Yuu flew to the arena (quite literally as Lilia insisted on carrying her) after making sure that Cater was alright. She'd been set down on the ground gently to wait for Riddle and the others to enter while she looked over Cater.
"What were you thinking?!" She whisper-yelled after confirming Cater's safety. Cater simply smiled sheepishly, as he placed his head between his knees.
"Leona, I did it! Did you see the broadcast?" Yuu heard Ruggie chirp loudly, expecting praise.
She heard Leona's victorious chuckle. "Yeah. That was nice work, Ruggie." He spoke louder, almost tauntingly. "So long, Malleus. This year, the throne is mine."
"Long live the king!" Ruggie cried with a jovial laugh, sickening Yuu with the knowledge of what he'd done under the orders of Leona.
"Yeah!" The Savanaclaw students cheered. "Long live the king! Long live the king!" Yuu's mind temporarily flashed to a vaguely familiar image which made her stomach flip and she held her hand to her face, horrified and pale enough that she missed Riddle's arrival. He, Ace, and Deuce gently pushed past her, Jack looked at her as the others sent concerned looks in her direction before Riddle. Grim scrambled up to Yuu, concern clear in his face, but feigning annoyance at being left behind. Yuu's hand placed on Grim's furry head, grounding her somewhat.
"I believe we've heard enough." He announced, cutting the student's celebration short. He didn't flinch when the boys turned on him, snarling and baring their fangs as they growled. Leona and Ruggie shared a look, smirking.
"Well, well, if it isn't the Heartslabyul kids. And is that Jack? You transfer to Heartslabyul on us, frosh?" His taunting tone did not sway Jack into fighting, rather made him respond in a way strong enough to irk the lion.
"Nah. I just don't feel like celebrating the underhanded accomplishments of a bunch of cowards." The wolf remarked, standing proudly.
"You filthy traitor!" Leona snarled, his tail flicking in annoyance.
Riddle stepped in front of Jack, "You have tarnished a proud Night Raven tradition." He spoke, sending a chilling glare in Leona's direction. "As housewarden of Heartslabyul, a dorm focused on orderliness, I cannot possibly overlook this."
"Listen, kiddies," Leona jeered. "save your heroic speeches for someone who cares, all right?"
Ruggie scoffed. "Honestly, coming into our territory with only a handful of people... It's like you WANT a beating."
The boys jumped at the opportunity to fight, looking to Leona for the confirming order. "You want us to take care of 'em, Boss?"
Leona smirked. "Sure. Have a little fun with 'em."
With absolutely no hesitation, the wave of muscular beastmen rushed the students, and Ace and Deuce moved forward defensively, protecting their housewarden. Yuu watched on, biting her lip. There it is... that sinking feeling.
.
.
.
It was over almost as quickly as it had started. Several moments of dodging cauldrons and getting pushed back by gusts of wind, the beastmen were able to quickly gain on the three boys. As soon as they were within reach, Riddle effortlessly made a slashing motion, casting his signature spell that quickly canceled the magic of the Savanaclaw boys. They remained curled on the floor in shock.
"He's so strong!" One gasped, pulling at the collar like a dog whose head got stuck in a tissue box.
"Man, housewardens are no joke." Another lamented, shamefully lowering his head upon noticing the disappointed glare that Leona directed at the group.
Riddle huffed, dusting off his hands as he looked down at the shameful pack of beastment. " Nothing but a lot of hot air." He turned to Ace and Deuce, examining them. "Ace, Deuce, are you all right?"
"Yeah. That was nothin'." Ace smirked, looking cockily to the Savanaclaw students.
Deuce simply nodded, an excited look in his eye. "You bet, sir!"
"I knew those chumps'd be no match for Riddle." Leona scoffed in disappointment.
Ruggie, from behind Leona seemed to sense the hostility of the Lion and did what he believed would be best. "Maybe not! But this doesn't change the fact that they were too late to save Diasomnia." He smirked mockingly to the group before another trio joined in.
"Oh? That's quite the interesting claim." Lilia spoke, flanked by two other Diasomnia boys. Yuu did a double take as she hadn't noticed the fae leaving for the arena, turning to look at Cater, only to notice that he'd left as well. She groaned internally as she peered around the corner to continue watching.
"They seemed right on time to me." The tall, green haired boy nodded proudly.
"Indeed." Agreed the boy with the silver hair. "It's thanks to them that not a single one of Diasomnia House's players got hurt."
Ruggie's smirk dropped in an instant, looking at the Diasomnia boys in disbelief.
"What? How?! I saw you get swallowed up by the stampede!"
