"Just play along and do not show any fear or any behavior that would make anyone suspicious. Copy that?" Ashlynn asked, appearing calm as she sat on one of the rusted benches in the preparation room. "For you and Magmae, this is just another game that we play."
"Are you sure that he'll devour more?" Ignisabeth asked in response.
"What does an Alpha do?" Ashlynn stood up to show off her full stature. "An Alpha avenges and fights. She fights for everyone in the game. An Alpha avenges them if they met an unjust fate. She avenges them to protect the honor of the game. An Alpha fights against injustice to enforce the constitution. Even if she is not appreciated. Even if she is direspected or unloved by their rivals and competitors, an Alpha fights, avenges and enforces. She just does it." Ashlynn said in a stern tone.
"Welcome, people of Flamisle!"
The slightly muffled but excited voice of the female announcer reverberated through the hot and sulfuric air.
"Time to go." Ashlynn said as she opened the exit door that led directly into the arena, after which Ashlynn and her teammates positioned themselves at the edge of the pool.
"In field A... you know who they are. Led by the renowned and monstrously strong Ashlynn Blaze and joined by Ignisabeth Lahar and Magmae Rockwell, let's hear it for THE ALPHAS!"
The cheering intensified as Ashlynn and her team jumped into the lava pool.
"Well, look who's here..." Ashlynn looked to her left, grimacing upon seeing the dragon Altezar standing on his four feet on an empty spot inbetween two of the grandstands, occasionally catching curious stares.
"And in field B... deeply loyal and immensely close to our dear leader, you have probably seen them before, maybe even interacted with them on one of the many tours that they offer through the channels of the town of Flamisle. I am referring to no one else but Incinera Clastflow and her everlasting apprentice Scoria Jones, joined by Altezar's trustworthy herald Coryn Layke... let's hear it for the Faithfuls!"
The crowd cheered again, albeit a bit more forced in tone, as the two gondoliers jumped into the pool, accompanied by a dark-skinned man in grey trunks.
"Well, we meet again, miss Blaze..." Incinera smirked, treading the lava near the iron chain that formed the line between the two fields. "I was still a youngblood when I guided you to the core to have Altezar grant you your blessing. Was the first time I saw you, Blaze. You were one of  my first guests since I officially became Altezar's personal gondolier. And back then, I already thought you took good care of your body, almost impressively so. It's been ten years, yet... I've never expected to fight against a gorilla like you. Oh joy, it's funny how we run into each other at the funniest and most memorable moments, don't we, miss Blaze?"
"Are you ready, honorable Pyrhenes and loyal Faithfuls?"
"Whatever." Ashlynn shrugged.
"GO!"
The sense of anticipation has reached its climax as the tungsten orb was thrown into the arena. With a swift reflex, Ashlynn grabbed it and passed it to Magmae. Ashlynn made her way for the pillar, diving underwater to keep an eye on Magmae. Just as Magmae wanted to pass it to Ignisabeth after swimming through the lava for a while, her ball got snatched by Coryn, who passed it to Incinera.
"Give that back!" Ignisabeth grunted as she chased after Incinera.
"For you, Scoria!" Incinera said as she passed the ball to her fellow gondolier who was swimming closeby.
"Coryn!" Scoria said as she threw it in the direction of the man who was climbing up on the pillar in field A.
"Got it." Coryn smirked as the ball emerged from the lava pool. But he could only hold it for a fraction of a second as Ashlynn, having climbed up the pillar with no issue by extending her arms to grab the edge and launching herself upwards, slammed the orb out of his hand from behind.
"Alright..." Ignisabeth said as she grabbed the ball. Immersing herself in the lava, she proceeded to swim forwards at her best speed, passing the ball to Magmae, who narrowly managed to grab it by jolting passed the two gondoliers who were swimming around her. "It's just another game..." Ignisabeth said to herself as the ball got passed back to her. After throwing the ball upwards before a determined Coryn could grab it, the orb was thrown into the sulfuric air as it emerged from the magma.
"Here it goes..." Ashlynn whispered as she emerged from the molten substance with enough velocity to gain considerable height, just managing to place her hands against the top of the pillar as a result of her height. She pushed herself upwards, grabbing the orb in one hand just as it was about to fall back into the lava lake.
"Mother..." Calidia said, sitting on one of the lower grandstand seats, right next to Altezar. The dragon stared at Ashlynn with intrigue. Ashlynn briefly turned towards Calidia to give her daughter a nod. "Hey, king..." Calidia proceeded to tickle Altezar with a black feather made of charcoal fibers that she was holding throughout the match.
