1-2, You Never Saw Me was not an ordinary fight. He never saw his opponent coming. If it wasn't for his Nano-Suit, he wouldn't have been able to react in time. She was Feline, a Rogue who had touched upon the concept of Time. She attacked from an angle that was impossible for him to see from.
She wore a male body suit that fooled everyone except for him. He could discern the hollowness between the attack and the emptiness of the impact. Apparently, no one believed that his name was Feline, therefore she went under the radar for years.
Her concept of Time was confused for speed. Therefore, the person known as YNSM was considered the fastest fighter in the underground. He was limited to the Brawler, therefore, he had very limited options on how to deal with the situation. The reason for this was because every single person used the Brawler, so if he used something else, would attract unwanted attention beyond the two he met earlier. He had used the Sprinter in other situations where it wasn't necessarily required, but that was because his life was on the line with Cat and it wasn't totally unreasonable to have special abilities in the academy. But this was real life. That was the distinction.
Therefore, he made use of the Rogue Trait known as Precision to try and study the concept of Time. It was a mysterious idea that faded in and out. You saw it and then you forgot about it. Then it hit you from elsewhere because predictions only factored in things in your awareness. Then he remembered that while ideas can disappear, experiences do not. That could cross the time-space barrier. Experiences were just electrical stimuluses and energy could be transferred but not created or deleted.
Thus he decided to relax and let his body act on reflex. He got hit, but it wasn't as painful as he thought it might be. Feline had pushed him, literally. This generated momentum that rocked his organs. Disorientation. He realized that it was a trait based on the concept of Time. Then he studied the momentum generated via Disorientation.
He realized that Disorientation interacted in similar ways with Durability and Anti-Force. It would have less of an effect on Durability and be slowed significantly through Anti-Force. It would give him enough time to cast a Rebound spell. Since Durability and Anti-Force could be misread as natural born physical gifts, pretending to be a Double Archetype Operator when he was really a Triple Archetype Operator might work.
So he put his plan into action.
"Huh? Why are you so tough?! How annoying!!"
"Omg! YNSM has never been so frustrated. Maybe this is finally an opponent that's his equal"
"You're right. He's never issued a complaint before"
Even the Overseers monitoring the situation were surprised. Just who did their boss force their prized champion into a confrontation with.
You couldn't fight the Absolute Four directly. Not unless you had another one of them. But he chose not to fight using the concept of Space to gain more experience. He also didn't think it would be very practical. Space would get circumvented by Time easily, at least when he was so inexperienced with it. Therefore, what he did was let the momentum channel into a single spot as designed by the Rebound spell and then simply reflected it back.
He observed how Disorientation interacted with itself. A common observation that was often taught in physics class was that two equal forces will often nullify each other. That's because they have equal mass, equal momentum, and thus equal force. When two sources of equal force cancel each other out, you're left with nothing.
This was exactly the situation Feline got caught up in as she 'froze' in mid-air. He cast a simple 'push' spell at her that sent a pillar crashing down.
Then she disappeared again as though the experience didn't affect her. There were two of her this time. Doppleganger?
First was a difference in equilibrium. Now it was a difference in relative position? Maybe Disorientation wasn't the trait?
Differentials?
So he relaxed even more and discovered that the clone was gone. The one and only difference was that he stopped relying on the trait Precision.
That's when he got a crazy idea. Did her trait apply on his traits the same way the Gambler and the Genius relied on other Nano-Suits?
Or maybe she had a default technique and to counter the opponent's techniques, that's when she activated her trait? Did she have two traits?
A message on his visor completely shocked him.
[You're using multiple Nano-Suits. I can also see that you've fought a Cyborg. There are traces of multiple different Archetypes and Fractures. I'm Feline, like I told you. I'm an undercover agent sent by the Military to dismantle this organization. You can either believe me or work with me to put on a good show. I'm a Specialist]
[Are you telling the truth?]
He immediately used the Gambler by asking a simple question.
[Yes]
There was no hesitation in the response. Usually, when a person responds too fast according to his psych professor, that means they might be lying. They need time to think if they're assessing the situation. If it's a pre-programmed response, it'll come out immediately because that's what they've been instructed to be told. It was never an accurate science.
So then he used the Gambler's Counter to stack the odds in his favor.
[Show me proof you're not lying]
Then there was a pause before she gave him her full military credentials. He also somehow had access to a military database and when he uploaded the information, the network immediately spit out information on her.
Feline, real name Dawn, was a Triple-Archetype Elite who eventually became a Shadow Ops Soldier. She specialized in assassination and infiltration and had gone Rogue a few years ago, immensely profiting from shady activities. There was a theory that she had been betrayed and badly tortured and given a second chance to enact revenge on those who wronged her. The system her betrayed had belonged to. The United States Military. There was currently a hit out on her but she was never found.
When she had been betrayed, she was currently running an op to take down an illegal business. Suddenly, there was an additional note that appeared after he finished reading everything.
Attempt to reconcile with Dawn had been initiated. May have been wrongly accused of betrayal. Will take steps to fully investigate the matter.
He was stunned. Did he inadvertently changed her attitude and her fate?
[Did you get betrayed in the past? Is that why you want to clear your name?]
That's when Dawn stopped completely, and he could see the wide eyes behind her visor.
[That's not what I want at all but now I have a strong urge to do it. Will you help me?]
The tears that came out of her eyes were genuine. She even ran towards him and hugged him.
"What the fu—? I don't pay to see this shit"
"Goddamn it. Fight to the death!"
"I don't care who this goddamn person is. I paid good money to see this shit"
But neither of them paid any attention. Feline, or Dawn, continued to hug him and confess her entire situation. She was glad that someone finally paid attention to her work. She even got a message that her betrayal was being reinvestigated and that the Rogue status was dropped. Her former buddies would be brought in for another round of questions. She had no idea what was going on but realized this only happened after fighting this punk. She put two and two together and was grateful for his appearance.
They turned and faced the crowd as Dawn mentioned she wasn't a match for him. He did nothing as she massacred the entire crowd on a whim. No one stopped her. The Overseers were in fact gone and all the bodyguards nowhere to be seen. When the crowd realized this, they began to scream.
—
[Penelope… This brat is interesting. In less then an hour after he came here, the management has somehow changed their opinion about Dawn. Call it that kind of hunch. Bring in the whole squad and reinvestigate the Suicide Drive. We unfairly punished her for something that might not be related to her]
[Sir… the kid?]
[I can feel he brings miracles. There used to be a legendary Frame known as the Gambler. Useless as a piece of junk. Somehow, I think in his hands, it's the Godliest thing in existence. I sincerely doubt a Frame more powerful then it exists]
[You think he used the Gambler on her?]
[I think the Gambler has broader reach in his hands. Better to be a friend and if there's no choice but to be an enemy, to beg profusely for forgiveness. A trash Gambler can be disciplined. A godly Gambler benefits those who they consider allies]