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Here's the third chapter, everyone!  Sorry it took so long, the battle scene was hard to type.

Chapter 11:  Like a hot knife through butter.
Now that she was high in the air, it was quick easy for Lance, Toshiro, Niko, and Silver to see Laura’s battle form.  She was an edge-fish; what much was certain now.  Like most relatives of the swordfish, she had a sword like bill (that’s what I think it’s called).  However, unlike regular swordfish, the sword like bill was quite small, more like dagger than a sword.  The interesting part of the anatomy, though, was her pectoral/pelvic fins.  In the middle of her body, like a shark, the fins were straight at the front and curved, like a wave, at the back.  The straight part of the fin was exceedingly long in length, roughly 5 meters across, with the curved back of the fins meeting the ends like a tip, in sort of a half a heart.  They were difficult to describe, although fascinating to behold.  The dorsal was sort of in between that of a sailfish and that of a marlin.  The tail fin was almost perfectly crescent shaped. In terms high and length, she was now the size of a large dolphin, a slightly larger than normal dolphin.  The color of the scales was a navy blue, with an icy blue color underneath.
Alice had a Navy blue armor on, with an image of an edge-fish on the helmet.
As for Wickerson and Charles, they hadn’t gone through much of a change.  Charles was now a magnificent light brown stallion, with no white stripe in sight, although there was a black stripe down his face.  He was roughly the size of an extremely large horse, so he had grown at least 2 maybe 3 feet.  As for Wickerson, his armor was a Dark-brown as well, the image of a horse on his helmet.  Although, for some strange reason he still had his monocle on.
“Friction?” asked Toshiro, a combination of understanding, awe, and confusion on his face.
“Yep, friction.”
“Incredible!” exclaimed Toshiro, his face now simply portraying awe.  Noticing Alice about to shout something, Toshiro turned his head in time to see Alice shout “Number one:  Under-way!”
As for Laura?
Her entire body seemed to suddenly glow a white-ish blue aura, as she literally dove into the ground, without distilling one piece of earth.
“What do you mean ‘friction’? What could that possibly do?” asked Lance, not believing that friction could really do this.
“Lance, think about it.”  Stated Toshiro.  “Friction is the force resisting the relative motion of two surfaces in contact.  If one could manipulate that, then you could cut through a bridge using a fingernail.  Or you could walk on water without making a splash!”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously.”
Turning their attention back to the battle at hand, they saw Charles and Wickerson just standing there.
Well, for about 5 seconds.
Without warning, Wickerson shouted “Number one: Gravel motion!”
Immediately, the insignia on Charles chest glowed brightly, and gravel raced towards Charles feet enveloping all four of them up to the top of the hooves.  Suddenly, Charles was off like a rocket.  But he wasn’t even walking, as the gravel was literally moving him forward at high speed.
“How-?”
“The gravel’s the key thaing heare.”  Stated Roy.
“What do you mean?”
“Look closely at the gravel where his feet are.”
Narrowing his eyes, Toshiro saw that the gravel seemed to be moving like skates, moving in sort of a cycle.
“The gravel’s acting like a tank’s wheel, going in a cycle.”
“Exactly, specks.  Exactly.”
Suddenly, Alice exclaimed “Strike Number 2: Cutting Edge!”
Laura burst through the ground at a 45-degree angle, and lunged right at Charles, her pectoral fins glowing that same blue-white aura.  She barely scratched him, though, taking off a thin layer, as he swerved to the left.  Laura dove back in just in time to avoid being head-butted.
“Enough of this rubbish!”  Stated Wickerson.  “Charles, trample it!”
Nodding, Charles again zoomed forward, this time keeping his head in check.
“Hey, Ken?”
“Yeah, Lance?”
“How come that Wickerson guy said ‘number 1’ earlier, and yet I say ‘Spirit strike’ first?”
“Well, that is a factor dependent on your experience.  The more experienced you are, the less you need to say the entire thing.”
“Oh.”
