Leo was mid-air.
For a long, weightless second, it felt like the world below him had paused. The ceiling stretched far above, and the stone floor dropped away like a trapdoor had opened beneath him. His body twisted awkwardly in the air, arms flailing, blood trailing like ribbons from his shoulder. He wasn't screaming. He wasn't breathing. He was just falling.
Then...
Bang!
A deep, echoing sound pulsed through his skull, not from the outside, but from within. Something sharp tingled in his head, like a static charge building behind his eyes. His whole body clenched, expecting something, anything to happen. This had to be it, right? His quirk… was it waking up?
Another faint sound followed—the distant blur of voices. Were they calling his name? Screaming? He couldn't tell. His eyes stayed shut. His body was still tumbling. He felt the air press against him like thick liquid. Then something shifted.
He sensed it.
