Gods of Arena
The Kang-hound

'It's Ana', his head rang. He could hear Ana's name echoing in his heard. Fred had hinted that they weren't a member of the Dergon Family. They weren't born in either of the two Arenas but they had found their way into the Dergon.... Probably hiding from their own people. It only made more sense that Ana had features that were peculiar to her own people.... And maybe Fred did too. The attacks weren't from the Grimms. 'She's been staging the attacks and making it look like they were from Grimms', Kang thought. 'A Grimm was able to hide in the Arena before getting caught and killed. There could be another one. Nice idea'

'But. Why Ana?'

He had betrayed himself again. He was getting to like Ana after his immense mental efforts to keep hating her. He dragged his feet into the hall. It was dark already but he didn't need the light to find his room. He barely even looked up. He pulled the door open and walked in. "Kang?", Hound's voice muttered, as though he had been waiting for him.

"You're awake"

Kang fell on his bed and yawned. He needed to take Ana off his mind, if he would have a good sleep.

"I had to wait up. I heard the explosion. Did you find the culprits?"

"What culprits?"

"I just had a feeling you would have caught whoever was behind the attacks and everyone will be free again", Hound asked, with a pestering voice.

Neither of them could see the other's face- Kang believed- so Kang didn't need to worry about Hound catching his lie. His eyes opened widely. Before the explosion, he was going to fight Hound for spying on him.... But it didn't matter anymore. Ana was the enemy. "How does an explosion guarantee that we catch anyone?"

"So you didn't catch anyone?"

"No. We saw a kind of beast and it was shot dead", Kang replied. His head still rang loudly, 'ANA IS THE ENEMY!'. He swallowed and closed his eyes. "It was a Grimm, I think"

"And there was no hint to anyone who might have called them?"

Kang stared into the darkness at Hound's bed. 'What's he trying to do? What's he trying to find out?', he thought.546

"Kang?", Hound called again. "Are you there?"

Kang kept silent, keeping his breath as steady as possible. 'You have a mission. I'm not letting you have it your way'.

**** EARLIER

Romeo pushed the door open. Dan sprung up, immediately, as if hiding something under the bed. "Romeo?", he muttered, feigning excitement. "You're back"

"Cut the act... what are you hiding?"

Dan laid on his bed, comfortably. "It's my bag. I'm glad to have you back, man. I was worried"

"What did you tell Kang?"

"Uh?"

Romeo walked to his bed and sat down, facing Dan and keeping a stern angry look on his face. "He spoke to you. He probably asked you some questions... then you told him some things. Then he came out and arrested me. What did you tell him?"

"He asked me questions and I answered him. There was nothing about you", Dan replied, sitting up.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"Did he say I told you something?... There was nothing I could say about you and, even if I knew something, do you think I would ever rat you out?"

"No... but you could lie just to cover your own ass", Romeo stood up, threateningly. "I'm going to ask you questions and you will answer me, right here, right now"

"Whoa!", Dan snorted, forcing a laughter. "You really should go easy on yourself"

"Who's Ada?"

"Ada?"

"The girl you sneak out to meet in the middle of the night. I've caught you, a couple of times"

"I don't-"

Romeo punched his face, pulling him up by the collar. "I can kill you now and they won't care. All I have to do is prove that you are helping the infiltrator" "And how are you going to prove that?"

Romeo jerked him up with an hand, as he balled his second fist and shot a blow into Dan's chest, throwing him against the wall. Dan dropped on the ground, holding his chest and gasping. He threw wires out of his hand, grabbing Romeo by the leg, and tugged, sliding Romeo off his feet. Small metal blades spiked out of Romeo's balled fist. He flung his fingers at Dan, shooting darts at him. He sprung up quickly and grabbed Dan, slamming him on the ground. He raised his spiked fist up. "Let's worry about proving it after you are dead"

"Hold on, alright?", Dan said, quickly. "Her name is not Ada. It's Ana❞

"Alright. That makes sense. What's you deal with Ana?"

"When I was framed for killing Todd, King was going to kill me......"

Romeo stared blankly at Dan. He'd had his suspicions, long before the murder incident. "What are you saying?"

