The clearing beside the cabin was perfect for a spar - wide, dusty, edged by scraggly trees, with cracked earth beneath their feet and the faint scent of pine lingering in the cold breeze.

Kai rolled his shoulders as he faced Sven and Nadya. His red eyes gleamed with excitement, a sly smile tugging at his lips.

"No mutant abilities and no weapons, okay?" he said, stretching out his arms lazily. "Just a friendly spar."

He said it lightly, but the way his grin sharpened, and the way Nadya cracked her knuckles and Sven smirked lazily, made it clear: This was about to be anything but friendly.

Kai chuckled to himself, his blood thrumming. He could enhance himself subtly and push his physical limits without them realising. But he didn't need to.

'I'll be fine with just my skills,' he thought.

Takeshi sat cross-legged on a large stone nearby, still blindfolded, yet somehow seeming to watch them keenly. Amina hugged her knees, her wide eyes darting between them nervously. Isaac stood back with his right fist clenched, his face a storm of emotions.

The three fighters shifted into position, barefoot on the rough ground. Their shadows twisted long in the midday sun.

A single dry leaf fluttered down from an overhead branch...

Swoosh!

Nadya launched first, a roaring blur of energy.

"Get ready to get your ass kicked, Kai!" she barked, grinning wildly.

Kai sidestepped her heavy swing easily, feeling the force of the air as it passed. He gave her a quick, teasing slap on the back of the head.

"Try harder, Nadya."

She spun back around, laughing as she threw a brutal low kick at his legs, forcing him to hop back.

At the same time, Sven moved like a shadow, silent and efficient, slipping in low and striking at Kai's ribs with two quick jabs.

Kai twisted sharply, the hits grazing him but missing their mark. "Nice try," Kai taunted, giving Sven a wink.

Sven gave a lazy chuckle. "I'm just warming up, Red Eyes."

Their fighting styles clashed and intertwined. Nadya was pure aggression, closing the distance fast, throwing heavy punches, elbows, knees - always pushing forward. Sven was the opposite - cool, detached, targeting joints and pressure points with clinical precision, slipping between openings like water.

And Kai?

Kai was the eye of the storm. He moved fluidly, dancing between attacks, every flicker of his crimson eyes calculating angles, speeds, weaknesses.

The dusty ground kicked up around them as they clashed. The crack of fists against arms, the thud of blocked knees, and the grunts of effort filled the air.

Nadya swung hard, Kai ducked under it, only for Sven to jab at his exposed shoulder.

He twisted, letting the strike skim past, but Nadya was already there, trying to sweep his legs. Kai leapt over her sweep, landing in a low crouch.

"You two make a cute couple," he said, laughing as he sprang backwards out of their range.

Nadya chased him down while laughing.

As for Sven, he smirked, circling like a patient shark. "You're slippery."

The three-way battle was chaos.

Every time Kai tried to land a counterattack, one of them would intervene. Every time one of them stumbled, the other two would pounce.

It was brutal, fast, and beautiful in its own savage way. Their raw skill turned the cracked clearing into a deadly ballet.

Kai blocked Nadya's left hook, parried Sven's grab at his wrist, spun, and slammed a light palm strike into Nadya's stomach, knocking her back two steps. She let out a gasp, then laughed breathlessly.

"Finally hit me! You're not totally useless!"

Kai's grin grew sharper.

Sven slipped behind him in a flash, trying to grapple him, but Kai ducked low and flung him off with a sharp twist, sending Sven staggering back.

For a moment, all three paused, circling again.

Kai's chest heaved. Sweat trickled down his temple. His bare feet shifted in the dust, feeling every crack and dip of the earth beneath him.

He could see it in their eyes how much they were getting pulled in by the heat of the moment.

Suddenly, Sven raised a hand toward Nadya, a silent signal.

Kai watched with narrowed eyes as Sven casually walked over to her side and clapped her on the shoulder.

"Ready to finish this?" he asked.

Nadya's grin was all teeth. "I thought you'd never ask."

Together, they turned to Kai.

Kai's smile faltered. "I thought this was supposed to be a free-for-all," he groaned, raising his fists.

The two Russians charged him in unison.

Nadya hit him first, hammering heavy blows that Kai barely managed to deflect with forearms and elbows. Each impact rattled his bones.

Then Sven slipped in low, targeting his knees, his hips, sharp, clinical strikes meant to destabilise him.

Kai staggered under the onslaught, blocking one hit, dodging another, taking a glancing elbow to the ribs.

They were relentless.

They battered him with precision and power, their styles complementing each other perfectly. Nadya overwhelmed him with force, and Sven picked apart the small openings.

Syncing up perfectly, it was as if they had fought together dozens of times before, and they likely had. Kai could see they were similarly trained and had extensive combat experience, even without their mutant abilities.

As such, Kai couldn't help but struggle as he gritted his teeth and continued weaving and countering. Even his sharp instincts could barely keep up, his mind racing as he tried to find to predict their next attacks.

A punch cracked across his jaw. A knee slammed into his thigh. An elbow scraped across his ribs.

He was losing ground fast.

But even as he struggled, even as dust filled his mouth and pain lanced through his body, Kai was grinning.

Because even surrounded, even battered, he was still standing.

Still analysing. Still adapting.

He caught Nadya's wrist again, pivoted, and tried to throw her, only for Sven to catch his other arm and yank him off balance.

He stumbled, twisted, kicked Sven's knee, and barely dodged Nadya's next swinging elbow.

They were pushing him to his limits.

But Kai loved it.

Takeshi's blindfolded head tilted slightly, his mouth hidden by the fall of his hair but curling into a slight smile.

Amina covered her mouth, eyes wide, watching with bated breath.

Isaac's knuckles turned white as he clenched his fist tighter, his whole body tense.

The sun blazed high overhead, casting sharp shadows that danced and twisted with the fighters' every brutal clash.

Dust swirled around them, and the cracked earth bore the scars of their vicious ballet.

The friendly spar had turned into something far more dangerous.

And Kai wouldn't have it any other way.

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