Leo stood a few paces away, the blood from his arm dripping in slow, steady beats to the floor. He looked down at his arm as blood trickled along his skin in a thin, steady line. The cut stung, but it wasn't deep enough to matter. He flicked his wrist, spraying the red aside like rainwater. His grin slid back into place, stretching across his face with a casual sort of menace as he rolled his neck, the sound of tendons snapping faintly like breaking branches.
"Ruined my game," he muttered, almost playfully, like he was scolding a child who'd knocked over his favorite toy.
Before he could move again, the air split with a crash that echoed through the stands. A body slammed down beside him, scattering a cloud of dust and debris over his boots. Leo narrowed his eyes and swatted the air with one hand, coughing once as the dirt cleared. When his vision sharpened, he saw a familiar figure in the rubble.
A small, thin albino girl, blood leaking down her temple in a slow crimson streak. She coughed, low and hoarse, and pressed her hand against the fractured ground as she forced herself up.
Leo laughed, the sound rolling out of his chest, unbothered by the chaos around them. "You okay there, Gemini?"
"Shut up, animal," she snapped, brushing at the dust that clung to her robe. Her voice was tight, but there was steel underneath.
Leo tilted his head, still smiling, watching her straighten out like nothing had happened. "You're getting your ass kicked. Who you fighting? I just got done over here."
Gemini shot him a glare with her red eyes and pointed across the dome. "Some old man."
Leo followed her gesture. Down by the tunnel mouth, Ryosuke stood with his blade raised, holding back another hooded figure whose movements carried that familiar Zodiac precision. Another one of them. Leo's grin widened, hungry and unrestrained.
"Need help?"
She clicked her tongue. "No! You are so annoying, Leo. Not everyone loves fighting. So fucking weird. I already have Pisces. We don't need you."
She bent down, snatching up a thick black chain with a curved sickle hooked to the end. The metal clinked against the cracked floor as she lifted her right wrist, showing off the massive gauntlet mechanism bolted around her arm. She tapped a series of buttons without even looking, muscle memory guiding her. A moment later, the gauntlet roared to life, releasing a concussive blast into the ground that kicked up a burst of smoke and rock shards. The force flung her into the air, her white hair whipping behind her as she arced toward Ryosuke, leaving Leo standing alone in the wreckage.
He frowned, slouching his shoulders, muttering under his breath. "She's so mean… So what if Pisces is there. I'm way stronger than that asshole." He kicked a loose piece of rubble like a sulking child, watching it skip and clatter across the cracked floor. "So mean and so scary."
For a second, he just stood there, his grin dimming into something more thoughtful, more primal. Then he exhaled, tilting his head as if conceding something to himself.
"Ah whatever," he said. "I'll help anyway. She's just a kid."
He bent his knees low, muscles coiling tight under his skin. Dust shifted around his boots as he prepared to leap. His legs tensed, and then he exploded upward, leaving the ground behind.
He didn't make it far.
Something slammed into him mid-air like a steel beam, driving the breath out of his chest. They crashed together, tangled, rolling down the cracked stairs in a messy tumble that rattled the structure with each impact. The railing blurred past, and they went over it, slamming into the dome floor below. Leo's head snapped back against the ground, a dull crack ringing in his skull.
He lay there for a second, blinking away the haze, and then let out a low, incredulous laugh. "Huh…"
When his vision cleared, Tobi was already on his hands and knees a few feet away, gathering himself like a machine resetting after a crash. He rose slowly, his breath steady, his eyes unblinking. He drew in a deep breath and raised his fists in a tight, measured stance.
Leo's grin returned, wider than ever. "You have no quit in you, puppy eyes. I like that." He wiped a smear of blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "But you can't beat me. Not as you are. You gotta evolve, you soft bastard."
He lowered himself to the ground, his palms spreading against the cracked surface. His hips hinged back, spine curving like an animal on the hunt. His head hung low, and his breath came slow, measured, almost excited. Tobi tilted his head slightly, like a mirror catching light. His pupils dilated. He slid one foot back, grounding himself. His body shifted lower, matching Leo's stance inch for inch. Both on all fours. Every line of him reflected the other. Tobi was no longer just fighting.
He was evolving.
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