Ferris pulled hard on the front and back brake, which almost caused Judas to slam face first on Ferris's back.
The first thing that came to his mind was whether the small group ahead of them were on the heroes' side or the villains' side.
They don't look like villains to me, Ferris observed their fresh-looking attire.
Wait.
Fresh-looking?
By this time, all heroes that had been transported to this city would've looked far from what was considered fresh or clean.
Then could it be villains? Ferris considered that option, but there was no way to tell for sure.
"Judas, what do you need to do to activate your blessing?" Ferris suddenly asked out of nowhere.
"I just need to touch them while they are in their 'weak-willed' state," Judas answered. Then he turned his face towards the group. "Um... Ferris, I think they noticed us. What do we do?"
"How good are your acting skills?" Ferris continued asking questions, disregarding Judas' dwindling composure.
"I-I took some classes cause I thought I'd make it big as an actor before I applied to be a hero," Judas answered as best as he could.
"Good enough." Ferris began pedaling towards the group.
"Wait, what do you mean by good enough?" Judas contorted his face as Ferris kept riding closer and closer to the group.
. . .
Once they were close enough to see each other's faces, Ferris could properly analyze their composition.
Ten people, at least five of them looked to be good fighters. The others seemed to pose minimal threat.
And there was what looked to be their leader at the front. Like the rest he wore a masked costume with bright colors. Perhaps an aerialist, or a professional entertainment wrestler.
"Stop right there, villain!" the masked man shouted.
Villain? They think we're villains, then it means they're heroes!
"You've caused quite a ruckus within the hero association by kidnapping the hero younglings so that you can slaughter them!" He ruthlessly pointed at Ferris, who looked a little confused.
He continued, his voice even louder than before, "But now you've chosen to also kidnap actual heroes to attend this farce!"
Ferris had a rough idea of what was actually going on. Heroes are still being transported to this city? And it looked like the news of hero examinees being kidnapped was already known to everyone.
He hoped the prodigy Prince was doing his best to locate them.
The masked man kept going with his speech. "Hear this, villain. If you think you can make your own version of the hero exam and become a villain association, then you're wrong!
"You'll never be able to become the shining stars known as heroes. You'll always be the evil that hides from that light. That is how the world works!" The masked man did a cool pose.
"The D class hero group, Colorful Fighters, led by me, D class rank 483, Rainbow Man, will vanquish the two villains here that oppose what the hero association stands for!" he shouted.
The nine people who were with him also did some cool poses, as if they had rehearsed that situation dozens of times.
It's like they're shooting a film opera... Ferris quietly lampooned.
Ferris raised both of his hands, and he elbowed Judas to do the same.
"You've got it wrong, we're not villains," Ferris reasoned.
Rainbow Man stopped pointing at Ferris and calmed his demeanor. "I see... You should've said that sooner...
"Is what I would say if I was a fool! You even have the emblem that the villains carry!" Rainbow Man prepared himself to pounce at Ferris. "Colorful Fighters, attack!"
There was only one thing that came to Ferris's mind.
Shit.
I forgot I was wearing the emblem.
Ferris kicked his bike stand in a flash before dismounting. "Judas, get ready!"
"Aaahhhhh!" Judas simply screamed. "I'm still so young, don't kill me!"
Ferris drew his sword out and turned it 90 degrees so that he could only use its flat edge.
Rainbow man was the first to attack Ferris, and so Ferris decided to block on the first exchange.
He expected a physical attack, but that actually wasn't the case.
"Take this, rainbow beam!" Rainbow man arranged his hands to form a glittering bird that flashed countless streams of colored lights that hit Ferris' face.
But it wasn't only that. The other members of the colorful fighters also did similar attacks.
"Take this, flashing noises!"
"Take this, colorful odors!"
"Take this, mindwaves!"
...
A psychological and physical attack.
If it was only Rainbow man who was attacking with his flashing light, it would only affect people prone to photosensitive epilepsy.
But if attacks were also made up of noises, smells, and other various disorientations, then the pool of affected people would rise.
But if they were boosted by this mindwaves attack, or whatever it was called, then every person who didn't train their fortitude would be affected greatly.
Despite the circus-like shenanigans of this D-class hero group, their attacks were super effective!
Good thing my mental fortitude didn't disappear. I wonder how Judas is doing? Ferris turned his head around.
Unfortunately he saw that Judas was standing still and was about to convulse. If he looked closer, he could actually see some foam forming on Judas' mouth.
He's not doing too well...
Ferris focused his gaze on the one that did the mindwaves attack.
That guy. Ferris saw the man who did it.
He was wearing a full body suit with a spiral design in the middle. An obvious target.
As he was about to target that person, he stopped at the last moment.
Rainbow man released his bird hand gesture and shouted, "They're disoriented! Attack!"
Never mind... Ferris sheathed his sword. They have no weapons.
The might of the colorful fighters descended upon Ferris, and it quickly turned into a full-blown fistfight.
An single one of them would be merely nothing to him, but as a whole they proved to be difficult.
One against ten, it's a little unfair, isn't it? Ferris tried weaving as much as he could against the onslaught of coordinated attacks. "Chill out!"
"Heroes don't listen to villains!" Rainbow man shouted, throwing a beautiful roundhouse kick into Ferris' head.
Thankfully, he dodged right in time, but that wasn't the end of it, as another set of kicks and punches came from the other heroes. With their acrobatic and perfectly crafted teamwork, Ferris might've thought they were a part of a circus.
Not having to attack is such a pain... Ferris angrily thought as he was forced to do some acrobatic moves himself just to dodge properly.
Eventually, he finished analyzing their movement pattern and found them to be predictable.
A couple of coordinated kicks with one of them trying to catch his legs to throw him off, and an immediate follow-up of pre-placed attacks on his torso, the last being a fast kick from their leader.
If it was any villain, they would 100% get overwhelmed physically.
"If you mix in your blessings and randomize your attacks a bit more, this would be a lot more effective," Ferris advised them mid-battle.
Rainbow man got annoyed. "Damn it, why can't we hit him?" he yelled. "That one! He must be the one supporting this villain with a blessing."
He pointed at Judas, who was recovering from the multi-blessing attack from before. "Get him!"