Alan watched closely, seeing which blades went through and which ones didn't, trying to figure out how the ones that did were different. replaying the images of them passing through the distortions over and over in his mind, he tried to pierce together SOMETHING that would tell him the answer.<br/><br/>"..W-wait..." He mutter, getting an idea. But how could he test it, He had nothing that could...wait, that map! But, it would involve the map getting destroyed, and he felt himself hesitating. He had put effort into it, and maybe he could prove it some other way.<br/><br/><br/>Back at the fight, the man was now on the defensive, deflecting the blades and dodging any that got through. His breathing was getting heavy, and his movements sluggish. It was due to this that when the sword slashed at him,  he slashed him across the stomach, stumbling him back. but, this got him out of the way of the kick, which was all he need for a blast to hit Alex directly in the chest, throwing him back into the air.<br/><br/>The man smirked, raising his finger and snapping, distortions complete surrounding Alex, each one shooting off at the same time, somehow causing an explosion that threw Alex even higher into the air.<br/><br/>"ALEX!" Alan screamed, his eyes opening. When he saw the man get hurt, something clicked, and he knew what he had to do. he charged forward, taking out the map and unfolding it. He waited until the man shot a blast at him, and held the map up.<br/><br/>It teared through the map and slammed into Alan's chest, causing him to fall back a few feet unto the hot sand. Without pausing, he stood up, looking at the map. There was a perfect hole in it, as he thought there was going to be, but he noticed something else. On the ground, there was a piece of paper, in a circle. A part of the map.<br/><br/>Not just any part, but the part that would have gone in the center of the area of the map that had been destroyed. Bot he and the attacker stared at the attack, both grasping for breath, weakened by the fight due to their lack of physical prowess.<br/><br/>But the difference was clear. Alan was smiling.<br/><br/>"Alex! The center of the distortions! Hi-"<br/><br/>Another blast hit him, right on the head. It caused him to hit the ground, sand filling his mouth and covering face, and knocking him out.