Chapter 68-Noah+Flint vs the Blue-Fire Man

Old-Man F and I hear some footsteps come from behind us, and we turn around, only to be met with two figures in black cloaks.

"The Land of Fire is such a great place that we can AFFORD to be wasteful, unlike the Land of Water!"  One of the men smirks, "ain't that right, WATER CHARGER?"

Mine and Old-Man F's eyes widen.

"How do you know-?"  I begin to ask, but the man cuts me off.

"Unlike the other three lands, the Land of Fire ain't segregated from the rest of the world," he smirks, "From physician goods such as food, to the more important goods: INFORMATION.  All of this the Land of Fire can receive from the rest of the world, as well as hand it out.  However…we sorta like to RECEIVE more than we give.  EVERYONE wants to trade with the Land of Fire.  We're just that great."

The short masked-man is still silent.

"Oh, and the Land of Fire is so great that they can even afford escorts to greet their guests?"  I smirk.

"Yep," the man smirks back, "Not just for you two, but for your friends, as well.  We're sorta' like law enforcement around here.  So it'd be in your best interest to roll over on your back right away.  It'll save you a whole world of hurt."

My smile quickly fades.

My eyes gloss over.

Instantly, I flinch, and lunge towards the man.

"NOAH!"  Old-Man F cries.

But before I can even take a step, a wide, sadistic grin spreads across the man's face as he brings his arms together in a cross, shielding his face.  White sparks of energy begin to burst and swirl around the man's body.

"Great choice!"  The man cackles as he swipes both hands outwards, and as he does so, bright blue flames engulf the under sides of his arms, "Makes it more fun for me!"

"Cold-Flame Charge, Level One-!"  The man begins to shout as he thrusts a hand towards me, "-FIREBALL!"

My eyes widen as I stare down the bright-blue fireball streaking through the air towards me like a small, blue sun, with embers flying off it as it zips towards me.

With me being mid-step charging towards the man, I'm unable to dodge nor am I able to so much as enter my Charge Stances.  Instead, I'm forced to take the attack, which explodes into me in a burst of blue flames and smoke, sending me skidding backwards.

The bystanders scream and all flee the area.

"Noah, are you okay?!"  Old-Man F cries.

"Yeah, I'm good," I cough as I wave away the smoke.

"Those flames felt…weird," I continue as I gingerly touch my smoldering chest, "They didn't feel hot, they felt more…COLD, than anything."

"Cold…" Old-Man F mutters to himself.

"Fire, huh?"  I ask as I peer through the diminishing smoke cloud towards the man, "are you…the FIRE E-CHARGER?!"

The man scoffs.  "Are you serious?!  We should all be so great as to be compared to the lord!"

"The…lord…?"

Aggressively, the man brings his arms up in a cross again, and just as before, white spars of energy begin to burst and swirl around his body.  The man then swipes his arms downwards, and again, bright-blue flames engulf his arms.

"Cold-Flame Charge, Level One: Fireball!"  The man shouts as he thrusts a hand towards me, and again, sends another fireball flying my way.

"Water Charge, Level Three-!"  I shout as I enter my own Charge Stance, and water behind swirling around my hand.

"-Rapids Claw!"  I shout as I swing a hand outwards, firing off a blade of water towards the man.

"My water should extinguish his flames!"  I smirk as our two attacks continue flying towards one another, then collide, engulfing the area in a cloud of steam.  But Much to my surprise, upon making contact with the man's flames, although the flames DOe extinguish, that's not all.  The water making up my Rapids Claw attack…FREEZES!  The chunk of ice that was once my water clangs to the ground and shatters.

"ICE?!"  I cry, "How did fire freeze my water?!"

"My flames aren't your standard flames," the man smirks as he holds a hand up, and a small bright-blue flame ignites in his palm, "Mine are a bit chillier than your average fire.  My COLD-FLAME element can freeze water!"

"Cold-Flames…" I parrot, "Fire with the effect of ice."

"Then let's try Sand!"  Old-Man F explains as he resumes his Charge Stance, before turning into sand, and dropping to the ground, merging with the sand below.

A second mound of sand then rises out of the ground behind the man, taking the form of Old-Man F, who swings a mighty round-house kick towards the man.

"Sand Charge, Level One: Sand Clone!"

The man turns and peers over his shoulder at Old-Man F and smirks at him, without even turning his body to defend.

"Get 'em, Master!"  I cheer.

With a roar, Old-Man F launches a mighty kick towards the man's gut, but then…I feel a sharp pain in my side.

My eyes widen, and Old-Man F's eyes widen, for in the blink of an eye…I find myself standing before Old-Man F, with his powerful foot jabbing my gut.

I spit up a glob of blood then drop to the ground on my knee, clutching my wounded side.

"N-NOAH!"  Old-Man F cries as he drops to one knee as well and gingerly touches my shoulder.

Slowly, I strain my head over my back and peer over to where I was previously standing in front of the fountain, where I see the man standing there.

"What…what did you do…?"  I grunt.

"I told you," the man smirks as he finally turns to face me, "My Flames…are no normal flame."

"You and that man…switched places…?"  Old-Man F deduces as he helps me to my feet.

"I-is that even possible?!"  I stammer as I stand up at last, "For an E-Charge, I mean."

"I-I can't think of an element that would be able to do such a thing.  E-Charges stem from the forces of nature, not reality-bending concepts such as switching the position of two people."

"But who knows if that's even what his ability did.  Maybe he used some other kind of ability to change our positions."

"Either way, it's too early in this fight to determine what our opponents can do," Old-Man F finishes as he turns around to face our opponent and resumes his Charge Stance, "Let's stay vigilant."

"Right," I reply as I do the same.

"Hmm…" the masked man grunts.