Back to the battle at hand, Laura burst from the ground, just as Alice shouted “Strike Number 2:  Cutting edge!”
Only this time, Wickerson was prepared, as he shouted “ Spirit Strike Number 3: Geo-blow!”  Immediately, the insignia on Charles chest glowed again, this time causing the surrounding gravel to compress on his hooves, making them covered in solid stone.  Then, he swirled around and kicked at Laura using his back legs.  Startled, Laura almost missed immediately adjusting her fins to collide with Charles hooves.  However, instead of the stone covered hooves and the fin clashing, with sparks flying, the fin cut right through the rock, as if it were butter and Laura’s fin was a red hot knife (I know, It’s rather unusual to include a title in the chapter itself.  But I though it would be appropriate at this point) Started, Charles could only watch as Alice shouted the first strike and Laura dove back into the ground, and as the stone covering his hoof slipped off, completely cut in half.  A small fraction of his hoof popped off as well.
Not enough to cause him to cry out in pain, but enough to make him realize the situation he was in.  Wickerson immediately shouted “Don’t let you’re guard down, Charles!  Blooming focus!”
Shaking his head, Charles immediately got back into an embracing stance, ready for whatever was to come.
“Ready to give up yet, gramps?”
“Not even bloody close to it, you tart!”
Laura had popped out of the ground as well, the top half that is, watching Charles intently.
After about five seconds worth of a stare down, Wickerson stated “Spirit Strike 2: Lithic Shower!”
Rearing up, Charles slammed his front hooves into the ground as his insignia glowed brightly again.  This time, thousands, or millions, of stones and gravel shot out of the ground, all in Laura’s direction.  Almost immediately, Laura went beneath the ground, with only the fin above the surface.  As the shower of rocks came upon her, she swerved, left and right, dodging the rocks swiftly, which wasn’t that hard, considering that only her fin was sticking out of the ground.
Grunting in frustration, Wickerson called out “Strike Number 1: Gravel motion!”
Immediately, Charles zoomed into the volley of stone, heading straight towards Laura, dodging and swerving when necessary.  Once they came within striking distance of each other, Laura swerved, pulling her pectoral fin out of the ground a little.
“Strike Number 2: Cutting edge!”
Instinctively, Charles slid/ducked, and aimed a kick at Laura’s partially exposed body, barely ducking underneath the fin in the process.
“Strike number 3: Geo-blow!”
This time, Charles stone covered hooves connected, sending Laura in one direction, just as the volley of stone was coming to an end.  Laura crashed near the ocean, throwing rocks and debris into it, a large amount of dust filling the air from the crash.
“Man, that was one nasty blow!” exclaimed Lance.
“Don’t worry; it takes a lot more than simply smashing her into rocks to knock out Laura.”  Reassured Ken, as he thought, ‘Man, that sentence had such a contradictory in it!’
Charles slowly approached the cloudy area, cautious as to what might happen.
(The scene pauses)
(Niko and Silver pop up on the screen)
Niko:  Greetings, loyal viewers!  It’s now time again for the ‘Silver and Niko Half-Time Help Show’. (No bad pun or title intended)
Silver: For those of you who simply skipped us last time or have forgotten about us, Niko and I, on occasion, will interrupt the manga and tell you fan’s a little something about the Soul Arena universe.
Niko:  Usually it will be about something we feel we should tell you at the time, or it will be a small tidbit, usually to point out a few things.
Silver:  Anywho, this time around we’re gonna tell you all about the ranks in this tournament, with a little more detail then what you originally learned about.
Niko:  I’ll be the one informing those of you with a higher or sophisticated intelligence
Silver:   (Saying exactly what Niko said he should say) And I’ll be telling the fan’s who are of average or lower intelligence, in other words, at my intelligen- Hey, wait a minute!
Niko:  (Snickers) Yes?
Silver: Not funny, dude!  I’m not an idiot!
Niko:  (sarcasm) Of course not.
