Spells fire one after another. No matter how outnumbered Leona is, he's able to fend off everything thrown at him.
"If you have that much power, why do this?" Riddle yells at the lion.
"Why? What do you care, kid?" Leona yells back. "You gonna scold me? Try to talk me down? Don't you get it? Power alone ain't enough to make waves in this world."
You cry out as the spell consumes your shoulder. Jack looks wildly to the fight and back to you. He finally looks to Carter.
"Hey! Phone guy!"
Cater turns around. "Me?"
"Get over here!"
Cater runs and slides on his knees next to you. Jack gently hands you over to Cater.
"Keep her safe!"
Jack gets up and bolts towards Leona. Cater holds you close, his hand gently brushing your hair.
"That's enough!" Jack yells. "Unleash the Beast!"
Mid run, Jack transforms into a large white wolf. He lets out a loud howl that makes everyone whip around in shock.
Leona's eyes widen. "What just-"
Jack tackles Leona to the ground, growling and showing his sharp teeth. With the lion distracted, Riddle used his signature spell.
"He broke Leona's concentration! Off With Your Head!"
A collar materialized onto Leona's neck. Leona grabs at it, trying to rip it off. Your arm returns to normal, no longer dry and cracked.
"That was beautiful, Riddle!" Cater calls out. "You stopped Leona's magic cold!"
You wrap Cater in a tight hug, grateful the spell stopped. Carter returns the hug, holding you close. The silver haired boy looks to his companion.
"Sebek, let's get the wounded somewhere safe."
"Do not presume to order me around, Silver!"
The two take off to help the wounded. Jack transforms back and runs to you. He and Cater help you stand up. Once you're steady, you wrap your arms around Jack. Jack stiffens at your touch.
"Thank you Jack."
The wolf hesitantly returns the hug. "Yeah, uh, don't mention it."
Leona roars. "No... NO! You can't collar a lion!
And Jack! How did you... Transformation potions are forbidden! Where did you get that?"
"I didn't use a potion, that's my signature spell." Jack turns to Leona. "With it I can transform myself into a wolf."
"Ha! What's that saying? Every dog has his day?" Leona laughs halfheartedly. "Well I guess you had yours!"
"Housewarden Leona, I want you to know..." Jack steps forward. "I only came to this school because of how much I admired you! What happened to the man you used to be?"
"Shut up." Leona growls. "Your dreams got nothin' to do with me!"
Riddle places a hand to his chest. "I understand the irony of me being the one to say it, but it pains me to see you like this. You'd be wise to confine yourself to your room and try to calm down!"
Leona whirls on Riddle. "What do you know about how I feel?"
"Would that the lion king of the savanna could witness this absolute farce." Lilia puts a hand to his chin. "No, if you ask me, the collar suits you far better than a crown ever could."
"What?" Leona glares at Lilia.
"You may bemoan the fact that you're not higher in line to be king." Lilia continues. "But with that sensitive ego of yours? That so quickly directs all your petty anger at your retainers. Well, the idea of you ever contending with a REAL king like our Malleus, is absolutely laughable. Even if you COULD defeat Malleus, so long as that's how you choose to conduct yourself? You would never be fit to rule!"
Leona looks to the ground. He starts laughing cynically. "Yeah, you're probably right. No, you're EXACTLY right!"
Leona runs a hand through his hair, his laughter becoming more unhinged. "I will never become king. No matter how hard I try!"
Grim eyes widen. "Myah! All my fur's standin' on end!"
"The magic power within Leona is surging!" Riddle steps back in shock. "I don't think my collar can hold it!"
Lilia narrows his eyes. "No. That isn't magic power. That's negative energy, which means..."
"Everybody get down!" Cater yells out.
The air became dryer and sand blows all around you, stinging your eyes and making it hard to see. Dark clouds cover the once bright sky. The collar around Leona's neck is flung off.
"Riddle's collar flew off?" Carter says in shock.
"I've been loathed since the day I was born." Dark magic swirls around Leona. Ink swirls in the yellow jewel on his pen, turning it black. The ink spills out onto his hand, creeping up his arm. "I've never had a place, never had a future! None of my hard work is ever rewarded! How could any of YOU possibly understand? MY disappointment? MY pain?"
Leona roars to the sky as the ink consumes him. Transforming and turning him into something else. A large black shadow appears behind Leona. It's shaped like a lion but it has a glass vial head with a golden crown placed on top. Black ink swirls all around in the vial.
Just like Riddle, Leona became a darker version of himself. His hair was wild and the front slicked back. He wears black fur around his chest and shoulders with golden fangs and armbands on his wrist. Ink covers his forearms. Leona wears a black corset with gray, ripped fabric hung around his hips and orange fabric tied around his waist. He also has yellow light coming from one of his eyes. Leona roars and the lion behind him roars with him.
Jack's eyes widen. "What's happening? Some kinda giant shadow is comin' outta him!"
"That's the incarnation of his blot!" Deuce gets into a fighting stance, reading for a fight.
Grim hides behind your legs. "Is he goin' into evil darkness berserker mode like Riddle did?"
