Gods of Arena
Wolf Among Us

He dashed down the narrow paths swiftly. Crane had told him of the way out so it was easy for Kang to find them. He glanced down at his swinging arms, as he ran. There was a bit of self admiration. He had grown some muscles. He was definitely a lot bigger than he was when he first joined the fighters in the hall. The view was motivating. He moved faster and hoped no soldier would stop him on the way. From what Fred had told him, not all soldiers were aware of Crane's attempted escape. A wry smile shaped across his fear, as he remembered he was about to play hero. He didn't care what the results would be but he was doing.

He made a sharp turning and felt a wave of heat beat against his face. He could see a bright light down the path. Crane had met King and the soldiers already. Kang dashed down the path, swiftly.

"Crane!", King called, smiling widely. He raised his hand, as the soldiers behind him raised their guns. "We didn't even know you would take this path. Looks like Fate already made a decision for you" "Get out of my way", Crane said, confidently.

"Out of where? It's the end of the road for you, Crane", King replied. "Shoot him"

The soldiers shot at him. He stretched his hand at the guns and the bullets stopped in the air. "Not today, King", he said and clenched his fist, making the bullets drop to the ground. "Not today"

His eyes met with King's. The sudden change of expression was definitely satisfying. A soldier dashed at him with a rod, striking him by the shoulder. He pushed at the soldier, throwing all of them back.

King raised an hand and bent his head, as the wave blew past him. He raised his head and ran into Crane, throwing him against the steel wall. "You silly!", he gritted and punched Crane in the face. "This is the day you-"

Crane hit him in the groin. He staggered backwards, grabbing a rod with an hand. The soldiers had gotten up, ready to storm into him. He raised two fingers at them and his eyes turned gold. "That's enough", he said. They stuck in a position unable to move.

King's eyes moved around, as he struggled to break whatever was holding him. "Looks like it's you that dies today", Crane said and clenched his fist. "Crane?!"

He glanced down the hall. Someone was running towards him. He pointed two fingers at the narrow path and his eyes glowed again. He could still feel the person approaching. 'That's impossible', he thought and pushed his fingers forward, stepping closer to the shadow that dashed at him.

Whoever it was; it was coming at him pretty fast. "Who is that?", Crane muttered, staring carefully.

The person slowed down and walked closer to him. Crane still had his two fingers up. "Crane?", the person called. "We need to talk"

"Kang? How did you do that?"

Kang stepped under the light. His face appeared clearer, as he stared at the stiff soldiers. "How did I do what?", he muttered. "How are you doing that?"

"Wow!", Crane said, staring with a look of astonishment. Kang was meant to stop, immediately the fingers were pointed. "He said it. He said there was someone capable of resisting"

"What are you saying? Who said what?", Kang asked, mindlessly, as he walked around the soldiers and King. He cared less about the questions he asked. He was still astonished at how Crane was able to make them hang. "This ability is great... what are you going to do?"

"We need to bring down this place", Crane replied. "None of the fighters want to be here so I think we should set them free"

"No, Crane. I can't let you do that"

Crane stared into his eyes. He wasn't sure he heard that well. A few minutes earlier, he believed every fighter in the hall wanted the same thing: to get out of the hellish cage they were trapped in. "Come again"

"I think you are making a mistake, Crane", Kang said slowly. "We don't know the evil waiting for us out there. You might be leading us to our death"

"What are you saying? We live every day because they let us. The moment they want us dead, we will be gone. They put us on the Arena and one of us has to die..... You don't even have a Shin Zhu, Kang. What are you waiting for?"

"I just spoke to Ana's uncle. He created you so he knows what you are capable of", Kang said. "You will destroy the defense of the Dergon Arena and the other Arenas will storm this place to take over the land. They will kill everyone, including the fighters"

Crane gaped, staring at him. He swallowed and turned around. "You are right", he muttered. "You are right. Chaos mentioned it"

"What's Chaos?"

"Chaos is a mad man beneath King's lair. He told me a lot of things, including what just happened. I couldn't stop your time. He told me someone would resist", Crane said. "You should probably see him too. He helped me find my Shin Zhu. He'll probably help you find yours"

Kang nodded, slowly. "If we ever meet, I will take my chances", he said. "You need to leave before the soldiers find out you are here"

****

"How do you know everything?", Dylan asked, with an astonished glint on his brows. "It's crazy.... Feels like a superpower"

"It becomes a superpower when you can use it", Todd replied with a smirk. He stepped closer and lowered his voice. "I don't know everything though... But I know a lot of things" "What is Dan's secret?"

Todd smiled at him and stared down the hall. They were the only ones on the staircase. The other members of their "bully" pack were probably busy elsewhere. "I can't tell you Dan's secret", Todd whispered. "But I can tell you your secret.... Dennis"

"Ana? Are you busy?"

"No. What's up?", Ana replied, closing the door behind her. They were the only ones in the lab.

Thomas sat in front of a computer, focused on the screen, like he had landed a huge contract.

"You need me for something?", Ana asked again, walking up to him. "What are you doing?"

"I think you need to see something", Thomas said, and faced her. "I was thinking about the technology manipulation thing and the strange happenings, recently"

"You didn't watch the last fight? Crane is the technology manipulator", Ana replied. "He was able to stop the gun from shooting"

"I watched the fight, Ana", Thomas said and shifted the chair closer to her. "Crane died on the Arena, once before. Before he died, we had an issue with the spin machine. Checking the footage of that day, I have a reason to suspect he was behind it... but, when Todd's incident happened, Crane had died"

"If he died, he won't be back among the fighters"

"Alright. I'll accept that", Thomas said. "He was able to hide away and he was definitely not in the hall.... Crane wasn't behind the missing footage of that day"

Ana was unsure of his point. He was definitely making sense but if he was going to say what she was thinking, then they would only end up asking the same question they started with; who is the technology manipulator? Who killed Todd?..... "Are you saying there is another technology manipulator in the hall?"

"I am saying that technology wasn't manipulated. The footage was deleted by someone and the person is definitely among us"

"If we can't prove that, there is nothing we can do", Ana replied. "The whole thing has been pinned on Dan already but the bullet in the gun doesn't even match the bullet in the crime scene."

"But what if I can prove it?", Thomas whispered and moved closer to Ana. "I know who did it"

Ana swallowed, staring into his eyes. She could see the surety in his eyes and she could imagine anyone among them committing such a brutal murder. It reminded her of her conversation with Kang.

*As long as you are a larger figure, you will always be an enemy...'*

"Who killed Todd?", she asked.

"When Alexa was investigating the case of the spin, she had suspicions that you were going to the back passage to meet with a fighter so she made me install another secret camera right there", Thomas said. "I almost forgot about it when she was called to return to the other side.... No one else knew about the secret camera so I figured if one of us were to deactivate the cameras for any reason, that one would be left out. Whoever killed Todd deactivated the cameras at the back and did it"

"Who killed Todd, Thomas?"

"Dennis... Dennis killed Todd"

Her eyes dropped. She wasn't very disappointed. It only made her hate him more. "How about the marks on his body? It sure looked like a Shin Zhu attack", she muttered. She didn't need to think much. The first thing Dennis took off of his body when he got back was the power brace on his arm.

"I would have said he used a knife to make those marks but the video says otherwise", Thomas said and typed into the computer. "This is it... somehow, Dennis was able to give himself the Shin Zhu ability"

That was no news to her. She already knew about the power brace. "Dennis framed Dan for his crime"

The door opened, suddenly and they turned. It was Dennis. "Hi guys"