"Hey... what is this about?" Altezar laughed, his mouth opened against his will.
"Die." Ashlynn said. With a strong smash, she proceeded to shoot the ball into the black dragon's direction.
"What..." Altezar gulped as the orb made of alloyed tungsten was thrown into his mouth. Swallowing it from the surprise alone, he soon felt something brewing in his stomach. "YOU!" He looked at Ashlynn.
"Altezar?" Incinera asked, her tone surprised and suspicious as she left the pool. She then turned around towards the Alphas' leader, who had left the pool as well. "What did you do?!" Incinera's usually giggly form was shattered as she looked at Ashlynn with a scowl.
"TRAITORS!" Altezar growled as he began to breathe fire everywhere while waving his claws around, prompting many people in the crowd to run away, with Calidia running for the swimming pool.
"Subdue her!" Ashlynn pointed at Incinera, who proceeded to get tackled by Ignisabeth.
"Mother..." Calidia said as she hugged Ashlynn.
"Dear daughter..." Ashlynn smiled briefly, but her smile faded as she looked up. With slow and heavy steps, Altezar made his way to the pool with rage in his searing eyes, flapping his black dragon wings made of iron and the magma veins in his body of volcanic rock and alloyed tungsten glowing more than ever before.
"ALPHAS!" Altezar growled in rage.
"Get to a safe spot." Ashlynn said quickly, followed by Calidia taking many steps further away from Ashlynn.
"You dare turn against our dear leader?" Incinera barked as she tried to fight back, only for every one of her attacks to miss as Ignisabeth dodged all of them effortlessly. As Incinera lashed out with a sudden kick, Ignisabeth stepped back and grabbed Incinera's foot.
"Always stay on two legs." Ignisabeth giggled as she kicked Incinera's other leg, making the gondolier fall over. "Well, not like you need two to live..." Ignisabeth then proceeded to stomp on the nymph's left leg with full force, followed by the sound of a bone snapping in half.
"You'll pay for your disobedience!" Incinera shrieked, unable to stand up as a result of her broken leg.
"You'll pay for treason first. How's that?" Ignisabeth smiled as she proceeded to pressed her foot against Incinera's broken leg, followed by the injured gondolier shrieking like crazy. "Oh joy, you've been subdued at last. How's it feel?" Ignisabeth asked mockingly.
"I surrender!" Scoria proceeded to sit down on her knees, with Coryn fleeing the arena alongside the crowd of fleeing spectators.
"Calidia, take her to the police station. Now. I'll take care of the dragon." Ashlynn gave Calidia nod, after which her daughter ran towards Scoria. Although Altezar briefly averted his gaze to the disloyal gondolier, Ashlynn managed to regain his attention by throwing a rock in his face.
"Why... why don't you understand? HUMANS are a pestilence that needs to be extinguished. Why would you protect the pests that live in that manhole? WHY, Ashlynn? You should be aware that they are an inferior copy of YOU! They don't deserve to live." Altezar's deep voice sounded more enraged and confused than ever before. His belly began to turn yellow, the dragon's breathing becoming more aggressive and ragged as if he was about to blow up.
"Policing and threatening the lives of innocents who just want to be left alone? One who does that should not be alive to begin with." Ashlynn snarled in response.
"You DAMNED..." Altezar then began to levitate. With spread wings, he flew towards Ashlynn, his mouth open as if he wanted to devour her.
"Stay back..." Ashlynn grunted as she reached out her arms, placing them against two of Altezar's many large teeth in an attempt to push him away from her all while preventing him from fully opening his mouth. Ashlynn gasped, panting at the immense strain from trying to push the dragon into the pool.
"You..." Altezar grunted again, his two hind legs submerged in the lava while his two frontal legs clung over the edge of the lava pool, his head and neck and belly leaning over as he tried his best not to sink into it. He tried to close his mouth in an apparent attempt to bite Ashlynn's hands off, but the Alpha leader's strong arms did everything they could to stop him from doing as he pleased. "I'll take you with me... vile traitor..."
"He's gonna explode." Ignisabeth watched from the other side of the pool, a scared Magmae standing next to her as they saw how Ashlynn struggled to push Altezar into the pool, her movements betraying immense pain and exhaustion. "That she's still holding out like this... we're gonna help her out of this one."
"Why doesn't he use his wings?" Magmae asked in confusion.
"Guess he's this adamant to eat our leader... how charming." Ignisabeth made her way to the grandstands.
"What are you doing?" Magmae asked as Ignisabeth proceeded to tear off a large rusted iron beam from one of the grandstands.
