Poppy nearly tripped down the large chasm of steps, as she tried to reach the platform at the bottom of the stands.
She pushed and shoved through Frostfang fans, Phoenix fans, and even several Orion fans, who were cheering the names of her beloved friends in spite of their recent loss to Frostfang.
Her eyes lit up once she seen the platform only a few meters away, but stopped once she seen the terrible sight on the arena.
Two very large fights had broken out once Phoenix had scored, causing the arena to erupt like an ancient volcano that hasn't freed itself of pressure in centuries.
Her heart dropped, when she spotted Chase holding his own against three armed Frostfang players.
One of them, being Thane, the heir of Rhysara, the queen of Frostfang.
She wanted to look away, as she seen an injured Neo lying near a tree deep within the frozen forest that resided inside of the arena.
Part of her wanted to intervene and join the battle, but a small hand grabbed her shoulder.
"Wait... Just believe in them."
Neveah said, with an unfamiliar look of determination in her eyes.
Behind her stood the boy with the energy disease and silk black hair, and behind him stood the half-dwarf who looked quite uncomfortable to even be in the arena.
Gabriel walked forward and stood at the edge of the platform, Poppy hadn't even pondered the thought of them being even more worried about their friends than she was.
"Come on guys..."
Gabriel muttered, as his grip tightened on the fence holding the fans back from plummeting into the arena.
"This should've been stopped... They are armed..."
Gemini whispered, as he nervously shifted from foot to foot.
Poppy couldn't even do anything, she was useless in the current situation.
Then a snaky voice humorously shouted from beside her.
"Useless?!"
Dorian surprised Poppy quite a bit, not because he had randomly appeared out of what seemed like thin air.
But because he seemed to have read her very thought.
"Why are you here...?"
She scowled at him, while also trying to keep her eyes on the match.
"That boy..."
He pointed at the burst of flames that launched from her once stray friend, at the center of the coliseum.
"I see unborn potential resting inside the heart of a Phoenix..."
His gaze was distant, but his words were near.
Poppy steeled herself, and stood as tall as she possibly could.
"What can I do to help?"
Dorian grinned.
"Ah, that is the question isn't it?"
"Stop playing these damn mind games with me! Answer me?!"
She screamed at him, feeling her body on the edge of collapse from the very exhaustion of having to watch this match unfold.
Dorian's grin somehow grew wider, as if he had always been able to intervene.
Then he pulled a small vial of shifting colored liquid from thin air.
Poppy recognized the vial instantly, as she raised an eyebrow.
"Chase has that same potion..."
Dorian nodded.
"Indeed he does, now drink it."
Then he pulled more from where ever the hell he had been storing them.
"I told the boy that this potion give you whatever your soul desires, but that was a blatant lie."
"Then what do they do?"
He laughed.
"It seems you all have forgotten just how the Aetherball armor works..."
He paused taking all of the delight or whatever he was feeling in.
"The screams of their team, and the chants of desire to win fill the armor with power based on how loud that team's fans are."
Poppy pondered what he was saying, and then looked around.
"How are we supposed to be louder than them?"
"My dear bastard, just because it is an away game doesn't mean a few powerful souls can't scream louder than the rest..."
He held out the vials for each one of them to drink, including himself.
Then just as she was going to lose it on the man for calling her that name, a realization dawned on her.
What the vial did was not give you what you wanted...
"It's a test..."
Dorian smiled.
"Of course, I am awaiting the day that the heir of Phoenix uses it, just to get a gauge on the type of person that he truly is, because if I am being honest, the boy is quite hard to read."
"Now drink... Eternity awaits no one..."
Then the five of them drank the vials, and cleared their throats.
It wasn't much but it was all that they could do to help their friends prevail before such a trial.
Gabriel was the first.
"Come on! Show them who burns the brightest!"
He screamed so loud that the very arena shook, and some of the Frostfang fans gave them strange looks, as they got quieter but that only resulted in the arena finally showing favor toward Phoenix.
Then everyone else followed, except for Poppy, she watched as her friends screamed for their friends, chanting and cheering.
Then something happened on the field, it was much to her surprise... The dark skinned boy known as Equan had finally showed up to aid Chase in his battle.
It was strange, like the synergy of his lightning and the heir's flames had combined into a ray of powerful heat that had begun to melt the snow.
But Chase still had a large problem...
Thane of House Frostfang was about six times as powerful as Chase, and would need a hell of a lot of power to overcome his rival heir.
Then Poppy steeled herself...
And screamed with all of the fire that burned within her soul...