Riddle turns to everyone. "If you can move, seek shelter! Ace, Deuce, help me take the wounded outside! Lilia, please get help from the faculty!"
Deuce and Ace salute him. "On it!"
Lilia nods. "Understood. Stay strong until I return!"
"Why does this keep happening to us?" Cater asks. "This is soooo not my hashtag brand!"
Riddle tilts his head. "If you're afraid, feel free to run."
"Trey wouldn't let me hear the end of that." Cater looks to Riddle determinedly. "We do this together, Housewarden!"
"I dunno what's going on," Jack steps forward. "but if we hit Leona hard enough, maybe we can snap him outta it?"
Ruggie steps next to you. "I'll help too. No way will I let Leona get away with hurting Y/N!"
"So even the lowly hyena turns against me?" Leona laughs maniacally. "What a total joke!"
Grim looks up at you. "Give it everything ya got!"
You nod, looking around at your group of friends. "We can do this!"
They all nod and take off to help where they can. The Heartslabyul boys try to get students to safety while Jack, Ruggie and Grim fight Leona. You look around to see what you can do to help.
You spot a student struggling to get away, close to the fight. You run over to help him. Supporting him, you managed to lead him away from the fight. He looks to you gratefully.
"Thank you."
"Get somewhere safe." You say to him.
He nods and runs away. You're about to find someone else to help when a wave of sand cuts you off. You whirl around and see Leona stalking towards you. A wicked grin on his lips.
"My my my, looks like I've caught myself a little herbivore."
You look around for Jack and Ruggie but you see they're stuck battling the ink lion. You try to run past Leona but he snags your hand, twirling you into his chest. Leona holds you close to him.
"I have to make her mine!"
"What?" You stare up into Leona's eyes as he towers over you.
"She has to be my queen."
You try to push Leona away but he only holds onto you tighter. Leona holds your chin, making you only look at him.
"Can't you see it's written in the stars?"
"What are you doing?" You ask but Leona doesn't listen.
"Tell me I'm adored." Leona leans in closer.
"Let go of me!"
Leona is almost nose to nose with you. Your heart hammers in your chest. He brings his lips close to your own.
"Tell me I-"
You managed to bring your hand up and slap Leona across the face. He recoils, finally letting you go. You back away, watching as he brings a hand to his cheek. Leona laughs and looks to you, running a hand through his hair.
"I do love it when the prey fights back." Leona smirks as he stalks towards you.
You slowly back away, the lion matching your every step. Leona lunges at you. You bring your hands to shield your face when something collides into Leona.
You see Jack wrestle Leona to the ground. Jack growls down at the lion, ears flat against his head.
"Don't you dare touch her!"
Leona roars, kicking Jack in the stomach and launching the wolf off him. Jack rolls back onto his feet, both of them growling at each other.
"I am the king!" Leona roars at Jack. "I can do whatever I want!"
Jack bares his fangs. "If you were half the king your brother is-"
"I'm ten times the king Falena will EVER be!"
Leona pounces on Jack and the two fight each other. They wrestle in the sand as Ruggie takes your hand and leads you further away from the fight. Jack is able to toss Leona back, the massive ink lion makes it back behind him.
"If I can't overthrow the world, I'll turn it to sand!" Leona roars. "It's pointless, all of it!"
"Have you always felt this way?" Ruggie's eyes soften. "All this time...?"
Jack looks back to the hyena. "Ruggie, let's hit Leona hard and knock some sense into him, fast!"
Ruggie nods. Before they could take off, you grab their hands.
"Wait!"
The two of them look back to you surprised. You point to the monster behind Leona.
"You need to take out that thing! Leona is too strong to be taken down." You inform them.
Ruggie looks at the massive monster. "How on earth do we take that thing down?"
"You have to break the lion's glass head. That's how we stop this and get Leona back to normal."
Jack and Ruggie nod to you. With a new strategy, the take off and face against leona again.
Ruggie grins at Jack. "Use your head, Jack."
Jack grins back. "You got it. Let's chew 'em to bits, Ruggie."
"Alright, cool it." Ruggie rolls his eyes.
The massive lion isn't as easy to take down as Riddle's blot. Its massive paws would swipe them away before they could get close enough to fire a spell.
"So strong!" Jack growls as he gets back back to his feet from being tossed. "How can someone so powerful give up on everything?"
"You're getting on my nerves. I'm gonna turn each 'n every last one of you to sand!" Leona roars, shaking the ground.
Jack and Ruggie share a look. They both nod and run towards each other. Once in close range, Jack uses his sheer strength and throws Ruggie at the monster. Ruggie goes flying above the massive lion.
"Long live the king."
Ruggie fires a spell that hits the glass vial head, shattering it completely. Ruggie lands as Leona and the ink monster roar. Leona falls to his knees as the lion behind him collapses into a puddle of ink. The ink clings onto Leona, slowly consuming him once more.
You bolt towards him before anyone can stop you. Sliding on your knees and taking Leona's hands into yours. You feel a jolt running up your spine and you look to the sky as everything goes black.