Timmy's face twisted.
The swamp steam and the baby-blue glow made him look smaller than his mouth.
"NO—" he snapped, voice cracking into rage. "You don't just—"
Behind Lila, the mantis construct surged up out of the muck like a guillotine with legs—claw scything for her neck, fast enough to whistle.
The crowd gasped.
Lila didn't even flinch.
She turned her head a fraction—like she'd heard a mosquito.
The claw hit—
—and her hand was already there.
Palm open.
She caught the mantis blade in mid-swing.
CHNK.
Water-light burst between her fingers. The construct shuddered like it had slammed into a wall.
Lila's grip tightened.
The claw crumpled like wet metal.
Then she squeezed once—casual—
and the whole arm shattered into blue spray.
Timmy's eyes went wide.
"No—wait—"
Lila yanked.
The mantis arm tore free with a ripping sound, and the construct collapsed instantly—legs folding, torso dissolving, everything snapping back into meaningless insects and sludge.
The Amphistad detonated.
"OOOOOOOHHHHH—!"
"SHE CAUGHT IT—!"
"BROKE IT—!"
Tunnel rail—Aria's grin split wide. "Go girl."
Skybox—Laila stood up like she'd been waiting to do it. "That's my girl."
William's smile was small, but real. Impressed.
Timmy panicked into anger. He ripped two vials at once and hissed through his teeth.
"Fine! EAT THIS!"
He flung out bomb beetles—fat, buzzing bodies skittering over the swamp surface, then launching in a wild arc toward her. Each one hummed with aura like a live grenade.
Lila lifted one hand.
Just one.
The water around her answered like a loyal court.
A shield rose from the swamp—thick as a wall, smooth as glass—curving over her like a dome.
The beetles hit—
BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!
Grenade-level blasts thundered. Water geysers punched the air. The dome flexed, rippled, held.
Spray rained down.
Lila stood inside the chaos like she was under a gentle drizzle.
She looked through the streaming water at Timmy.
Her voice carried clean.
"Is that all you've got... for a queen like me?"
The roar doubled.
Timmy's face went red.
"SHUT UP!"
He threw his arms wide like he was casting a curse.
Every bug he had—every hidden swarm, every lurking cloud—rose.
Mosquitoes. Beetles. Wasps. Locust sheets. Crawlers boiling under the surface. The air turned black with wings.
The sound was disgusting. A living engine.
Timmy's eyes were wild now, pride and fear mixing into something ugly.
"TAKE THIS, WATER BITCH!"
A hush hit the bowl—half shock, half hunger.
Lila smiled.
Not goofy.
Not kind.
A queen's smile—cold and certain.
"Why would I care about the words of a peasant," she said quietly, "when the queen is the highest authority..."
She lifted her arms, slow.
"...and she's already won."
The water behind her rose.
Not a wave.
A presence.
A massive head formed—horns, jaws, ridged spine—made of pure water packed so tight it looked carved.
A dragon.
It inhaled, and the swamp pulled toward it like gravity.
Timmy screamed, pouring everything forward.
The swarm became a storm—an avalanche of wings and stingers and exploding bodies—aimed to bury her, drown her, erase her.
Lila didn't step back.
She opened her palms.
The dragon lunged.
They collided mid-air—
—and the Amphistad shook like the world got punched.
A water-bug explosion erupted. Steam and spray and shattered wings. Bomb beetles detonated inside the torrent. Shockwaves slapped the lower tiers. Banners snapped hard. The swamp surface cratered like it had been hit by artillery.
For a heartbeat, it looked like the dragon dispersed.
Then—
the water reformed.
Not one.
Many.
The same mass split and braided into multiple heads, multiple jaws—hydra-like, each one snarling in silent water.
The crowd lost its mind.
"IT'S STILL THERE—!"
"SHE SPLIT IT—!"
Timmy's mouth fell open.
"...No."
The water dragons surged straight through the remains of his swarm—chewing it into mist—and then they were on him.
He tried to raise a wall—
Too slow.
The first dragon hit him center-mass—
BOOM!
A water detonation launched him backward.
The second—
BOOM!
The third—
BOOM!
Each impact was its own explosion, swallowing him in blasts of blue-white spray.
Timmy's body went weightless.
Slow motion.
Eyes rolling.
The world turning sideways.
His last thought came soft, stunned, almost respectful.
She... did it.
I can't believe she actually beat me.
Damn... she good.
Sorry I underestimated you... Water Queen...
He fell—
—and a figure flashed in from the edge.
Hillary Black caught him before he could hit the water, arms locking under the shoulders, saving his spine from the impact as the swamp churned.
Lila stood on the water with her arms spread wide.
Rain fell around her like applause.
Water ran off her royal dress in shimmering sheets.
She tilted her chin up, breathing hard—eyes bright, aura still baby-blue and fearless.
"I'll never be left behind by anyone," she said, voice steady, shaking with truth. "Ever again."
A beat.
"I'm a queen now."
The Amphistad projection snapped to her—ten stories tall—Lila Butters standing on a mirror of water while the swamp steamed and the crowd screamed her name.
The Oathmaster's voice rang out, ceremonial thunder.
"Victory—Halo! Lila Butters!"
Skybox—Laila stood fully, hands on the rail like she might jump down herself.
William applauded, slow and proud.
The crowd went feral.
"LI-LA! LI-LA! LI-LA!"
In the infirmary, Kai heard it through the arena sound system—muffled but undeniable.
He froze mid-step, noodle cup still in hand.
"...Damn," he muttered.
Then his face pinched like he'd just remembered he was about to die in a different way.
"I missed her match. She's gonna kill me."
A beat.
He smiled anyway, soft and genuine.
"...But nice win, girl."