Chapter 45: All of You, Come at Once (Bonus Chapter)

Inside the tempered glass cell, the three agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. met each other's gaze in silence. Luke looked at them, equally speechless. At this rate, his place really had become a S.H.I.E.L.D. dormitory. They could almost play cards together.

Standing before the glass of the holding cell, Luke saw Agent May glaring at him, but he merely shrugged indifferently. He dragged over a stool and sat down outside the cell.

"Alright, it's time we have a proper conversation," he said to the three. "Honestly, S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps sending people over, and I'm starting to feel bad for you. I worry next time it'll be Egghead, and then you're finished. But at least you'd have enough for a game of mahjong."

"Egghead?" The three were puzzled.

Luke clarified, "Nick Fury."

Agent May was momentarily stunned, then turned aside, struggling to hide a smile as her shoulders shook with suppressed laughter.

Black Widow and Hawkeye remained baffled. When had their boss acquired such a bizarre nickname? Why hadn’t they heard of it?

Luke now picked up a black communication earpiece from the pile of confiscated items nearby, tossed it into the cell, and said, "Have your people outside stand down."

On Kristina's magnified screen, outside the warehouse, over thirty heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had the place surrounded.

Agent May rolled her eyes, took the earpiece, and said, "Stand down."

On the screen, the agents outside dispersed like a retreating tide. They didn't go far, instead waiting across the street, weapons at the ready.

Luke shrugged again, unconcerned, and stood up, facing the three inside the cell. "I know you're not convinced. Being caught by a kid, that's not something you can accept, is it?"

Black Widow, Hawkeye, and May said nothing, tacitly acknowledging Luke's words.

All three had been captured without exception after a single encounter, subdued by Luke's strange methods before they could even fight back. Especially when faced with the aerial combat armor Gale, they had no room for resistance.

That machine could go toe-to-toe with Iron Man.

Luke spoke casually, "Kristina, open the cell door."

With a click, the glass cell's tightly sealed door swung open automatically.

The three were stunned.

Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Agent May exchanged glances, then all turned their eyes to Luke, hesitating to act. They couldn't guess what game he was playing.

"Your equipment is over here," Luke gestured to the pile of confiscated belongings. "The three of you can come at me together. Don't say I never gave you a chance. This time, I won't use the armor."

They exchanged another look, then stepped out of the cell one by one.

Luke remained unmoved, calmly watching as all three swiftly and expertly reclaimed their gear and suited up.

"Are you sure? You're not using that thing?" Agent May slipped two pistols into her thigh holsters, glancing at the combat armor Gale behind Luke, perplexed.

In her view, Luke was only a threat to them because of that steel monster. Without it, with his frail, slight frame...

"Don't underestimate him, Melinda. You'll regret it," Black Widow said, rubbing the back of her head with a wry smile.

May paused, then nodded. If even Black Widow said so, the boy before her surely had abilities she didn't know about.

Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Agent May stood shoulder to shoulder. The three S.H.I.E.L.D. ace agents together radiated an undeniable presence.

Luke's smile remained, and he beckoned them with his finger.

That's right—he was taking on all three at once.

He wanted to test himself: without the armor, relying solely on the fighting skills he'd mastered, what level could he reach?

Luke was confident he could best any one of them in single combat.

Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Agent May, after all, were only human. Their physical abilities might be at the human limit, but they were still ordinary people.

Their greatest strengths lay in their mastery of multiple fighting styles, exceptional skills, and rich combat experience.

Luke's advantage, however, was that every technique he knew was at a master level.

And, thanks to those power elixirs he'd drawn the last time from the magic box, his current muscular strength was not inferior to an adult's. His appearance was deceiving.

Luke needed a real fight to integrate all the skills he'd learned.

He had always crushed opponents with the armor, never having this opportunity.

He believed that a match with these three would greatly improve his fighting abilities. After all, they were Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Agent May—letting such excellent sparring partners go unused would be a waste.

"Come at me together. Don't worry, I'll be careful—I promise it'll only hurt a little," Luke said with a smile.

"Hmph, such arrogance," May snorted.

She still didn't believe Luke could handle the three of them at once. Maybe with three others, but with them? No exaggeration—they were S.H.I.E.L.D.'s best fighters.

"Don't cry when it hurts later," Black Widow teased with a smile.

Hawkeye chuckled, shrugging. Armor was one thing, but fighting an unarmed kid was another. He didn't want today's story getting out.

Clearly, they all shared May's thoughts.

"Go ahead," Black Widow said, lips curling into a tempting smile, beckoning Luke as he had just done.

"Then I'll oblige," Luke replied.

His gaze sharpened, and he suddenly crouched, lowering his center of gravity. The atmosphere around him shifted dramatically.

Across from him, the three's expressions changed, ever so slightly. Being stared down by Luke, they suddenly felt like prey. Confused, they nevertheless shed some of their disdain, their expressions growing serious.

"I'll handle keeping him occupied," Agent May said, crossing her fists before her in a fighter's stance.

"Be careful—he has a strange ability to conjure things out of thin air," Black Widow warned.

"What do you mean by 'conjure'?" May asked.

"Exactly as it sounds," Hawkeye replied solemnly. "Natasha's right—I noticed it too. There's something uncanny about this kid."

Hawkeye still wondered about how Luke had produced a stick from beneath the armor to jab him. With his sharp eyes, he'd only seen the stick appear out of nowhere—utterly baffling.

While the three whispered among themselves, Luke suddenly pushed off the ground, legs bent, and his small figure adopted a bizarre diving posture, sliding across the floor with remarkable speed toward them.

He launched an attack at Black Widow, the closest to him.

Monkey snatches fish!

No—diving punch to the abdomen!