The shockwave hit first. Robin barely had time to turn before the street imploded around him. Asphalt cracked outward in a spiderweb as something slammed down hard enough to crater the road. Fire bent away from the impact. Smoke was torn apart by the sudden pressure shift. Robin planted his feet, Then the man was there. Robin grinned "Another one. Did AHQ send you?" The man didn't answer. His head tilted slightly, ears already sorting through the chaos; sirens, screaming, crackling fire, the subtle ringing of overstressed steel inside Robin's body. He heard the density. The weight. The way Robin's movements displaced air just a fraction too slow. "He's Heavy." He thought to himself, Robin charged first. He tore forward, every step cracking the street, swinging a steel fist straight for the man's head but the punch never landed.
The man vanished in a burst of motion, the air snapping where he'd been. Robin's fist smashed into nothing, the shockwave shattering nearby storefront windows. Before Robin could recover, something hit him square in the ribs, harder than any bullet, faster than any car, The impact launched him.
Robin slammed through a bus stop, steel screeching as his body tore through glass and concrete before skidding to a stop against a burned-out cruiser. He laughed as he stood. "One robbery and all of a sudden they're deploying elites?" Robin said as he laughed. He ripped a chunk of street free and hurled it, The man shot upward, vertical in an instant, the debris screaming past beneath him. He dove immediately after, accelerating, He hit Robin shoulder first, driving him through the cruiser and into the pavement beneath it causing the ground to collapse.
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Above the street, helicopters circled, News choppers mostly hovering at what they thought was a safe distance. Camera operators leaned out, lenses fixed on the destruction below, voices shouting over headsets as they tried to narrate the impossible. "we're seeing confirmed Awakener-on-Awakener engagement."
A shockwave ripped upward. The air buckled violently, slamming into the lead helicopter like a wall. The craft lurched sideways, rotors screaming as the pilot fought for control. "Pull back! Pull back!" someone yelled over the open channel. Another collision thundered through the streets below as Robin hit the ground again, the impact sending a rolling pressure wave through the air. Windows detonated across multiple blocks. The helicopters were forced higher, cameras shaking violently, footage blurring as stabilizers failed.
"Jesus, did you feel that?"
"We can't hold position…con…trols are lagging"
One chopper dipped too low and was caught in the turbulence. The rotors clipping unstable air, alarms blaring as it barely recovered and fled backward. "This isn't safe," the pilot shouted. "We're not built for this!" They pulled away, forced to broadcast from a distance, smoke, fire, and collapsing buildings filling the frame while the actual fight vanished into dust clouds and shockwaves.
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On the ground, none of it mattered. Robin swung again, The man hit harder, Robin grabbed him mid-impact. Metal hands closed around the man's torso, crushing, trying to pin him. The man grunted but didn't slow. He twisted, and flew dragging Robin with him. They tore out of the crater and into the air, Robin swung wildly, clipping the man once. The hit sent him spinning but not falling. He corrected mid-air, reoriented, and slammed both fists into Robin's chest in rapid succession each blow landing like a piledriver, Steel dented. Robin roared and yanked the man back in, headbutting him. The sound rang like a bell struck underwater. The man reeled but recovered instantly, spotting the shift in Robin's balance, He went low, A kick landed behind Robin's knee with enough force to buckle it. Another strike to the neck joint where steel met something less uniform, Robin lost altitude.
They crashed back into the street hard enough to flip a nearby fire engine onto its side, The man stood first, breathing heavy now, blood at the corner of his mouth. He listened, Robin was getting up, Still strong. Still angry. Still dangerous, The man clenched his fists. "Stay down," he said. Robin didn't. Steel flowed, reinforcing, thickening where the blows had landed. He rose slower this time but heavier. The man took off again, faster than before, the street exploding beneath his feet as he accelerated upward . This time, he was determined to end the fight.