Success!

Hailwing's capable fist found John's jaw, driving his head to the side. The massive human's response, to step back, told the winged warrior that he'd damaged the man. Hailwing skidded to a stop, his feet sliding across the grassy ground as he watched John seemingly fall to his knees in agony; payback had been given.

But John was not hurt at all, in the end, but had cleverly placed himself in an ingenious tactical position. Using his greater weight and the incredible flexibility of his armor, the man was tilting the platform backward - forward, to Hailwing.

The statue-come-to-life hadn't fully grasped what this platform was when first accessing it. John's movement and positioning had kept it as secret as possible, and Hailwing had been too consumed with the fight to consider the movement of the ground. "Well played!" he called.

He knelt and got as low to the ground as possible, digging his heels and trying to grind his fingertips into the soil. This worked, but only briefly. The platform turned more and more vertically, and his hands tore out chunks of dirt, no longer able to hold.

John was still in front of him, anchored to the island. An idea formed in Hailwing's head, and he did not see an alternative.

He pressed forward and dove down, aiming to crash into John and drive both of them off of the platform.