"What?"
"Someone actually stepped in front of that blast?"
"Has he lost his mind?"
The reporters froze for a split second, their instincts clashing with what their eyes were telling them. They had just witnessed Iron Man's charging cannon, a weapon that radiated overwhelming destructive force, and in their minds, the outcome had already been decided. There was no scenario where flesh and blood could stand against something like that.
Dr. Lizard was supposed to lose, plain and simple, and the Avengers were supposed to walk away with a clean, undeniable victory. That was the story they were ready to write, the headline they were prepared to push out within the hour.
But then someone stepped in.
At the most critical moment, right in the path of that unstoppable blast, a figure clad in armor appeared without hesitation. The sheer audacity of it made several reporters instinctively shake their heads, already preparing to frame him as a reckless fool who had overestimated his own strength.
Cameras snapped wildly, shutters clicking in rapid succession as photographers rushed to capture what they assumed would be a spectacular failure. To them, this wasn't bravery—it was stupidity, and they were eager to immortalize it.
"Whoosh."
Leo drew his longsword in one smooth motion, the blade igniting instantly as flames coiled around it like a living force. The fire didn't just burn—it pulsed, steady and controlled, as if it was responding directly to his will.
In that moment, his mind was empty.
No hesitation.
No distraction.
No thought.
"Slash! Slash! Slash!!!"
As the energy cannon closed in, Leo moved. His entire body surged forward, flames erupting around him as he became a blazing silhouette against the incoming light, his presence sharp and undeniable.
Then the blade fell.
The strike wasn't just fast—it was absolute. A beam of condensed energy extended from the sword, stretching into a three-meter arc of searing light that cut through the air with terrifying precision.
"Sizzle—"
The moment the blade met the cannon, the collision produced a harsh, grating sound that made everyone nearby instinctively flinch. It wasn't an explosion or a clash of brute force—it was something more refined, more controlled, like two opposing forces grinding against each other at the edge of their limits.
And then—
The impossible happened.
The energy cannon stopped.
It didn't just slow down or weaken—it was held in place, split apart by a single strike.
For a heartbeat, the entire scene fell into stunned silence.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
"Is… is this real?" one of the reporters muttered, his voice barely above a whisper as he rubbed his eyes, convinced he had misseen something.
Then the realization hit.
"This is huge!"
The photographers snapped out of it first, their excitement exploding as they raised their cameras again, capturing every frame of the moment. This wasn't failure—it was something far better.
This was history.
And for the Avengers, it was a nightmare.
"Isn't that the weird turtle from last time?" Steve's jaw clenched, anger flashing across his face as recognition hit him. He still remembered the humiliation, the crushing defeat that had left a mark deeper than any physical injury.
Tony's expression darkened as well, the memory of his own loss surfacing just as vividly. "He's stronger," he muttered, his voice tight. "Way stronger than before."
Black Widow and Hawkeye exchanged a glance, the tension between them unspoken but clear. Growth like this wasn't normal, not at this speed, and it left a bitter taste in their mouths.
They trained for years.
He just… exploded forward.
The confrontation reached its conclusion in the next instant.
"Sizzle—"
The charging cannon, once unstoppable, began to fracture under the pressure. It cracked, splintered, and then disintegrated piece by piece, the energy unraveling as if it had never been stable to begin with.
In that exchange, there was no ambiguity.
Flesh had defeated machine.
The reporters erupted into motion again, their excitement reaching a fever pitch as they realized what they had just witnessed. The spotlight had shifted completely, and the moment that was supposed to belong to the Avengers had been stolen right out from under them.
Leo lowered his blade as the last remnants of the cannon faded, his expression calm, almost indifferent, as if splitting it in half hadn't been worth acknowledging.
Behind him, Dr. Lizard broke free from the weakened electric net and stepped forward, his massive form looming as he regained his footing. There was a flicker of something in his eyes—gratitude, confusion, maybe both—as he looked at the armored figure who had just saved him.
Leo didn't hesitate.
"This was arranged by my master," he said simply, his voice steady.
"Master?" Dr. Lizard echoed, the word unfamiliar yet strangely reassuring as it settled in his mind.
"My master ordered me to deal with the Avengers during my training," Leo continued, lifting his sword again as flames surged around him, rising higher, hotter, until his entire body seemed wrapped in fire.
The blade tilted forward.
And its direction was clear.
The Avengers.
…
Under Locke's guidance, the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles had transformed completely. What had once been raw talent had sharpened into something far more dangerous, something precise and overwhelming.
Splitting the energy cannon wasn't even close to the limit of what he could do.
If anything, it was just the beginning.
And against the Avengers?
It was more than enough.
"You think you can look down on us?" Tony's voice snapped, anger flaring as his mechanical arms burst outward, writhing like living weapons. He launched himself into the air, charging straight at Leo without hesitation, unwilling to accept what had just happened.
He was Iron Man.
He didn't lose like this.
"Jarvis, analyze him and show me how to tear this guy apart," Tony ordered, his confidence forcing its way back to the surface.
After his last defeat, he had upgraded everything—armor, systems, response speed. He had prepared for this, prepared for the next encounter, and he refused to believe it wouldn't be enough.
But the moment he closed the distance—
Leo moved.
The sword came out again, faster than before, sharper, more fluid, and what followed wasn't a single strike but a storm.
The air filled with the sound of metal colliding, rapid and relentless.
"Knock—knock—knock—knock—"
Each strike flowed into the next without pause, a continuous barrage that left no room to breathe. Tony couldn't even track the blade anymore, his vision reduced to flashes of motion as Jarvis struggled to keep up with the speed.
"Slash, slash, slash—"
Leo's excitement grew with every exchange, his movements becoming faster, more aggressive, his rhythm tightening as the fight pushed forward. Ever since Locke had taught him swordsmanship, he had been climbing, surpassing even his own expectations.
And now—
This was proof.
This was validation.
Tony tried to keep up, relying on his armor to compensate, but there was a limit to what machines could do. Without true technique, without instinct, he was already falling behind.
"Sizzle—"
A gap opened.
Leo didn't miss it.
The blade flashed once, clean and precise, and the extra arms on Tony's chest were severed instantly, falling away before the system could even react.
"Whoosh—"
Another cut followed, slicing through the remaining appendages on his back as if they weren't even there.
Tony staggered, the loss hitting him all at once, and for the first time, fear crept into his expression.
Then came the final strike.
"Whoosh!!!"
The blade descended from above, a streak of light that carried no hesitation, no restraint, and it carved through Tony's forearm in a single, brutal motion.
Blood spilled instantly.
The man who had once stood untouchable crashed to the ground, his body twisting as pain overtook him completely. The arrogance, the confidence, all of it shattered in the span of a few seconds.
"Iron Man… Tony Stark… has been cut down?!"
The reporters surged forward, their excitement turning almost frenzied as they tried to get closer, to capture every detail, to hear every word he might say.
This was beyond news.
This was a spectacle.
"It's over—!" Steve's voice broke as horror flashed across his face, the realization hitting him too late.
Because Leo was already there.
He moved so fast it was like he vanished, and in the next instant, he stood directly in front of Steve.
"Smack—"
The blade struck—not cutting, but slamming hard across Steve's face with brutal force.
The impact sent him crashing to the ground, the symbol of freedom reduced to a motionless figure in an instant.
His eyes rolled back.
His body went still.
And just like that—
He was out.
"Good heavens… Captain Steve is down too!"
The reporters exploded again, their voices overlapping as chaos and excitement swallowed the scene whole.
.....
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