- 8 -

- A Test of Strength -

Cal didn't even hear him coming before it was too late, not even having time to turn around before something insanely strong slammed into his back. Even if he had been on the ground he would have had a bit of trouble fully stopping the attack, but in the air he had no chance at all. As the figure slammed into him, it wrapped its massive arms around him to prevent escape and they both tumbled towards the roof of the building Cal had landed on before. He couldn't stop them as they crashed into it, shattering the layers of materials as though it was glass, and smashing into the floor below; and then carrying on down further floors before finally coming to a stop.

Cal had managed to spin himself around within the grasp of the giant so that he crashed into the floor back first, spreading the impact into a shallow crater. The creature on top of him was clearly something out of a nightmare; with its skin a dark threatening red, muscles seeming trying to break out of its skin, and eyes seemingly completely black. It had white hair on its head, which was in a complete mess, and was only wearing the tattered remains of black combat trousers.

"Oh, I know you." Cal said, blocking an incoming punch with an open palm, stopping it dead. "You're the one from earlier, who I sent flying right? Leon, was it?" Leon slammed down his other fist, but once again Cal caught it in an open palm. "It seems like you're going to give me the most trouble out of your little gang, but don't think you can stop me!" He shouted the last few words and jerked his arms to the side, sending Leon flying sideways where he crashed into the wall, shaking the room and sending cracks running along the roof and walls.

"Quite the monster, aren't you?" Cal asked, getting to his feet and brushing dust off his clothes.

"I won't let you embarrass me again, punk!" Leon said, his voice sounding like he had eaten nails recently. "I'll take you down and drag you back by your hair." He roared and his muscles bulged even more before he shrunk down enough to fit into the room, his muscles taking on a more prominent definition. "Come here and die!"

Leon charged forward at an impressive speed, considering his bulk, with arms held low and ready to grapple. Cal glanced around quickly, taking in that they were stood in some kind of office complex, and couldn't see any people in the immediate area. Either there were none to begin with, or they had all made a run for it while Cal and Leon and been smashing through the floors. Cal also noticed that there was an alarm running in the background, which he identified as the fire alarm.

Good, that means everyone will be getting out of the building if they're not already, I can experiment a little bit. Cal thought as he focused back on Leon, who was getting closer. With a grin on his face, Cal bent into a similar position and the two of them clashed with enough force that the floor beneath their feet splintered.

Leon was practically snarling, while Cal kept a cool demeanour, before swinging a wild haymaker at Cal's head. Cal replied by raising his arm to block the attack, but there was so much strength behind it that he was forced to the side by about a foot. Surprised by the attack, Cal didn't hesitate to return the blow and ducked inside Leon's reach to deliver a massive shot to his ribs.

Leon called out as he was pushed to the side, Cal's blow hitting with enough force to move his massive body, but wasn't about to take the attack lying down as he raised an arm above his head and crashed it down on top of Cal. Cal received the attack with crossed arms, but he was still pushed slightly, digging footprints into the floor with the power. With expert precision he kicked out and caught Leon in the side of his knee, making him stumble forward, right into a left uppercut Cal sent flying, cracking Leon in the jaw.

Leon was lifted off the floor and his head smashed into the ceiling, creating a hole. Cal didn't let up though as he jumped up and slammed another upper cut into Leon's chest, pushing him further up, while pushing back at the same time. The result was Leon's huge body creating a chasm in the floor above, allowing desks and other related office furniture to fall down. Leon recovered enough to land on his feet and grabbed a desk, sending it flying in Cal's direction. Cal didn't flinch as he slapped it out of the way, only for Leon to appear behind it and deliver a punch to Cal's chest with the power of a train.

Cal was flung back into the far wall, sending more cracks along the walls and floor, before Leon charged him again. Cal dropped to one knee, shaking his head to recover, before lifting both hands above his head and slamming them into the floor. It worked like he had planned as a massive break snapped towards Leon's feet before the whole floor collapsed and both fighters were sent tumbling down to the floor below.

Cal was first to recover, as Leon roared in anger, as he dashed forward to attack. Leon swung wildly but Cal simply ducked under his attack with a role and then slammed an elbow into his side. He used more strength this time and Leon was sent flying into the far wall; which he hit and then smashed all the way through, with Cal in quick pursuit. Cal burst from the wall to see a flailing Leon trying to right himself in mid-air.

With a push off from the wall, Cal sent himself like a missile at Leon and crashed into him, slamming his shoulder into his stomach. Leon cried out again as the both of them slammed into the wall of the opposite building and into the room inside. Leon rolled away, as Cal slid to a stop and adjusted his coat around his arms.

"Wow, you've got one resilient body there." Cal said, rolling his shoulders as he approached the fallen Riser.

"You're pretty good at fighting yourself. Where the hell did you get that good?" Leon said, pulling himself up to one knee.

"Nowhere, I just let my instincts get on with it; no point letting things get complicated." Cal said, shrugging his shoulders. "So, can you lie off for now; just tell your team mates that I escaped."

"Like hell!" Leon said and charged forward again.

