[Third Person Pov]
Tony stood confidently at the front of the gymnasium, facing his entire new class as they watched him go through a series of warm-up exercises. He was dressed in sleek new gym clothes—black with bold yellow accents that made him stand out even more than usual. With practiced ease, he pulled one foot behind him, before going into a deep lunge forwards, then shifted smoothly from side to side, dropping as low as his body would allow. Each movement showcased his impressive flexibility and control, his muscles moving with fluid precision under the bright overhead lights.
"You are seriously looking down on us," Jaime growled, stepping forward with clear irritation etched across his face. His posture was tense, fists clenched at his sides.
"Yup," Tony replied casually, not even bothering to deny the accusation. A small, unbothered smile played on his lips.
"What exactly are you trying to achieve by doing all of this?" Rudy asked, narrowing his eyes with open suspicion. He crossed his arms, clearly trying to read Tony's intentions.
"Nothing much, Spider Monkey," Tony said teasingly, his tone light and mocking. "I just want to see where you and I stand. It's nothing personal."
"Don't call me that," Rudy frowned, his expression darkening. He clearly hated the nickname.
Tony's smirk widened. "Then make me~"
"Gladly," Rudy snapped, stepping forward aggressively. But before he could advance further, Leland—the boy with waves for hair—placed a firm hand on his chest, stopping him in his tracks.
"Stop it. He's clearly trying to provoke you," Leland said calmly, his voice steady and reasonable.
Tony scoffed and looked off to the side with exaggerated disappointment. "Coward."
A prominent tick mark appeared on Rudy's forehead. In a flash of anger, he slapped Leland's hand away and rushed toward Tony at a blinding speed. It was a velocity that would have caught most people completely off guard, leaving them stunned and helpless.
However, Tony wasn't like most people.
The last thing Rudy saw was Tony smiling at him with calm confidence. In the next instant, Rudy found himself flipped upside down in the air, dangling helplessly by the grip of one of his middle-row arms. Before he could even process what was happening, Tony's hand moved like a whip. Rudy crashed into the polished gymnasium floor with a bone-rattling thud that echoed throughout the large space.
He lay there dazed, staring blankly up at the bright overhead lights as stars danced in his vision. He blinked slowly, completely stunned. "What…?"
Instantly, the atmosphere in the room shifted. Every face turned serious. Eyes narrowed with renewed focus and wariness as the class began to realize that there was more to Tony than just his suits of armor.
"Did anyone see how that happened?" the twins, Mandy and Lenny, asked in unison, tilting their heads in confusion.
"It was a simple counter, nothing too crazy," Eric explained evenly. "Tony used his own feet to sweep Rudy's legs out from under him. It just happened so fast, and everyone's attention was focused elsewhere, so it was hard to catch."
"And yet somehow you were one of the few who actually saw it," Mandy said, staring at Eric with a weird, scrutinizing look. "How is that possible? You're not nearly as skilled as that would suggest."
Eric calmly fixed his glasses, his expression unchanging. "Did I? Must've been a coincidence."
Angel, who had been quietly overhearing their conversation, glanced over her shoulder at the group, more specifically towards Eric, before turning her full attention back to Tony. He was already speaking again, his voice carrying across the gym with easy confidence.
"As you can see, if you underestimate me, you'll end up like this one here," Tony said, gesturing casually toward the still-dazed Rudy. "So just because I'm not wearing my battle armor doesn't mean it's gonna be easy for any of you." He flashed a wide, challenging grin.
"Alright, how about this~" Tony continued, interlacing his fingers and cracking his knuckles with a loud series of pops. "Whoever manages to land a hit on me first gets their own customized suit, designed by yours truly—"
Before he could even finish the sentence, a pinkish-purple blur flashed across everyone's peripheral vision. In an instant, Eric appeared in the air right in front of Tony, leg cocked back for a powerful kick.
Tony lowered his head just in time. Eric's leg swept harmlessly overhead with a whoosh of air before he landed gracefully, sliding across the floor a few feet away.
Tony glanced over his shoulder with an amused smirk. "Looks like someone wants Christmas to come early~"
"Tsk," Eric clicked his tongue in mild annoyance. "I almost had you though."
