Hugh continued to clap and cheer over Kurt's supposed victory in a drastic attempt at keeping the mood of the games going without interruption.

"Alright, little dude! Time for the next game! Who you going to pick?" he asked while aiming his wide smile at the lad.

Kurt couldn't help but hold a feeling of frustration over being unable to properly fight to save Leon considering this whole thing was happening just because his brother wanted to mess with him.

"I'll be going again, Hugh!" he claimed while returning Hugh's cheerful look with a piercing glare.

"Nah, huh! My game, my rules! You had your turn, now let someone else get a moment in the spotlight!"

"I didn't 'had my turn', you weirdo! That wasn't even a fight, that was a joke!"

"Well, duh! It's a game, remember? The first level is always the easiest! Now, stop whining..." Hugh ordered while grabbing Leon by the neck again, "And pick your next competitor!"

Kurt fought the urge to tear apart the cell bars and jump after Hugh to smack him in the face, but Saramin and Gaby managed to calm him down by grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Just play along for now..." Sara whispered, "Getting angry isn't going to get us anywhere, we need to be smart about it."

"But-"

"We know it's annoying..." Gaby interrupted, "Trust me, I, in particular, know how frustrating it is to let idiots like him get what they want, but we are not in a position where we can afford to make mistakes."

Kurt stared at their eyes and realized that they both were also trying their best to keep their emotions in check. If this situation was frustrating for Kurt, he could only imagine how frustrating it must be for them considering they were only dragged there because of him.

"Right... You guys are right..." Kurt finally calmed down.

"Litte duuuude... I'm waaaaiting!!" Hugh screamed again.

"God, I hate him s much..." Kurt groaned while shaking his fist.

The red-haired boy began to wonder who would be a good idea to fight next. Gaby was still not in the best condition and Saramin also still didn't have enough powers to ensure a safe victory. He gazed at Trevor and Nala wondering if it would be okay to send one of them to go, but he was still reluctant to ask for their help.

Nala noticed him staring at her and began to show a sour expression, "Just let me make it clear right now, I have no intention of playing this stupid game..."

Kurt released a silent gasp from her comment. Trevor however just began to tremble.

"N- Nala!?" Trevor asked, "What are you saying??"

The girl with short black hair wearing a hoodie and earrings simply leaned against a wall with her arms crossed and turned the other way.

"I'm not some kind of jester..." she began to explain, "I'm not going to dance around just for the entertainment of the princes and their silly contest."

"Bu- But, Nala! We need-"

"We don't 'need' to do anything. That boy is not my responsibility" she stated while staring at Leon.

The kid himself just released a look of dread upon hearing that.

Trevor began to enter in distress. He knew exactly what she meant. Their job as bodyguards was to take care of Kurt, but she had no obligation to help Leon or anyone else in that room for that matter.

She wasn't their friends, she was just someone related to Kurt that was dragged into this situation because Hugh wanted to play with him.

On top of that, Trevor knew how much she hated royalty. She hated Sabiri, Kurt, Hugh, Saramin, and every other member of the royal family for basically forcing her and her brother to serve them. Getting asked to fight for them like that probably felt like a slap in the face of her pride.

But Trevor still had a duty with Kurt, not just as his guardian, but as his friend. So he needed to help him in this time of need to show that Park was wrong when he called him a fake.

"Nala!" Trevor shouted, "You can't just-"

"Trevor, it's fine!" Kurt commented with a low tone.

"Eh?"

Trevor turned towards Kurt and noticed the boy looking down, "It's fine... She's right... It isn't fair to ask her to risk herself and getting hurt for something that has nothing to do with her... I'll handle Leon by myself, don't worry!"

Trevor and Nala just remained silent, with Trevor unsure of what he should do right now.

Gaby noticed the team starting to break apart and came closer to her boyfriend in order to grab his hand, "Let me go next, Kurt."

"W- What!?"

"Let me fight in the second round."

"Are you crazy? You haven't fully dried yet! You can't use your electricity!"

"I don't need my talent to stomp these clowns. Trust me!"

"No way! It's too risky!! We should wait until you are able to use your powers again! You could get hurt if you go like this!"

Gaby began to glare at Kurt and proceeded to take a deep breath before grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Kurt... I'm just gonna say this once so you better listen well..."

The boy suddenly froze as he stared at Gaby. It was the first time he took a proper look at her inside that dark dungeon.

