André ducked quickly, causing Léo to miss the punch, but before he could prepare a counterattack, Léo had already returned to his starting position.
"Even without your powers, you can still dodge a punch of mine, at high speed..." Léo seemed to be evaluating André.
André, however, didn't answer. He knew Léo's attack speed was very high; even if he still possessed his powers, it would be impossible to dodge. All that was left for him was to try to defend himself from the attacks that were to come.
Léo arched his body and launched himself toward André, trying to land a direct attack with his knee, but André deflected the attack with his elbow, while using the opposite knee to support himself on the ground, so that the force of the blow wouldn't throw him out of the circle; instead, he just spun on his knee.
Once again Léo launched himself into an attack, this time a spinning kick, followed by a flying kick, but André just ducked and spun his body close to the ground quickly, thus dodging all attacks.
It was clear to everyone that if Léo landed just one of those attacks, it would be enough to throw André out of the circle, and the two combatants were aware of that too. And if Léo used his powers, since André didn't have his, it would be the end of the fight in a fraction of a second.
"Even without using his powers, Léo is still one of the fastest..." Eduardo murmured.
Felipe glanced at Eduardo, who seemed to be amazed that two people could fight at that speed, even without powers, and said:
"But André is managing to defend himself well..."
Despite not having delivered a single attack, André seemed to be handling that fight with ease; it was as if it were a rehearsed dance. But Léo was reducing the distance and increasing the speed of each attack as time went by, to the point where the two were half a meter from each other. Léo attacked with hands and feet; André defended with knees and elbows.
As the fight extended, the spectators became more nervous and concentrated. Felipe quickly scanned those present: Lucas was the calmest; Anne appeared to be praying; Eduardo, despite his relaxed posture, expressed fear; Jonas remained impassive but tapped his foot with restlessness; and Zita watched attentively each exchange of blows as if she had to intervene at any moment.
Felipe smiled; despite everything, the two fighting were precisely the two people she was closest to. Surely the girl had reason to be worried to the point of subconsciously raising the air temperature around her body and emitting small flames from her fingertips.
The fight continued frantically. André began to show difficulty in continuing only on the defensive. Léo used a sequence of punches interspersed with some kicks and sweeps; André's lack of hands seemed to be putting him at a disadvantage.
André, upon defending a direct punch, stopped almost on top of the line delimiting the circle. Léo didn't give him time to recover and delivered a lateral kick rotating his body. André spun in the opposite direction, using a quick change of feet, and leaving Léo closer to the edge, delivered his first attack: a left punch that hit Léo's shoulder as he was recovering his posture.
André jumped back, positioning himself in the center of the circle. Léo took a step back stopping on the circle line, frowned, and bared his teeth in displeasure at what had happened. He never expected André to manage to attack with his arms, especially the left one, which according to Felipe's report, was the one that had suffered the greatest sequelae.
Léo's blue eyes began to get brighter and brighter; they seemed to have their own light. He once again launched himself at André; his speed was greater. For a few moments, he seemed to even disappear into thin air and reappear in a totally different location, ready to deliver a powerful blow.
André, for his part, could barely dodge or defend the blows; he just threw himself sideways so as not to be thrown out of the circle by the impact of the blows.
Felipe divided his attention between the fight, which became increasingly agonizing, and the expression of each of the others watching. But what caught his attention most was Zita, who was very concentrated, following every movement; when Léo used his speed he might disappear to the eyes of some, but not to hers.
In one of the moments when Léo "disappeared," André made a different move; he did a backflip supporting himself on his bandaged right fist, opened his legs, and spun quickly, hitting Léo's face the moment he reappeared, while Léo managed to hit André's ribs. Both fell in opposite directions, near the edge of the circle.
Despite the air conditioning being on to the point of almost making it snow in the environment, the heat emanating from Zita along with the tension made everyone sweat. Felipe might have been the only one to notice when the small transparent flames on her fingers increased, covering her hands, and her red hair began to float, taking the shape of flames.
Léo got up quickly, launching himself headfirst, very close to the ground. André was still getting up. Léo supported his left hand on the ground and kicked with both feet; André jumped over Léo's attack. Their right fists collided in the air, causing André to be thrown to the other side of the circle.
The two recovered their positions quickly, but André's fatigue was visible; he hadn't fully recovered yet. Léo, for his part, seemed to be irritated for drawing that fight with someone who wasn't in his full battle form. Léo's eyes increased their brightness, his fingers began to emit small electric sparks, his blond hair stood on end, and he vanished.
A lightning bolt crossed the entire training room; its branches hit several of the metallic equipment, and a deep sound of thunder echoed. André slightly bent his knees and launched a punch toward the void.
The sound of electric sparks took over the space at the same time as a sudden smoke; the spectators' vision was interrupted for two seconds. Felipe looked to the side; Zita was no longer in her initial position. She vanished at the same time as Léo.
When the smoke began to dissipate, one could see Léo covered in small moving lightning bolts, skid marks at his feet—possibly the effect of friction between his shoes and the floor. His right arm was stretched toward André, who was in the same position he had stopped moments before. Both their fists had stopped centimeters from their rivals' faces, stopped by Zita, who was between the two, covered in flames.
"No powers..." said Zita, while her flames diminished.
"I admit my defeat," Léo said, looking at Felipe.
Léo pulled back his arm, retracting his electricity. Zita also retracted her flames. Only André remained in attack position, but it lasted little; after Léo left the circle, André fell, unconscious.
While everyone turned their attention to André, Felipe looked at Léo, who was wiping the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
André's desperate attack landed; however, if Zita hadn't interfered, André might not have survived, thought the wisest man of the two worlds.
"I think that is enough to clarify that André has no powers..." said Zita while staring at each of those present.
Obviously, no one would dare contest her.
None of them were idiotic to that point.