Silver: (Glares)
Niko:  Oh, alright, we’ll do it together on a basis that even an idiot can understand.
Silver: Good.  Now, as you are all aware, there are three ‘stages’ that a soul fighter will usually go through.
Niko:  However, that is a rather basic understanding.  In reality, there are really more like five levels, not just three. Now, to make it a bit easier to understand-
Silver:  -We’re gonna do an analogy!
Niko:  Think of it like levels of the planet.
(An image of the surface, the dirt underneath, and the sky above appear)
Niko:  Now, the ‘novice’ level, or the very first level, would be considered near the core, or ‘very weak’
Silver:  As you ‘go up’, or achieve a higher rank, you eventually get to the level just below the surface, with the sewer system being the highest stage of that level.  This level is called the ‘mediocre’ level.
Niko:  THAT level is where Lance, Silver, Toshiro and I are starting to get into.
Silver:  It’s not much-
Niko:  But at least it’s something.
Silver: The level above that one is the ‘experienced’ level.  This level is one could consider being the surface, or middle level.  Katie and Roy are in this level, although just barely, while Ken, Alice, Laura and Jack are well into this level.
Niko:  Actually, it’s hard to tell where anyone is.
Silver: Consider these as rough guesses.  Anyway, above that is the ‘Expert’ level, or the sky above. It’s really hard to get to THAT level!
Niko:  And finally, there’s the ‘Peak’ level.  Now, the thing about it is that no one quite knows just how powerful those at ‘Peak’ level are.
Silver: Those ones are sort of a mystery.
Niko:  Of course, there are very few ‘Peak’ level fighters, with one of the few ones known being the Champion.
Silver:  By now, of course, you all must be somewhat curious as to who or what the champion is.
Niko:  Well, since this won’t really spoil too much, I’ll tell you this much:  He’ll be making an appearance soon enough, just you wait.
Silver and Niko:  Until then, see you next time on the ‘Silver and Niko Half-Time Help Show.
Niko: (voice fading as things revert back to normal)…You know, we really should come up with better name…
(Screen/panel starts up again)
Suddenly, Charles reared back in surprise as Laura shot out of the smoke, clearing it up in the process.  Taking advantage of his startled condition, Laura quickly swooped in.
“Strike number 2:  Cutting edge!”
SNNNG!
Laura’s pectoral fin cut into Charles side, splattering blood on her fin as well as the stone below Charles. This Left a gash or cut about the length of ones hand on Charles side.
“Bloody H***, that stings!”  Shouted Charles, a line or two of blood seeping from his wound.  His voice resembled Wickerson’s but it was slightly deeper.  (I hate profanity, but I don’t consider the word ‘bloody’ to be a curse word, due to the fact that it sounds harmless, and more or less just sounds like a way to intensify a word, kind of like ‘really’, and since it is only a swear word in the UK, I don’t think it is considered one here, in the US)
“Charles! You think that you’ll be quite all right?”  Shouted Wickerson.
Charles eyes locked on Laura, Charles said, “I’ll be bloody fine!”
Nodding, Wickerson shouted at Alice “You’ll regretting that, you tart!”
“We’ll see about that, gramps!”
“Let’s see how you like this, tramp!  Spirit Strike 2:  Lithic Shower!”
Charles immediately reared up and struck the ground, sending thousands/millions of stones of different shapes and sizes pummeling straight towards Laura.
Alice immediately shouted “Strike Number 1: Under-way!” (If anyone can come up with a more creative name, please inform me of it! …The name for the strike), just as Laura jumped and dove under the surface, her dorsal fin peeking out.
Grinning, Wickerson shouted “Not this time, you sardine!  Spirit Strike 4:  Earthen-Rupture!”
This time, the insignia on Charles chest rapidly glowed, then branching out down his feet, straight to below the hooves.  Then, Charles seemed to plant his feet deep into the ground.  In the midst of the volley of stones, Laura was dodging left and right, heading in Charles direction.
BLAM!
