Chapter 13-Noah vs Zippy

As Zippy enters that sprinter's stance, electric-yellow sparks of energy burst and swirl around his body.

"So that's Zippy's Charge Stance, eh?" I ask myself, "Well…based on his crouched knees and the orientation of his toes…Zippy's certainly gonna charge towards me with a push off of his left foot…my martial arts training with Old-Man F has really paid off!"

"Thunder Charge, Level One!" Zippy booms, "Blitz Speed!"

And then…in the blink of an eye, Zippy pushes off the ball of his left foot and charges towards me, creating a small crater in his wake.

"A spear-hand thrust to the throat…that'll do it!" I exclaim as I chamber my hand then launch my finger tips towards Zippy's throat, but before my strike can land, Zippy appears before me.

Zippy jabs me in the gut with an uppercut of such speedy force that my entire body goes numb as I double over and spit up a glob of blood. The force of Zippy's spell sends me flying backwards and slamming into the iron wall behind me. My eyes widen as I spit up another glob of blood, and I slide down the iron walls then slump to the ground.

The breath has been knocked out of me, and I gasp heavily for breath as I stare down at the ground before me.

"What…just happened…?" I croak.

"That's my THUNDER CHARGE for ya'!" Zippy smirks as he cracks his knuckles, "I can move at the speed of sound!"

"Thunder, huh…?" I croak, "Then, all I have to do is-"

Before I can finish, Zippy jabs me with a lightning-fast punch again, sending me crashing back into the ground.

"Owww…" I groan.

"IS THAT ALL YA' GOT?!" Zippy roars as he kicks me in the gut with the top of his foot, sending me flying into the air.

Zippy then resumes his Charge Stance before leaping into the air above me, with speeds so fast that I have no HOPE of dodging.

"Thunder Charge, Level Two: Sonic Slash!" Zippy cackles as he swings a round-house kick towards me, which causes Zippy to slash me with the blades attached to his ankles, and my blood is sprayed through the air as I crash back to the ground on my back in a cloud of dust.

Zippy lands on the ground before me.

"This is…impossible…"

Slowly, I peer up at Zippy on my hands and knees, who looms over me menacingly.

"I was…HORRIBLY unprepared for E-Charger combat…"

"Alright, come on!" Zippy urges as he brings both of his hands up, "Let's see what YOU'VE got, Water Charger!"

"Alright…" I grunt as I push myself up to my feet, "You asked for it!"

I crouch into a fighting stance and bring my arms up. I still my left foot into the ground then pivot it, using the force of my turn as I bring my right knee up to slam a powerful round-house kick into Zippy

"My martial arts training with Master Flint REALLY has paid off!" I smirk.

But before my account can land, Zippy brings his left arm up to block, and my kick doesn't even succeed in pushing Zippy back.

"So you wanna' go mano a mano with me, eh?" Zippy smirks from behind my leg.

Zippy then curls his left hand around my leg then brings his right arm up as well, causing them to slam my leg down into his rising knee, causing me to grunt as my leg goes numb.

Next, Zippy jabs me in the throat with a spear-hand of such force that I SWEAR it would have pierced my neck if I wasn't tensing up my body, and I'm sent flying backwards again.

"Alright…" I grunt as I stand up and resume my Charge Stance, "I didn't want to unveil this spell so soon…but it looks like I have no choice!"

As seafoam-green sparks of energy burst and swirl around my body, Zippy does as well, as electric-yellow sparks of energy burst and swirl around his body.

"Water Charge, Level Two-!" I begin to shout, but before I can finish E-Charging, Zippy dashes forwards at blinding speeds, and slashes me with his ankle blades, causing me to stumble backwards

"Thunder Charge, Level Two: Sonic Slash!" Zippy cackles.

"Alright, let's try that again!" I shout as I resume my Charge Stance, "Water Charbe, Level Two-!"

But, just as before, Zippy dashes forwards and slashes me with his ankle blades before I can prepare my attack, sending me flying backwards.

"Thunder Charger, Level Two: Sonic Slash!" Zippy shouts.

I resume my Charge Stance as seafoam-green sparks of energy burst and swirl around my body.

"Water Charge, Level One: Bullet Rain!" I shout as I twist my hands through the air, summoning needle-sharp rain fall over Zippy.

In response, Zippy enters his charge stance.

"Thunder Charge, Level One: Blitz Speed!" Zippy shouts as he uses his lightning-fast speeds to dodge my attack.

I continue trying to attack Zippy with my Bullet Rain, but every time, Zippy uses his impressive speeds to dodge.

"See?" Zippy cackles as he dashes towards me, "You're powerless against my speed!"

"That's where you're wrong," I smirk as I resume my Charge Stance.

Zippy continues dashing towards me, but before he can slash me with his ankle blades, I thrust my hands towards the ground.

"Water Charge, Level Three: Squirt Gun!" I shout.

"What?!" Zippy cries, "You BE-Charged so fast! There's no WAY that spell has any power behind it?!"

"I don't need any power behind this move!" I smirk as I release a jet stream of water out of my hands, one so weak but BARLEY strong enough that the force of my attack causes me to hop backwards.

"Crap, I don't have enough time to slow down!" Zippy cries as he crashes through the iron wall that I was standing before, then slamming into the one on the other side.

"Ohhh…" Zippy groans as he stumbles backwards in a daze, blood sprouting from his broken nose and bloody skull.

"The only reason I kept using my Bullet Rain was to figure out your average E-Charge speed," I explain with a smirk, "Once I had the timing down, I lured you in close then used a weak jet stream of water at the last possible moment to dodge."

"LETS SEE YOU COUNTER THESE SPEEDS!" Zippy roars as he charges towards me again, even faster than before.

"No matter how fast you can move, you'll never be able to touch me, Zippy!" I roar back as I enter my Charge Stance.

"Water Charge, Level Three: Squirt Gun!" I shout as I thrust both hands to the ground, which propels myself backwards, and forces Zippy to slam face-first into another wall.

"Damn…" Zippy grunt as he stumbles backwards again.

"Now…" I smirk again as I resume my Charge Stance.

"Water Charge…" I begin to say as water swirls around my hand.

"Level Two…" I continue as I take a step towards Zippy.

"RAPIDS CLAW!" I roar as I swing my hand towards Zippy, firing off a blade of water from each finger.

Zippy -still too dazed from smashing face-forwards in the wall- howls in pain as he's shredded up by my claw of water, before falling to the ground on one knee, huffing and puffing as he stares up at me, blood flowing from his fresh wounds.

I pant heavily as I stare back down at Zippy.