The dust slowly began to settle, revealing the arena beneath. Greg's tense and wary gaze sharpened, as if his instincts were screaming: this wasn't over yet.
All around, the audience watching the duel between Leon and Greg stood frozen, jaws slack in disbelief. Where once stood one Leon, now there were two.
"One of a kind, huh? Pretty cool, right?" said one of the Leons with a wide grin, clearly pleased with himself.
The other chimed in immediately:
"And the best part? I can use everything the original can. No restrictions whatsoever!"
"And now we..." began the first Leon.
"...will decide," continued the second.
"...who gets to punch you in the face as hard as possible," they finished together, turning toward Greg with the most innocent expressions imaginable.
Then, as if they'd completely forgotten Greg and the stunned crowd around them, both Leons turned to each other and started a game of rock-paper-scissors.
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
"Damn it, a tie again... Fine, one more time!" the first Leon groaned in frustration.
"Let's go!" the second answered with enthusiasm.
They kept going for several rounds, playing with absolute seriousness and totally ignoring the shell-shocked audience. Meanwhile, Greg just stood there, blinking, utterly lost.
"What... the hell are you two doing?" he finally burst out.
"Hold on a sec!" one of the Leons waved him off. "It's hard playing rock-paper-scissors with a clone. We tie like, 99% of the time. But no worries — it's best of two wins."
Greg froze. He couldn't decide if he should be angry or just laugh. For a moment, he even forgot to breathe.
Up in the stands, Julius was watching. His face looked like his brain had just given up trying to understand.
"Wha… How…?" he mumbled, clearly baffled by Leon's magic.
Upon hearing that, the first Leon proudly turned toward him, puffing out his chest.
"Because, prince."
He suddenly pulled out an old leather-bound book, put on a monocle, and flipping through its pages, recited:
"Like a soon-to-be broken man once said…
You either perfect... or you are not me."
With dramatic flair, he snapped the book shut, clearly savoring the moment.
---
Author's Note:
Sorry, guys, I couldn't resist when writing Julius's reaction. This was all I could picture in my head.
---
Suddenly, the second Leon raised his hand and declared:
"I win! So I get the first hit on Mr. Muscles over there!"
"Ha! Shame," snorted the original Leon. "My fists are practically itching."
Greg, hearing them calmly discuss who would hit him first, suddenly snapped. His eyes flared with rage, fists clenched, and he charged at the talking Leon.
"You little bastards..." he growled through clenched teeth.
As he closed the distance, Greg swung with full force, aiming straight for the clone's face, but...
The clone dodged easily — as if he already knew exactly where each punch was going. One swing, two, three — all missed. Greg was striking with power, but his fists only hit air.
"Too fast..." he muttered, gritting his teeth.
Then, with a barely perceptible move, the clone swiped Greg's weapon right out of his hands. The sword flew through the air in a graceful arc, slowly falling — further and further from its owner.
Greg's eyes followed it in disbelief, as if watching it in slow motion. And just as the realization hit him—
"SHORYUKEN!!!"
The clone suddenly launched upward with a perfect uppercut, yelling the move's name as he connected cleanly with Greg's jaw. Greg soared into the air, his body briefly suspended, then crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.
Silence.
The crowd was frozen. Someone choked on their tea. Someone else on their breath. And some just stood there, mouths agape, unable to utter a word.
Marie instinctively ducked and shielded her head, as if expecting Greg to crash down right on top of her.
Julius, Brad, Chris, and Dzilk watched in stunned disbelief — eyes wide, jaws dropped. They all seemed to be thinking the same thing:
"What the hell just happened?!"
Finally, the judge managed to snap out of it and, with a trembling voice, announced:
"V-Victory goes to... Bartfort!"
A ripple of applause followed. Quiet, but sincere.
Olivia clapped with pure joy, even bouncing in place with excitement.
Angelica stood with arms crossed, but gave a small approving nod.
Clarissa, among the crowd, smiled warmly and waved at Leon in support.
But beyond them, most of the stadium...
Was glaring at Leon with open hostility.
"Uhh… this is awkward…" Leon mumbled to himself, glancing nervously around. "They seriously look like they're about to jump me…"