The room was exactly like a reception. Femi stayed in front of the reception counter while the Syncro Trio stayed at the entrance of the reception which was currently the only entrance to the facility.
There was a wide space between Femi and the trio, which he had judged to be suitable for battle.
...Femi blocked the dagger with the hilt of the sword and got in a battle position.
He saw the Syncro Trio who were still dressed in their hunting attire - bodysuits - also enter a battle position. His smile wiped off his face like it was never there as he glanced at Gallagher. Gallagher didn't wield his shield, deeming it unworthy for a fight like this.
With an emotionless voice, Femi said, "Gallagher," he pointed, "Bring the shield out."
Eva replied before anyone else could, "I like me a strong kid... But a stupid strong kid? That's no good." Eva yelled, "You're weak, kid! Yield now, follow us and become stronger!! You're my ticket to leave this damned planet, killing you myself will be a waste."
Femi smirked as they underestimated his prowess, "Just so you know, I'm trained for situations like this."
The first moment Femi felt a hunch was when he saw his Old Man training his sword skills, at that point, he was an emotionless 9 year old child. He followed the hunch and tried swordsmanship. Delving in it was his trigger to feeling the Joy, Anticipation and Surprise emotions. Ever since then, Femi spent a lot of time training what brought him joy the most.
His Old Man was a former soldier under Tonic before he retired shortly before he adopted Femi. As a high-ranking soldier who was well trained in his field, he was a master at dagger arts and excelled at fighting multiple people. The dagger art that the Old Man was well versed in, he taught Femi, his son, who rarely showed interest in anything.
Femi mastered that dagger art in 2 years, eventually finding it not as joyous as it used to be. To rile the little emotions he felt, Femi made it more challenging by trying mixing use the dagger art with a longsword. Although it took a while for him to show progress at it, dedicating time to something that genuinely made him happy yielded beautiful results.
A swords art that was built to fight multiple people, emphasizing on fast pase technique while using footwork and center of gravity to enhance power behind the slashes. Basically, with its full potential being used properly, it was a technique that could be used for mass slaughter.
Femi trained to adapt to this technique, and now he was. He generally believed that people with strength below his, he'd be able to defeat them, while those who were on his level of strength or slightly above his, he'd just need to think more.
Femi listened to his hunch, and to his disappointment, this fight wouldn't be too difficult.
"Tcchh!" Eva hissed, getting triggered by Femi's words. Be it because she was disappointed, she liked his bravery or because she was just an aggressive fish, Femi didn't know why.
"Ruth. Shoot!" Eva yelled.
Femi saw the shaking Ruth point at him, mouthing "I'm sorry" silently before she shot.
Before she had pulled the trigger though, Femi already ran on an arc line, rushing indirectly at the Trio.
He successfully ran without taking a hit, leaving the bullet marks behind him.
Femi put all his concentration on them, which was why he saw Eva who was about to assault him.
She jumped; her two hands that each held a dagger respectively were set above her head. She planned on digging the two daggers into his shoulders and cutting his arms off like she promised.
Femi smiled at her futile attempt as he prepared to set his sword horizontally, ready to accept her clash. He stood his ground and accepted the attack that Eva had assumed would take him to his knees.
Eva was yet to set foot on the ground, talk less of taking a clear look at Femi's face when she felt a kick to her liver. It sent her flying a considerable distance. This was the result of underestimating Femi.
Femi hadn't stopped his kick motion when he saw more of Ruth's bullet heading his way. He used that momentum of the kick to do a flip to avoid the bullet.
The trio showed their signature teamwork as they didn't plan to give Femi a moment of rest.
Having good control of his body midair, Femi noticed Gallagher's big figure approaching him. The instant he landed his flip and made contact to the ground, he didn't waste a moment as he dashed right at Gallagher who was surprised by his quick-decision making.
'He is to fast with his leg!' Gallagher thought, reluctant to fight against Femi.
Gallagher put all his weight in the hand that wasn't wearing a gauntlet. He launched the punch, but Femi halted his run right before the punch made contact.
Femi went for a horizontal slash that hit directly on Gallagher's fist which added to the weight of the punch, making the incoming fist go down in a faster and heavier motion. The sudden weight wavered Gallagher's balance for an instant. This favored Femi!
Femi rushed Gallagher with many slashes and thrusts.
Gallagher's body moved on its own. He raised his hands armed with a gauntlet to block Femi's attack. Some slash blocked by the gauntlet, while the rest was directly on his hand. He raised his other arm, cocking it backwards to punch Femi in the shoulders.
Realizing Gallagher could still attack in the midst of his relentless assault, Femi gritted his teeth in disappointment and took the punch head on.
Dissatisfied from being hit, Femi ended the slash with a kick that pushed Gallagher a bit. But it didn't end there as He didn't give Gallagher a moment to breathe!
He immediately darted and jumped towards Gallagher again.
This time Gallagher raised his two hands to block expecting a well-prepared slash but instead of Femi landing a kick directly on his hands, Femi used the hand-block as a launch pad.
Femi kicked off Gallagher's hand. He used it to direct himself towards Ruth.
Ruth had the worst battle intelligence and experience amongst the Sycnro Trio. She was forced here by circumstances. She was lost... and scared. Against Femi who approached her at a crazy speed and with a devilish smile, she was too scared to move an inch.
Fortunately, before Femi reached her, Eva caught up to Femi and gave him a punch that he couldn't avoid.
The anger filled punch was too strong, it sent Femi flying back to the reception counter.
Eva was fuming with anger. She threw her eyes at Ruth and knocked Ruth's head, "Fool. Be useful and support us. Tether knows, I can use you to replace him!"
Gallagher also joined them, throwing short glances above his shoulders to see if Femi was approaching. Reaching them, he said, "We underestimated him. We can't beat him without getting serious but we have to avoid killing him."
"Agreed. Only if he wasn't too weak minded," Eva replied.
Right when they were about to decide about how they would do things, their attention was attracted by the rustles they heard.
Femi got up, recovering from the concussion of Eva's punch. He made his usual mistake and over trusted his unprecise hunch. He couldn't take them on with this level of skill.
He had underestimated them and even took about three hits.
Knowing his limits, he planned to follow Arwan's plan. He brought out of his pocket a tether battery. He ejected the one inserted in his bodysuit, threw it aside and attached the new one.
He then proceeded to unstrap his mask and wear it.
He stretched his body as he said to those who watched him with curious eyes.
"Round Two!" He declared.