Cal nearly sighed but decided against it as he stepped forward quickly and got on the inside of Leon's outstretched arms. He grabbed one of Leon's arms and his side, before twisting violently and sending him flying back towards the initial building, quickly jumping after him.

Leon corrected himself in time to smash through the wall unharmed and land on his feet, allowing him to turn in time to receive both of Cal's boots to his face. He was flung backwards, a small trail of blood flying from his mouth, before he slammed into the wall.

"Well, what do you know, you do bleed." Cal said before rushing forwards.

Leon was expecting it this time though and dashed forward at an even greater speed than Cal, slamming into him before he was expecting it. Thanks to that, Cal was lifted off his feet and pushed all the way back to the far wall again. Leon didn't stop there though and slammed Cal's body into it, rearing back and then doing it again, this time completely smashing through the wall again. The two of them flew backwards but before Cal had time to break free, they slammed into the ground, cleaving a parked car clean in two.

While they had been fighting, Cal hadn't even realised that they had been getting lower and lower with each clash. As civilians screamed and got away from them as fast as possible, Cal plied Leon's arms apart and used his foot to flip him over his head into the centre of the road. The cars had already skidded to a stop away from the pair, so Cal and Leon had a fair amount of space to continue their fight; although Cal was getting slightly nervous now they were on ground level.

Suddenly the sky went dark, and as Cal and Leon looked up, a large dome dropped out of the sky and completely surrounded them; while also blocking the view from outside. "Keep him occupied for a bit longer, Leon, the others are on their way." A voice said as a face appeared in the far side of the dome.

"Launi, what the hell are you doing?!" Leon said

"Just making sure your face isn't plastered across the internet. Now keep him busy!" Launi said before her face disappeared again.

Leon shook his head before turning back to Cal, only to find him practically on top of him. "Enough." Cal said simply and punched Leon in the gut so hard, Leon felt like his spine had been punched out of his back. As he bent over to clasp at his stomach, Cal slammed the back of his elbow into the back of his head, slamming him into the floor. "I've finished experimenting now, so I need to go." Cal said before turning and starting to walk towards the edge of the dome, only to be stopped as Leon grabbed his leg.

"I'm not done yet, asshole." He said as Cal rounded on him. "Do you think you can actually finish me o…!?" he started to say before Cal punched him in the face.

The blow was so hard that Leon's head was forced into the road about an inch, as he looked up at Cal who was now stood above him; then Cal started the barrage. He started by focusing on his head, slamming his fist into his face over and over again. With every punch, Leon's head became even more embedded into the asphalt; then blood spurted from his nose with a sickening crack, indicating a broken nose.

As the crack echoed around the dome, Cal stopped punching and stared down at the apparently unconscious Leon. "Finished at last, eh?" he said with a sigh.

"Like…hell." Leon replied, grinning from beneath the blood of his nose.

Cal snarled and raised a clenched fist above his head, before swinging it down onto Leon's chest. The blow had enough power in it that Leon's body was buried into the ground in a crater, as well as sending a physical wave along the road that jerked the dome into the air, and sent cars in the area bouncing on their suspension; setting alarms off as it went. Cal pulled back and stared as Leon slowly raised and arm to grab him.

"Damn." He said before raising his other fist and slamming that one into Leon, sending another shockwave, this time raising parts of road into the air and sending cracks along the sides of buildings, shattering windows in the process. Leon's arm fell to the ground and Cal took a step back, catching his breath as he stared at Leon lying on the ground. "A damn tough one." He muttered before watching as Leon's eyes fluttered open and he attempted to move.

With eyes wide in anger, Cal jerked forward and slammed a fist full force into Leon's body. The ground exploded around them, as bits of stone were thrown into the air, cars were flipped onto their roofs, and sections of buildings actually fell off. Leon's body was dug so far into the ground it looked like someone had buried him there, the top half covered nearly completely in earth and stone. Cal stepped away from him and dropped into a sitting position. "Hopefully you're not dead." He said, daring Leon to get up; he didn't.

Cal slowly pulled himself to his feet and walked over to the edge of the dome, tapping it slightly. "Launi, was it?" he asked, Launi's face appearing in the edge of the dome. "I don't want to hurt you, so let's say you move out the way so I can go."

Launi looked like she was about to reject the idea but when Cal clenched his fist at his side, a door appeared in the wall, allowing Cal to exit. As soon as he closed the door behind him, it disappeared and Cal guessed it would stay there until the other Risers appeared. He looked around to see the destruction and shrugged, before he sped off; disappearing from view completely.

The rest of the Risers appeared not long after and Launi returned to her original form as they approached. The fliers slowly descended from above, the unconscious Joanne being held by Scarlett, while Matt and the others rushed over to the centre of the destruction. As they approached the crater that Leon had been forced into, they initially couldn't see him; but then River pointed out a foot sticking out from the rubble, indicating that Leon had shrunken down to his original size, causing the ground to pretty much cover him completely.

With the help of River and Hana, Matt managed to pull Leon out of the crater and lay him on the ground; his injuries spreading across his body. Matt reached into one of his webbing belts and pulled out a slim phone-like object, which he activated with a touch of the screen and held in front of him.