all frozen to death. Everything was covered in a thick layer of frost, despite the temperature having been reversed. Devastated, they all realised there was no time to dwell on the tragedy. After a heated discussion it was decided, pretty much unanimously, that as a group they should leave the facility. It was just too dangerous to stay. No doubt others would come when they noticed the nagas were missing. Staying on the move appeared to be the best option.
Next came a discovery that totally rocked Steel. They'd all decided they needed a leader, one voice, if they were to go outside into the fray. It took no time at all for 'Nurse Conscience' to nominate Steel and everyone else to second him. He was about to discover if his laminium ball leadership skills translated into battle. If nothing else, things weren't going to be dull.