"Oh! About that..." Cater called out cheerfully, approaching from behind the others. "So it turns out those were actually duplicates of me, made with my signature Split Card spell." Cater threw up a peace sign to give off somewhat of an innocent vibe.
Leona's green eyes widened in shock before his ears and lips pulled back in an offensive snarl, eyes narrowing into a glare at the ginger haired third year.
"What?" Leona growled as Yuu's heart sank, noticing Leona inching closer to the others. He's like a cornered feral cat...
Yuu nudged Grim, signaling that she'd need to go there.
Grim's blue-flamed ears pinned against his head as he looked over her in concern. "Are ya sure?"
Yuu nodded, inching toward the others. She felt something cold touch her back, making her shiver as she moved.
"I must admit, I really dig those Diasomnia House outfits. They're so extra!" Cater gushed excitedly to Lilia. "I'll DM you some of my selfies later."
Lilia's eyes gleamed as he smiled at Cater. "Is that right? If I knew you were such a fan, I'd have gladly loaned you mine."
Cater smiled. "Such a sweetheart!" He smiled, twirling a lock of his hair on his fingers. "Though, admittedly, I think yours would be a little small for me."
Leona growled, now within arms reach of Ruggie. "All right, can we get to the point?" His tail twitched in annoyance and his shoulders were raised, ready to fight.
Lilia shrugged with a smile, until his eyes slightly caught a glimpse of a sneaking Yuu, making his smile immediately drop.
"Riddle told us everything. So we had him put on that little charade for us." Lilia explained, his face contorting into a mocking sneer.
Ruggie's eyes remained wide in shock. "So, then... Malleus is-"
"Oh, he's in top-top shape, of course!" The tall green haired boy announced. "He's been clearing up the chaos, using his magic to guide all the people safely back to the coliseum. You can thank him later."
"H-how could this happen?!" Ruggie yelped, visibly pale, and shrinking his posture slightly as he snuck a terrified glance in Leona's direction.
Leona, however, didn't react violently. Instead, his shoulders fell and he sighed. "...Whatever. I don't even care anymore." He said unexpectedly. Yuu froze in her tracks, caught completely off guard by Leona's sudden apathy.
Ruggie's eyes widened and his large ears pinned back. He grinned, but this time in a more uncomfortable and disbelieving manner. "... What?"
"I'm done. It's over." Leona said again as Ruggie slunk to his side, disbelieving and almost pleading.
"B- boss, what are you saying?!" He cried.
"Are you even payin' attention? If Malleus is able to take the field then we got no chance of winning." Leona reasoned, his claws digging into his hands. "There's no point even trying. I'm out."
"Y-you can't just...!" Ruggie began, pausing to take a deep breath. "Malleus might still be in the game, but we took out all the other dorms' best players, right? But without you on the field, I don't even know if we'd have a shot at the top three!" Ruggie reasoned, jumping in front of Leona to stop him from leaving. "C'mon, man! You're just going to abandon our dreams?"
"For all the talk about 'the world watching,' this is still just schoolkids playin' a game." Leona muttered unenthusiastically. "All you wide-eyed tenderfoots talkin' about your dreams..." Leona let out a dry, humorless laugh. "The whole thing amused me, so I threw you a bone. That's all this was."
Yuu walked out, making her way closer, now catching the attention of the Heartslabyul boys.
Ruggie's eyes also noticed her, but he chose to ignore the pregnant woman, instead focusing on his feelings of betrayal.
"What do you mean? What happened to working together to 'turn the world upside down'?" He pleaded with Leona, whose back was facing Yuu.
"Are you seriously still goin' on about that?" Leona snarled. "All right, fine. You wanna hear the truth? You're a hyena who grew up in a dump, and I'm a secondborn prince who won't ever be king. And there is NO turning that around!" Leona dug his words deep into Ruggie's heart and Yuu hesitated when she saw the look of hurt that flashed across the hyena's face.
"What? You gotta be kidding me!" Ruggie yelped exasperatedly, his shoulders squared as he slunk closer to Leona, demanding as he spoke. "What is this? You can't just quit after we've come this far!"
Leona scoffed as his dorm spoke and pleaded with him before he finally snapped. "Bah, I'm so sick of this nonsense. Shut UP, you nobodies!" The lion snarled, his eyes settling on the hyena.
"No... No!" Yuu cried, her eyes widened as Leona lunged at Ruggie, and the air began to dry rapidly. Without a moment of hesitation, the young woman ran into the eye of the sandstorm, ignoring the cries of the boys who had seen her, colliding with Ruggie as a hand wrapped itself around her arm and pulled her up.