"Hold on! Alright?!", Dan retorted. "King was going to kill me. Ana helped me escape and she promised to check up on me every night. That's why I leave the room"

"That's all?". Romeo punched his spiked fist into Dan's shoulder, immediately.

"Aarrh! Fuck!", Dan screamed.

Romeo punched Dan's face against the ground. "You've been going out and seeing her before Todd died"

"Yes... that's because she liked me", Dan said. "She gives me hints about my fight. That's just it, Romeo"

Romeo sprung up. "If you make any weird move, I will pin you to the wall", he threatened, walking to Dan's bed. He leaned over and pulled out a bag underneath the bed. "What's this?"

"Take it easy, Romeo", Dan said, sitting up, as Romeo tore the bag open. "It's not what you think"

"What do I think, Dan?", Romeo brought out small balls from the bag; unactivated explosives.

"I'll tell you the truth", Dan stood up. "King was going to kill me... he, uh... he probably had a meeting so I was alone... tied up in a cage in his chamber. Ana walked up to me with a deal. All I had to do was to keep her bag of explosives for her. Some nights, she would show up to collect some of the explosives. According to her, the whole plan should be completed within now and two days. Her people-she said- will break in and they will get us out of here.... All the fighters" "Well, that doesn't sound like a possible fate for any of us so you will walk up to Kang and tell him all you have told me❞

"I can't do that", Dan replied. "You know I can't do that. King would probably know I'm alive and he will have me executed" "You didn't care if I'd die. I don't care", Romeo sat down and laid back. "I give you two days"

****

He heard a beep. He could have sworn he heard a beep... sounded much more like a breathless whisper of 'Wake up'.

Kang sprung up from the bed, immediately. It was still pretty early but the light was on already. He needed to find Ana before she would suspect his approach.

"Why the haste?", Hound's voice startled him. "Are you off to somewhere?"

Kang closed his eyes for a second, breathing heavily. He had almost fell back on the bed, hearing Hound's voice. "I need to see Romeo"

"For?"

"What do you mean by 'for'? I want to complete the interrogation and get him back in the hall", he replied. "We are running out of time"

"Uh... but I'm pretty sure I saw Romeo in the hall yesterday", Hound replied, innocently.

"Fuck!", Kang muttered, as silently as possible, clenching his fist for a second.

"What are you hiding from me, Kang?"

Kang turned and faced him. "Stay in your bed, Hound. I have a job to do and it's not your business to interfere."

"Uh oh", Hound scoffed. "Didn't I see that coming?!"

"See what coming?"

"You could have been the enemy but King was too blind to see that. He chose you of all people", Hound howled, as if out of his mind. "A bloody fighter, who probably wants the Arena to burn down. I didn't think you were the culprit but I had a feeling you would help whoever was behind this if you found who it was"

Kang stared, surprisedly. He was truly amazed at how much Hound knew, despite being new. Fred was right. It wasn't Hound speaking. It was Kwei.

"It's your girlfriend now, isn't it?", Hound continued. "You are going to protect her, won't you?"

"Stand back, Kwei. I don't know what you are talking about but I'm going to do my job"

Hound pushed his hands at Kang and his arm transformed into cylindrical machines, blasting Kang through the door.

Kang slammed against the wall in the hall. He pushed himself up, quickly. 'It's a machine', he thought. 'I will tear your face apart'

Hound flung an hand forward, throwing three small balls at Kang. They rolled past him and exploded, throwing him forward before Hound's feet. "King doesn't mind whether you are dead or alive. Your reign is over", Hound kicked at him. He held Hound's foot. "Not today"

Hound punched his face into the ground and pulled him up. "Come again"

Kang mouthed, weakly. He balled his fists but he couldn't feel anything. He had no Shin Zhu... Hound wasn't using any Shin Zhu, either; just machines.

"I said come again!", Hound howled at him, throwing a punch at his face again. The fighters walked out of their rooms slowly, wondering what was happening.

Kang dropped on his knees, slowly. The whole place turned blurry and loud, as he slammed his face on the ground. His eyelids closed. #Blackout