I couldn't help it, I had to smile when looking at this ridiculous lineup. We looked as if someone had told a three-year-old to draw their ideal superhero team. Never in my life had I seen humans this bizarre, and it was borderline hilarious. What had my life become? When did my life become some comedy?
I shook the thought of bursting into laughter away and walked towards my teammates. Wellan wasn't present, but I was sure that he was watching.
My steps were deliberately slow when walking up to the other members of F-4. I didn't look directly at them but instead leisurely observed the room around me. This was to create an air of confidence by pretending I didn't care too much.
I knew this wasn't our first meeting, but I still wanted to make an impression.
"Hello," I said, my voice slow and controlled.
"I know none of you want to be here, neither do I if I'm being honest, but we have to, so I recommend we get this investigation over with as quickly as possible.
"First, I want to deal with the frustration you all probably feel towards this mission. We can't perform at our best if we hate this mission."
I said these words calmly, like a father educating his children.
The man with serpentine hair was the first to answer, his tone dripping with condescension, he asked a question:
"And how exactly do you plan on doing that?"
He glared at me, making me feel like in his eyes I was nothing more than a worm. I didn't back down, "Simple, I'll just have all of you fight me at once. If experience had taught me anything, then it's that fighting always clears the mind."
I had an excited, almost crazed, smile on my face. On the inside, though, I was dying of fear, anxiety, and just about any adjacent emotion.
Elena's eyebrows rose ever so slightly, the youthful man's smile grew wider, the lady in a mask seemed unfazed, the elegant elderly lady seemed appalled, the man with serpentine hair seemed taken aback, and the giant looked like he was vibrating with excitement.
I pretended not to notice their reactions, "Your task is simple, we've been given thirty days to get to know each other until the investigation starts. F**k that. I'll let you do whatever you want during those thirty days and won't bother you even once with this whole leader thing on one condition. In the thirty minutes that follow, one of you six has to touch me, even if it's only once." I took two leisurely steps back and observed my teammates.
Some looked excited, others confused, but none of them made a move, making me think that my plan had failed.
I was about to let out a discouraged sigh when-
Boom!
The ground underneath Elena's feet tore apart as she lunged towards me. She still held the parasol in one hand, but in the other, her nails had turned into claws made of pure darkness. I barely managed to hide my surprised expression when I leaped backwards.
A thought flashed into my mind, the play had started!
…
Elena was unnaturally fast. I barely managed to dodge her flurry of slashes, each one dangerously close. My face wore a mask of delight—confidence, confidence, confidence. Keep the illusion alive…
I didn't know if this arena had a gap in the Anti-Nexi field, and I didn't have time to find out. For now, all I could do was dodge.
"HELL YEAH!" Someone shouted. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the sun reflecting two silver cards. They weren't illusory like the other Nexi I had seen.
He didn't scream an incantation, instead, the man who looked like an adventurer of old screamed a command.
"Zereform! Alia! Take form and devour! Tear my opponent to shreds!" Those commands were given with a smile.
A formless mass of metal expanded from one card. The other fused into it, and from the fusion emerged barrels like those of a Gatling gun.
Bang! Bang! Bang! The sound of bullets rang out as a volley flew in my direction. I didn't have time to think, I activated Vanir and teleported a distance away.
I stood a few meters away from my initial position, watching Elena and the blond-haired fellow look for me in confusion.
It didn't take too long for them to lock onto me and for a barrage of bullets to come my way. Vanir flashed in and out of existence several times as I teleported to avoid the joint attack. I remained calm and kept my movements just slow enough to look confident while avoiding their attacks.
If I wanted to complete the illusion I was trying to create, then I'd eventually have to attack back, even if only a little.
The problem was without almost perfect precision, a counterattack would only result in my death.
Boom! My thoughts were cut short by a loud noise to my side. Out of the concrete ground, a thick, thorny vine had grown, its edge aiming for my face.
"Vanir!" I teleported away, just barely escaping the attack. The person who had fired it was none other than the dark skinned man with serpentine hair. His arm was outstretched, and in front of his gloved palm was a misty forest green card depicting a clump of vines in silver.
My feet didn't even have the time to touch the floor before I used Vanir again, the tiles under me had been replaced with a pool of darkness.
A location didn't appear in my mind, I fully trusted my Nexi to bring me to safety. My figure appeared several meters in the air.
I chanted the incantation again, this time appearing behind Elena. Before I could go on the offensive I was forced to teleport away once more as a wave of ice crystals came flying my way.
The elderly lady had joined the fight.
With that, Denzel found himself fighting F-4.
I should be able to pick them apart if I really focus. Though they are "working together", each one of them is fighting for themselves. It won't be long until they mess up and end up getting in each others way. I just have to speed up the process…
Shadows, Metal, Vines, Ice, the masked lady and hulk have yet to take action. Metal, vine, and ice can be used against each other, I'll also use Elena's speed agaisnt her. If things get to intense, I can try "that"...
The word Vanir must have been repeated a thousand times as I disappeared and appeared all around the room, to the point of leaving after images. I was stalling, looking for an opening and dodging the barrage of attacks sent my way.
Follow…
I teleported in short burst, following a liniar path. The youthful adventure sent a wave of bullets my way, not noticing that in the path I traced was his serpent haired teammate. A wall of vines just barely protected him from the barrage of bullets.
Bait…
I appeared less then an inch away from Elena.
The parasol fell from her hand as she tried slashing me with both hands.
Dodge..
My body disappeared and reappeared behind her. I threw my leg back, kicking her to the ground.
Counterattack…
I flashed in front of the adventurer and the elegant woman, Vanir floating in my hand, ready to press the attack—But then the sun disappeared.
A colossal shadow swallowed the ground around me.
I looked up.
Ah. The giant.
"Vanir!"
I vanished again—this time, feet-first—reappearing above his head like a meteor sent from the gods.
My boots slammed into his skull with a crack, but the man barely flinched. No damage.
Didn't matter.
I wasn't here to hurt him.
I was here to use him.
We were touching.
That meant Vanir would take both of us.¹
I roared the incantation.
In an instant, our bodies flickered out of existence—
—then reappeared, high above the elderly woman and the adventurer, falling like twin boulders.
BOOM!
The giant hit like a wrecking ball, shaking the entire platform. Dust exploded upward in a choking wave. For a second, I couldn't see a thing—just chaos and coughing and collapsed bodies.
Then I felt it.
Steel.
At my throat.
I froze.
Or—I would have, if it wasn't just an afterimage.
"Too slow," I whispered, stepping out of the phantom.
The masked lady stood across from me. We locked eyes for a beat. She didn't chase. She looked around—realizing none of the others had seen her move. No witnesses.
She slashed her own chest and collapsed like she'd been taken out in the blast.
She knows…
…
A few minutes later, the members of F-4 stirred, groaning as they tried to make sense of what just happened.
I was already gone.
"Up here."
They looked up to see me lounging on a steel support beam near the dome's ceiling, an apple in hand, boots swaying.
I took a bite, then dropped down in front of them like I hadn't just wrecked them all.
"I said I'd make sure none of you died, that means preparing you for the worst case scenario.
"Lesson one:" I said, brushing dust off my coat,
"Until you learn to work together…"
I let the words breathe.
"…you'll never touch me."
And just like that—
Vanir…
I vanished.
¹: Denzel did something similar against the Executioner, he teleported a brick he had prepared ahead of time to use it as a weapon by touching it.