Suddenly, a great pillar of solid stone burst through the ground, smashing into Laura, sending her, now vulnerable, into the shower of rocks.  Charles raced into the volley of stones as it ended, jumping on, and leaping from the stone pillar straight towards Laura.
“Spirit Strike three:  Geo-Blow!”
Just as quickly, Alice shouted “Spirit Strike one: Under-way!”, causing Laura to dive into the earth.
‘So that’s the way you want to play it, huh gramps?’
“Spirit Strike two:  Cutting edge!”
Immediately, Laura burst through the ground, her pectoral fin aimed at Charles. Charles, who had already landed, blocked it with his stone covered hooves.
CLANG!
The sound of stone against blade was heard.
“Strike One: Under-way!”
Withdrawing her fin, Laura dove back into the earth, racing away from Charles.
“You’re not getting away that bloody easily!!  Strike 1:  Gravel-motion!”
Immediately, Charles was off, His eyes locked on Laura’s fin that was sticking out of the ground.
‘I gotta say, this isn’t turning out like I though it would.  This geezers not pulling back any strings!’ thought Alice. ‘But something doesn’t make sense.  When Laura’s fin first struck that horses hoof, she cut through it like it was issue paper.  So why are his hooves suddenly so tough?  …Wait a minute!  Could he have figured it out already…?’
Glancing at Laura and Charles as they were about to clash again, Alice shouted “Strike 2: Cutting Edge!”
Before they clashed, Alice looked closely at the rocks that formed around Charles’s hooves.
‘…!  D*** it, they have figured it out!  Laura’s ‘Cutting edge’ strike can only manipulate the friction for one layer of stone, steel, whatever. They’ve been using two layers instead of the one layer they used originally.  Two layers, each one with a different kind of stone in it!  I can’t believe it slipped my mind!  I mean, it’s the stinking limit of the strike!’
“So, I take it you figured it out, gramps!”
The only reply he gave was a small smirk.
‘Well, I guess it’s time to finish this thing!  Laura!’
‘Right.’  Came the reply from Laura.
Suddenly, Charles halted and swung to the left, blocking Laura’s blow.  Reeling back, Laura began circling Charles, whose eyes followed her every move, waiting for a chance to strike.
‘Well, Laura, looks like we’re gonna have to go all out!’
‘I hear ya, Alice!’
Without warning, Wickerson shouted “Spirit Strike 4:  Earthen-rupture!” Laura was caught off guard as the pillar shot from the ground, sending her flying.
“Strike 1:  Under-Way!”
Quickly correcting her self in midair, Laura dove back into the ground, just as Charles struck the area where she was with his hoof.  This process occurred for an hour, each one different that the other, with Laura landing some hits and Charles landing some blows.  After the final occurrence, Laura popped her head out of the ground, glaring at Charles and vice-versa as the tension around them rose quickly.  Both of them looked worse for wear.  Charles had large and small cuts on a good portion of his body, and one or two on his leg’s, all of them dripping blood, whether small streams or large gashes. His mane was coated with sweat.  Laura had multiple bruises littering her body, with a little bit of blood dripping from her mouth.  After moments of silence as the tensions reached a breaking point, a bead of sweat dropped from Charles head.
“Number one:  Gravel-motion!”
“Strike 1:  Under-way!”
Charles and Laura surged towards each other, eventually ramping off a large rock formation. (Laura off one of the stone pillars that Charles had created, and Charles off a natural rock formation)
Nearing each other in mid air, they both reared back.
“Spirit strike 2:  Cutting-edge!”
“Strike 3:  Geo-blow!”

End chapter.
Next time!:
The battle between Laura and Charles comes to a close!  As the team sets out to rest up for the next battle, what will be revealed about the roles of each member of the team?  Who will be next in line for a match?  And when will these annoying ending questions ever end?  Find out, next Chapter/Episode: A Breather Between Battles. (Note:  the next chapter will not be overly exciting, but it will be very funny!)