"We fight stupid," Nathan ordered. "Break the rhythm. Go completely off-script. Garrett, Red... drop aggro. Stop attacking. Mirko... cancel the giant form, trade mass for velocity. Kuro... stealth, but don't attack. Just stay in the dark. Shiro... ground yourself, no flying. Ororo... cut the healing . Let us bleed."
For a split second, the party hesitated. In a high-stakes tournament final, intentionally fighting sub-optimally went against every instinct they had honed. But they trusted Nathan.
The shift was instantaneous.
Garrett halted his furious assault. He dropped Volcan to his side, planted his feet, and just stood there, staring at Kofi. Red sat down beside him, scratching its ear with a hind leg. Kofi, whose entire build was centered around counter-attacking and absorbing kinetic momentum, suddenly looked entirely lost. He braced for an impact that never came, his stance growing awkwardly rigid.