"Hahahaha! You weren't even close," Tony laughed, his smirk growing into a full grin.
Almost everyone in the class wore expressions of pure astonishment. They had known Eric throughout their entire first semester, and he had never shown anywhere near this level of speed or precision. The sudden display left them stunned.
"Coincidence our big butts!!" the twins exclaimed together, shaking their fists in disbelief.
"Yeah, sorry. I became strong over the summer," Eric replied calmly, flashing a casual peace sign while keeping his usual deadpan expression.
"Seeing someone like Eric getting this motivated to win… I better give it my all then," Angel said with a determined grin. The glowing halo floating above her head began to buzz and flash with intense energy. Suddenly, four additional halos materialized around her. She thrust her hands into the two halos in front of her and stepped into the pair near her feet. They clamped securely around her wrists and ankles, buzzing once more with power. In a flash of golden light, she vanished from her original position.
She reappeared directly in front of Tony as a streaking blur of motion, launching a rapid series of attacks that left shimmering golden aftertrails in the air. But Tony was already moving, effortlessly dodging each strike with fluid grace.
"Look at that," Tony remarked with genuine appreciation as he continued to evade her. "It seems you're more than just a pretty face." Without warning, he grabbed her arm, pulled her forward, and drove his knee hard into her stomach with enough force to send her ragdolling across the gym floor.
"Ouch…" Angel grimaced, skidding to a stop. Two more rings of light immediately appeared beneath her palms. They pulsed with energy, boosting her before vanishing again. This time, every punch or kick she launched sent out additional rings of light that exploded on impact with the ground.
Tony responded by launching into a continuous series of backflips, narrowly dodging the explosive attacks as they slammed into the floor around him, sending up bursts of debris and golden sparks.
The rest of the class exchanged quick glances and didn't hesitate any longer. They joined Angel in the assault without a second thought.
A girl named Lydia, with shiny, reflective hair that caught the light beautifully, held out her hands. A stream of shimmering bubbles burst from her palms—each one seemingly generated from a built-in bubble wand mechanism. She used the sturdy bubbles as temporary footholds, bouncing and leaping gracefully around the gymnasium with surprising agility.
The twins, Mandy and Lenny, turned to each other and slapped their hands together with a resounding clap. A brilliant flash of lightning cracked across the gym, followed by a deep, thunderous roar. What emerged was a massive monster-like form covered in tribal markings, charging forward with raw power.
"Hahaha! Finally!" Tony exclaimed excitedly, rushing forward to meet the challenge head-on.
Jaime launched himself at Tony with his tail whipping forward like a weapon, but Tony caught it mid-air with ease. He began spinning Jaime around and around before launching him like a projectile toward Angel, who was still airborne.
Angel dodged smoothly and quickly created a glowing halo that wrapped around Jaime's torso, stopping his momentum and gently lowering him back to the ground.
Tony, never slowing down, leaped onto the face of the monstrous twin and used the creature as a springboard to deliver a powerful dropkick to Lydia, who was hovering in the air on her bubbles.
Tony moved like a whirlwind—his body a constant blur of precise, unpredictable motion that made it nearly impossible for the others to keep track of him. Blades made of gale-force wind barreled toward him at tremendous speed, but he jumped into a spinning dodge, letting the blades miss him by mere centimeters. They exploded behind him in a violent eruption of cutting wind.
Meanwhile, Leland, the boy with the wavy hair, began to morph. His entire body transformed fluidly into a towering elemental of living water, surging forward with the force of a tidal wave.
Tony quickly climbed onto the back of the monstrous twin, grabbing one of her horns for balance and using the powerful creature as a living mount to dodge the crashing wave of water that threatened to engulf them both.
All the while, a wide, manic grin never left Tony's face. He was clearly thriving in the chaos.
From the sidelines, Momo and Melissa leaned casually against the wall, observing the intense free-for-all unfold.
"He seems to be enjoying himself," Momo commented softly, a faint smile touching her lips as she watched the spectacle.
"I know what you mean," Melissa replied with a scoff, "but if I'm being perfectly honest, Tony has always had a sadistic pleasure in bullying others and reminding them exactly where they stand. It's sometimes a mystery to me how someone like that could ever want to become a hero~"
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