"Hit me with everything you've got!" Natasha barked, all business.
"Okay!" Katie Dee wound up and charged.
Katie made the decision — she really did — but she was sixteen. Natasha had ninety years of training behind every move. The punch Katie threw looked fierce in her head; in reality it was a polite breeze. Natasha's foot blocked, redirected, and Katie hit the dirt.
Ryuuto watched from his branch, Coke in hand, grinning like a cat who'd just found a sunbeam. He was idly thinking about life priorities — money, women, power — then shrugged. In a world full of mutants and flying superhumans, money was just scenery. If he wanted cash, he could have the banks for the weekend. Quality over quantity, he decided. He had better things to collect than wallets: friends, strength, and maybe something a little more eternal.
Katie groaned and pushed herself up. "Sister Natasha," she panted, "don't attack from behind! If you kick me from the back my — my insides will split!"
"Enemies attack where they can. You have to be ready everywhere," Natasha said, dusting Katie off. Her voice softened for a second — "My parents died in the war. I trained harder than anyone would think possible. You don't get mercy in a fight; you earn it." Katie nodded like she finally understood the obvious truth. Natasha wiped the dust off her forehead and, with that faint, iron-smile of hers, ordered another round: "Come on. Push!"
Ryuuto choked on his Coke at the sight of Natasha's stern kindness. He settled deeper into the tree, staring at the training pair. Human bodies had curves that distracted his attention — and it was impossible to deny that Black Widow moved like a blade. Katie was cute and earnest and still very much raw. Susan's words flashed across his memory and he felt the heat returning.
"Still not trying hard enough," Natasha called.
Ryuuto's lips twitched. If words wouldn't provoke Katie, maybe fear — or a show — would. He closed his eyes, channeled the Transformation Technique, and let himself become something else.
The swing of the branch, the crack of the air — Ryuuto hit the ground transformed. He was huge. The abomination-style form towered: muscle and menace, that wrong, crooked smile painted across its face.
Both Natasha and Katie froze. Natasha's gun came up in an instant; Katie's jaw dropped.
Ryuuto let the deep, distorted voice ripple: "You thought you could break me? Kid Ryuuto underestimated me. I was torn to pieces and I came back. Now let's see how fun this is. Two pretty ladies — I'll play first."
Natasha squeezed the trigger. Bullets thudded into massive muscle and barely slowed him. In a blur he was behind her, fingers like clamps at her throat. He tossed her like a rag doll across the yard, then loomed over her, hot breath on her ear.
"Play dead," Ryuuto whispered. "If you keep breathing, Katie won't try. Do us a favor and pass out." He closed his fingers around her throat in a mock-gesture of control — an ugly, theatrical thing meant to work on Katie's nerves more than Natasha's.
Natasha's eyes widened as she felt the pressure, then something clinical took over. She tilted her head, letting her body go slack at the moment Ryuuto wanted. A calculated faint — not real, but convincing.
Ryuuto stepped back and smirked. "Black Widow's down. Your turn."
"K—you monster!" Katie launched herself forward anyway, fury overriding fear. Her body moved like a coiled thing, but the abomination's hand caught her mid-lunge. She was a kid in a giant's grip; the world shrank to a bad, dangerous spot where every movement counted.
Ryuuto eased the hold just enough to let Katie feel the pressure without breaking her. He wanted to carve something fierce into her — determination, or survival; his methods were terrible and effective. Katie's fists trembled but she didn't cry. She didn't scream. That stubborn little pulse of refusal was exactly what he'd wanted to pull out.
"Good," Ryuuto rumbled, voice low and wolfish. "You're learning."
Natasha, still feigning unconsciousness, had the faintest smile when Katie's eyes met hers — fierce and alive. Ryuuto shook his head with a human laugh, the sound warped by muscle, and then with a flick he shed the abomination form and collapsed into the grass beside his Coke. He was back to being annoyingly lean, annoyingly smug.
Katie sank to her knees, chest heaving. Natasha sat up as if she'd woken from a boring dream. Ryuuto plucked the crushed Coke can and took a long sip.
"Lesson?" Natasha asked, hair in disarray, voice level again.
Katie wiped grit from her palms and straightened. "Lesson learned."
Ryuuto grinned: mission accomplished — terrifying but educational. He loved being the villain in rehearsed scenarios. It made people stronger. And besides, he liked the way Katie's eyes burned after fear had been snatched away and replaced by resolve.
Above them, nothing had changed and everything had. The training yard hummed with a fresh edge. Somewhere in the city, new threats moved. Ryuuto's smile sharpened — the kind that said he'd be ready when the world finally decided to get serious.