Chapter 69-Noah+Flint vs the Blue-Fire Man, Part Two

"Cold-Flame Charge, Level Two…" the man begins to say as he resumes his Charge stance as well, and bright-blue flames engulf his right fist.

But then, in the blink of an eye, the man disappears, and is instantly replaced by the masked-man.

Our eyes widen.

"BEHIND U-!"  I begin to shout but before I can finish, Old-Man F grunts

"-Blazing Strike!"  A voice shouts, now from behind me, and I turn around to see the man's blue-flaming spear hand piercing Old-Man F's stomach.

The man smirks as he rips his hand free from Old-Man F's burning stomach wound.

"How'd my flames taste?"

Old-Man F doesn't reply.  Instead, the flesh above his stomach wound begins to crumble, turning into sand, and filling in the once-empty space of Old-Man F's body.

"I don't know," Old-Man F answers, "Not much flavor."

"TCH," the man sneers as he resumes his Charge Stance, "So you can turn into your element, eh…?"

"Cold-Flame Charge, Level One: Fireball!"  The man shouts as he thrusts a hand towards Old-Man F and I, sending another fireball flying our way, to which Old-Man F and I hop out of the way to dodge.

The man resumes his Charge Stance, before spinning around to face his masked-ally.

"Cold-Flame Charge, Level One: Fireball!"  The man shouts as he thrusts a hand towards the masked-man, sending a fireball flying his way.

"H-he's attacking his ally?!"  I cry.

But then, in the blink of an eye, I find myself standing in front of the man.

"H-huh?!"

Before I can react, I'm BLASTED in the stomach with a bright-blue fireball that INSTANTLY knocks the wind out of me, and has enough force to send me flying backwards, and landing on the ground in a cloud of dust.

I cough as I wave away the settling dust.

"NOAH!"  Old-Man F cries.

"Not bad timing, partner," the man says with an evil grin as he peers over to the masked man, "But I almost thought you were gonna get BLASTED for a second there!"

"Tch," the masked man spits.

"The masked-man must be the one behind our strange swapping," Old-Man F deduces as he rushes over to me, then helps me back to my feet.

"Right…" I grunt as I stand up at last.

"-So let's target him first."

"But how do we target someone who can make it so that we can't land any attacks on 'em?"

"Just follow my lead."

"Sand Charge, Level Two-" Old-Man F begins to say as he resumes his Charge Stance.

"Water Charge, Level Three-" I begin to say as well as I, too, resume my Charge Stance.

"-SAND SPEAR!"

"-RAPIDS CLAW!"

In unison, Old-Man F launches a flurry of kicks towards the blue-fire man just as I swing a hand towards the masked man, sending spears of sand and blades of water flying towards the two.

"Tch," the man spits, "They're too in sync."

Both the masked-man and the blue-fire man stare down our attacks coming towards them, not making a move.

However, in the final moments before he's pierced by my Rapids Claw, I find myself staring down my own attack!  Behind my Rapids Claw flying towards, well…MYSELF, is the masked-man.

A smirk as I bring my arms up to block, not having enough chance to defend, I'm forced to take the slashing force of my own attack.  I stagger backwards a step, blood leaking from my wounds.

As for the blue-fire man, his eyes widen once he sees that Old-Man F's Sand Spears are mere seconds away from piercing him.  And thus, in the final moments before he's skewered, the blue-fire man resumes his Charge Stance and lights his body ablaze, using his ice-cold fire to repel Old-Man F's attack.

"Cold-Flame Charge, Level Three: Inferno!" 

"So there's that," Old-Man F smirks, "The masked guy can only swap the position of two people at once."

"And on top of that, the swapping is ALL he can do," I add, "He doesn't have some space-alteration E-Charge.  If he did, he could have helped his ally dodge your attack, as well."

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!"  the blue-fire man roars as he spins around to face the masked man.

"Why did YOU dodge the attack?!"  The blue-fire man growls as he grabs the masked man by the shirt collar, and hoists him off of the ground, "I'M our firepower, if I go down, you have NO SHOT at winning!"

"Hmph!" The masked man snaps.

"Ohhh…don't say that!"  The other man groans.

"He…said that…?"  I ask.

Old-Man F shrugs.

"I can only use my Cold-Flame charge to freeze water, it can't FREEZE that sand!"  The blue-fire man finishes.

"Inner turmoil…good, we can work with this," Old-Man F smirks, "Though I'm not sure how we can focus our attacks on the masked one while we still have to keep the blue-fire guy in check…"

"Follow my lead for this one, old-man," I smirk as I resume my Charge Stance, before dashing towards the masked-man.

"H-huh…?"  Old-Man F asks as he follows suit.

"Water Charge, Level One-!" I begin to shout as I bring a clawed hand up, water spiraling around it.

"Sand Charge, Level Two-!"  Old-Man F begins to shout as well as he launches a fist towards the masked-man.

"They're trying to pincer you, eh?"  The blue-fire man smirks, "Luckily, we have a check for that!"

As I launch my Rapids Claw towards the masked man, Old-Man F launches a punch from behind.

"-Fireball!"  I hear a voice shout from behind me, and the icy chill on my back tells me that there's a fireball coming from behind.

But I don't have to worry about that.

But then, in the blink of an eye, the masked-man and Old-Man F swap places!  And my own attack begins heading towards my own ally!

Perfect.

"Hey, Old-Man."

"Hello there, Noah."

I tightly ball my hands into a fist, and with a roar, I launch my attack towards Old-Man F.

"-RAPIDS CLAW!"

Just as my fist slams into Old-Man F, he turns his body into sand!  And thus, my fist smashes straight through him!

The blue-fire man's eyes widen.

"Wh-what?!  He turned his body into sand to dodge his ally's attack?!  Their timing…is perfect!"

"It's 'cause I trust my pupil," Old-Man F smirks, "Unlike YOU."

With a fierce battle cry, I slam my fist straight into the masked man's masked face, before he even has a chance to swap our positions again.

The force of my punch cracks his mask, causing it to explode into dozens of pieces as the masked man is sent flying backwards, his back slamming straight into the fountain behind him and shattering it to bits, sending water spraying everywhere, unconscious, at last.

As for Old-Man F, he shouts at last: "-Sand Spear," and with a roar, launches a powerful lance of sand form his kick, which is sent flying towards the blue-fire man, colliding with his fireball and slicing through it in a burst of blue flames.

Old-Man F's Sand Spear continues flying towards the blue-fire man, who -without his masked ally or a chance to defend- is pierced by Old-Man F's Sand Spear, and is sent flying backwards as well, his back spamming into an evacuated food stand behind him, and obliterating it.

Old-Man F landed on the ground again, back to back, staring down our defeated foes.