"Give me a hand." Ignisabeth said, straining as she lifted the large and heavy beam.
"Yes." Magmae obliged. With their combined strength, they ran around the pool to get to Ashlynn's side.
"You won't win this..." Ashlynn grunted softly, feeling herself getting pushed back a bit.
"Because we will win together!" Ignisabeth shouted with a confident laugh. They both jumped in front of Ashlynn, ducking a bit in order to position themselves beneath Altezar's jaw. With the broken beam forwards, they ran into Altezar's belly, which appeared as if it was about to explode. "Three... two... one... NOW!"
"NO!" Altezar growled. With the combined efforts of Ashlynn, Magmae and Ignisabeth, Altezar got pushed backwards, his body falling further into the pool. He immediately tried to get out, pushing himself upwards while flapping his wings around.
"This was only the first part!" Ashlynn replied. With a confident leap from the edge of the pool, she jumped on Altezar's neck. Maintaining perfect balance, she ran over it, after which she ended up on the tyrant's back.
"Get off of me!" Altezar growled, moving around frantically as if there was a bug on him.
"Just a moment." Ashlynn replied stoically, almost sounding deadpan as she proceeded to grab each of Altezar's wing at the base. With a strong tug, she proceeded to tear off both wings with her bare hands. A loud growl was heard from the dragon as Ashlynn ran for the head, using it as a diving board to get back on fixed ground.
"ASHLYNN!" Altezar yelled in pain and hatred as he began to sink deeper into the pool again, his neck getting submerged. Only his head and his two frontal legs, still clinging onto the pool's edge, were still above the molten substance.
"Give that." The team captain gave a nod to Ignisabeth and Magmae. After being handed the large iron beam, Ashlynn proceeded to smash both of Altezar's frontal legs. As glowing bruises appeared in Altezar's head, he used the last strength in his left hand swipe the iron beam out of Ashlynn's hand. Ignisabeth and Magmae ducked just in time, the iron beam narrowly missing them. "Your rule has ended." With a final uppercut with her right hand, she smashed Altezar against the jaw with full force, forcing the fallen leader to let go at last.
"ASH!" Altezar let out a final strained screech as he sunk into the pool. Not long after, a large explosion occurred, a very large wave of lava and volcanic rocks getting spat out of the pool like a volcanic eruption.
"Cover." Ashlynn demanded as she placed her arms over her head, with Ignisabeth and Magmae doing the same. They watched as pieces of broken tungsten and volcanic rocks rained down around them.
"Mesmerizing..." Ignisabeth smiled after witnessing the eruption from point-blank range.
"How did that work again?" Magmae asked as she lowered her arms, the eruption having come to an end. The lava pool was only half-full at best at that point, the arena filled with countless rocks and large shards of tungsten. Altezar's lifeless head could be seen, crashed into the ground not far away from the pool. His dead eyes still appeared to form a hateful scowl.
"I've worked with tungsten orbs during my many training sessions. In order for them to combust when they are flying through the air, they are filled with many chemicals that form such a reaction when exposed to high speed or extreme pressure, the latter of which fills Altezar's body. The combustion is usually temporary, but if aflame for too long, it will explode." Ashlynn responded as she spread her arms, looking around at the few people who still remained in the crowd while appearing shocked. "Lord Altezar has perished! His two gondoliers will be taken to justice! His herald has fled like a coward! You have no one left to fight for! If you are still loyal to Altezar and want to tear me apart for my actions, you are advised to leave in peace and cease the worship! Drop all of your grudges! Or fight me, and PERISH!"
"Wow..." Ignisabeth said, watching as the remaining people in the crowd left reluctantly. Ashlynn then turned around towards her teammates. "Is it over?"
"Yes. It is over." Ashlynn smiled faintly, after which she hugged both teammates simultaneously. "Beautifully fought. Magmae, Ignisabeth, thank you. You did well... I would never have anyone else in my group but you. Thank you..."
"No problem..." Ignisabeth smiled. "And thank you."
"It was an honour, love..." Magmae blushed as she continued hugging. Her eyes widened upon hearing many loud footsteps coming closer to them, as if the arena was about to get surrounded.
"Isn't that... the Cavalry?" Ignisabeth asked.
"Don't worry. In the early hours before the match, I was informed that the Court and the Council both disapproved of Altezar's plan. That dragon even murdered half of all Council members. I knew that I would get away with taking him down, but I still informed them about our plan. The Cavalry was still struggling to come up with a plan to subdue Altezar without mass casualties, so they congratulated me on the 'ingenuity' of my plan and wished us all the luck." Ashlynn smiled again. "We can go now."