Tobi rolled and caught himself, boots grinding against the cracked steps, the cold air clawing at the inside of his lungs. His body ached, blood pounded at the edges of his skull, but there was no pain that he could actually feel. Not really. The noise of the dome was distant now, like it had been thrown underwater, muffled beneath the rage that pooled in his chest. His eyes didn't blink, not once, fixed on Leo thirty feet away. The world narrowed until it was just the two of them, everything else blurred and melting into the background.
The grin on Leo's face flickered in and out with another face entirely. A stitched face. Tall and pale, the same one that had towered over Amelia's father. The same night the emblem of the Cult burned itself into Tobi's mind. The grin became that man's grin. The shadow became that man's shadow. It wasn't Leo standing there anymore. It was him.
Tobi's teeth clenched until his jaw creaked. He looked down and saw two knives scattered among the rubble and ash. His hands moved before his mind even caught up. He crouched and picked them up, the hilts cold against his palms. His grip was tight, knuckles white. The metal caught a thin shard of light from the broken dome above, gleaming sharp and cruel.
Leo tilted his head and let out a short, rasping laugh, the sound cutting through the quiet space between them. "What?! Gonna stab me?!" His voice cracked with mockery, but Tobi didn't hear it. Not really.
The knives spun in his hands, muscle memory taking the place of thought. He twisted and hurled one through the air like he'd done it his whole life. Leo tilted, fluid as a snake, his body arching away from the blade as it sliced the air. His hand flashed up and caught it mid-spin.
Leo chuckled, but his amusement fractured when he turned his head and saw the second blade already inches from his face. His hand snapped up and caught it just in time, the edge grazing his skin. Tobi was already moving, closing the distance in long, silent strides, his breathing even and low, his eyes locked on Leo like a starving animal.
Leo's grin sharpened, the edges curling like a child handed a new toy.
'This could be really fun...'
He threw them back. Tobi snatched them out of the air with a spin, the blades catching against the light again. He threw them back. Leo laughed and caught them again, his movements loose, playful, like it was a game of catch between predator and prey. The distance between them shrank with every exchange.
Twenty feet. Fifteen.
Leo hurled one low, aimed straight at Tobi's knee, a dirty shot meant to maim. Tobi slid forward, his fingers closing around the hilt before it could bury itself in him. The second blade came soaring at him, kicked from Leo's bare foot with a manic laugh. Tobi twisted, the blade whispering past his cheek as he caught it mid-turn. The world wasn't moving in seconds anymore. It was in beats. Heartbeats. The rhythm of instinct.
Ten feet.
Tobi charged. Dust sprayed from his boots, his breath hot in his chest. Leo expected the same thing again, another throw. He braced himself to catch, arms loose, ready to toy with him a little more. But Tobi didn't throw. He tossed one knife into the air — not hurled, not aimed, just let it spin upward like a coin flipping in slow motion. Leo's grin faltered.
'He tossed it?!'
That half-second of confusion was all Tobi needed.
He closed the last stretch of distance in a low, fast crouch, his body moving like it belonged to something else entirely. His grip reversed on the remaining blade, the edge flashing as he slid under Leo's guard. Leo's eyes widened as Tobi came up under him, arm carving through the air in a clean, vicious arc. The blade was low, cutting for blood. For the first time since this fight began, Leo didn't laugh.
He couldn't dodge. The blade kissed across his forearm in a clean diagonal, sharp enough that it barely dragged before it opened skin. Blood welled to the surface in a thin, perfect line. Leo flipped back, landing light on his feet, the concrete cracking faintly beneath his boots as he created space between them. He looked down at the cut, his expression flattening. No smile. No laugh. Just a low, guttural sound grinding out of his throat like a growl.
"Dammit…" he muttered, his voice hoarse and bitter, "you're smart. I hate smart types. It's not fun."
The way he said it wasn't loud or mocking. It was annoyed. Genuine. Like a kid who'd just had his favorite game ruined.
Tobi didn't flinch. His eyes were steady, pupils blown wide, locked on Leo like the world behind him had ceased to exist. No blinking. No hesitation. Just movement. He stepped forward and then launched into a full sprint, the air breaking around him as he closed the distance. His blade came down in a clean arc, but Leo caught the edge on his forearm and knocked it aside, the impact echoing like steel against steel.
The two moved like opposing currents, crashing and twisting around one another. Tobi's swings came sharp and fast, every movement deliberate, cutting through the air with a clarity that belonged to instinct, not strategy. Leo's blocks were heavier, louder, like a beast batting away at something that wouldn't stop nipping at its heels.
Tobi ducked under a swing and came up with another slash, this one slipping through Leo's guard. It cut a thin line across his ribs and Leo's teeth clenched hard, his breath hissing between them.
"No more toys," Leo hissed. The grin was gone now. Replaced by something sharper, colder.
His hand shot out and clamped around Tobi's wrist like iron. He twisted with a brutal snap, forcing Tobi's fingers open and slapping the knife free from his grip. Before Tobi could recoil, Leo yanked him forward, pivoted, and tossed him upward like he weighed nothing. His feet left the ground in the same motion, a coiled spring exploding as he leapt after him.
The kick landed square in Tobi's chest with the sound of something cracking beneath it. The impact hurled him back, through the air, crashing into the stands with enough force to make the concrete shudder. He hit the rubble hard, rolling through dust and broken stone, until he came to a stop in a shallow crater carved into the debris. His limbs were splayed out, his head bowed, breath ragged but still there. The world trembled faintly around him, but inside his skull, everything went quiet.
He had been knocked out.