And so it begun....

Max fired an electric bolt that was immediately parried by a laser blast.

But right after, Max fired an electric bolt, this time, moving his hand at super speed. Moving fast enough that Ken could not counter him.

And so, the blast connected, knocking Ken off his balance.

Max: (smirking) Direct hit.

Ken: (smirking) Hmph.

And with that, Max dashed to Ken's left and fired another bolt, knocking Ken down further off his balance.

He tried to retaliate with his lasers, but as expected, Max dodged them immediately.

Ken: (thinking: Hmph. Staying out of my eye line to avoid my lasers. Well... isn't that a bother.)

And the attacks kept coming, one after another, all the while, Max dashing to his left, right, back and so on.

And every time Ken missed, he would simply loud out....

Max: Too slow!

This went on until Ken was on one knee, and at that point, Max stopped.

Max: Had enough?

Ken: Hmmmm... no.

Ken somewhat shakily got back up to his feet.

Back with those watching...

Tiffany: (thinking: If he takes any more serious damage.... I'll end the match.)

And as for Ken....

Ken: (thinking: He's not just fast, he's also smart enough to take full advantage of it during battle. So.... what can I do?)

His eyes turned to the ground, while Max stretched his arms, in a somewhat celebratorily taunting way.

Max: It's ok. Take your time.

Ken: (thinking: Maximillian Hunter....)

His eyes locked onto Max.

He knew going into this that this fight would not be straight forward.

In fact, up till then, and he knew this quite well, Max hadn't had to come up with any special strategies. Of course, that simply meant that Max wasn't taking the fight all that seriously.

And so...

Ken: Alright then...

Max: Hmm?

Ken: I suppose I should make this fight interesting as well.

Max: Huh?

Ken: Do you know how to ice skate, Max?

Max: Ice skate?

Ken took a deep breath and blew at the ground, releasing a blue mist that begun to fill the floor.

It wasn't like Max had forgotten what that attack was capable of, after all, he was once a "victim" of it.

And so, Max simply dodged. However, that was Ken's plan, as it left the floor without pebbles frozen with a sheet of ice

And as for Max, he soon found himself on frozen ground, having run in a circle to avoid Ken's attack.

The idea had occured to Ken while he saw Max speeding up and around firing blast after blast. The question to himself being, what of he could restrict his movement somehow?

Max: What the...!?

Ken: I'm sure youre well aware of what's happening here. Aren't you, Max?

Max: Tch...

Back to those watching the fight...

Rose: Wh.. whats going on?

Tiffany: Freezing the ground. I see what he's getting at.

Rose: Huh?

Tiffany: If Max tries to move at super speed on land, it's fine. But walking on ice is hard even for normal people.

Julianne: (thinking: Clever boy.... Disrupting Max's speed like that. Not bad. Not bad at all.)

Back at the fight...

Max: Tch. Well...

Ken: The Bright Light, issue 344. Bright light vs the tundra emperor.

Max: Yeah, ... I remember that....

In that issue, the tundra emperor used ice to disrupt the Bright Light's speed.

And with the others...

Rose: You mean....?

Tiffany: Yeah. He just restricted Max's movement.

Back at the fight...

Ken: And as you can see, the rest of the battlefield is filled with stones.

His eyes lit up red.

Ken: So.... how about we try this again?

Max: MMmmmmmmmm.....

And then suddenly...

Max: Sure. Lets do it!

Ken: Hmm?

Max: I was wondering when youd finally get serious.

Ken: Hmm?

To Max, Ken tended to have a back up plan. As a result, he'd expected something to go amiss during the battle. So this frozen floor, while a surprise, was not that unexpected, or to him, all that dangerous.

And as for Ken, he simply did not expect Max to remain unfazed.

Max: What's'a matter? Thought this'd scare me?

Ken: Hmmm. No. I suppose at this point I shouldn't be surprised.

Both teens smiled at each other.

Ken's eyes in a red light and Max's arms filled with electricity.

However, one thing was already incredibly apparent to Ken.

Max had the ability to fire attacks at super speed, and so, in a contest of who could land the most blows, Max would undoubtedly win. That was plainly obvious to him.

And, of course, since Max was now cornered. He wouldn't avoid or dodge. No. This time he would strike back. So there was no turning back with this strategy.

Max: Y'ready?

And as well obvious to Max.

However, that was not the end of Ken's plan.

Ken: Sure.

Max: Hmm?