Thanks to the prank the two girls pulled on her, the usual curly hair she was so famous for was gone, and instead she now had a more shoulder-length look. Kurt never had anything against the curly look but seeing her like that so close while grabbing onto him made his heart skip a beat for some reason.

"I am not made of glass!" she finally stated.

"Wha- What...?"

"Just because I can't shoot lightning doesn't mean I'm defenseless. And just because you can heal yourself doesn't mean you should take on all the fights all the time. You can't keep trying to keep everyone from getting hurt all the time! Just trust me."

"Bu- But-"

"Do you trust me?"

Kurt couldn't tell if it was the stress of the situation or the way she was looking directly at him, but for some reason, he just couldn't think straight at that moment and just replied by instinct.

"Y- Yes..."

"Neat!" Gaby smiled at him, "I'll be right back then!"

She gave him a small punch on the shoulder and proceeded to move to the entrance of the cell.

Kurt finally returned to reality and realized what he had just done, "Ah! Wa- Wait! Ga-"

But before he could change his mind, Saramin grabbed his hand in order to stop him.

"Sara!? What are you-"

"Just trust her!" she whispered, "She isn't the number one in our class for no reason."

The bars finally opened and Gaby stepped out towards the arena while stretching her neck and cracking her knuckles.

"But, Sarah! I told you! I can't heal anyone right now! If she gets hurt..."

"Just watch, Kurt. Everything will be okay."

Gaby stared at Hugh and his group, analyzing each of them one by one, until her gaze halted on top of the two lasses who dropped the bucket on her.

"So, who will it be? Sore loser number one or sore loser number two?" she asked with a malicious grin.

It would be a rather terrifying sight if it wasn't for the fact she was still looking a little silly with Dorothy resting on top of her head.

The girl with blond hair nodded at the girl with twin ponytails, who proceeded to nod back and jump out of the platform in order to make her way towards the arena as well.

"Excellent! The two fighters have been chosen!" Hugh screamed.

Gaby and the lass stared at each other, both smiling as if trying to contain how excited they were to get a chance to make the other pay.

"So it will be you, huh? Honestly, I wouldn't mind taking both at the same time..."

"Is that so?" the girl giggled, "Well... In that case..."

She then began to look up and from the same platform, the other girl jumped out as well and began to walk towards the arena to join them.

"Hey! What's going on here!!" Kurt screamed as he grabbed onto the bars of his cell, "Hugh! That's cheating!!"

"Huh!?" his brother mumbled with a raised eyebrow, "What do you mean? It's two against two... Sounds really fair to me..."

"Two against two!? What do you- Oh..." Kurt then realized.

Hugh was treating Dorothy on top of Gaby's head as a fighter.

"This isn't funny, Hugh!!" Kurt shouted again.

"And I'm not laughing" Hugh replied, "You heard the hoodie girl, right? If she doesn't intend to fight then someone else needs to carry her part. I said before, you guys will only get out of here when all of us get defeated!"

"But this isn't fair for Gaby!!"

Hugh stared at the arena and simply shrugged, "As far as I know, she isn't complaining."

"Eh!?"

Kurt followed his gaze, and just like he said, Gaby hadn't changed her expression one bit.

All she did was continue to warm up by stretching her arms and legs and then hopping in place a couple of times as if she was getting ready for jogging.

"Gaby...?" Kurt whispered.

"Just trust me, apple head... One extra moron won't really make that much difference. Also..."

She then proceeded to push her glasses upwards.

"I really don't want anyone but me to get their hands on my target..."

The two girls started to chuckle to themselves while watching Gaby's bold claims.

"That's a lot of confidence, miss light bulb..."

"Say, do you even know our names? Our talents? What our ranks are?"

"Yeah, do you know a single thing about us?"

Gaby tilted her head, "What's there to know? You two are just like every other petty dragon I've come across before... All angry at me for whatever stupid reason you like to come up with..."

The two of them exchanged a look.

"That's what we thought... You have no idea why we even hate you, do you? Don't even remember who we are."

Gaby rolled her eyes, "I never in my life caused harm to anyone that didn't deserve it... Whatever your reason is, I can assure you I have nothing to regret about."

The lasses suddenly dropped their smiles and began to glare daggers at Gaby.

"Combatants all set?" Hugh clapped his hands, "Then let's begin!"

Gaby assumed a defensive stance as she watched the two girls charging at her, setting the stage for the start of the second round.