Gods of Arena
A Grimm Attack

"Guys? Is something wrong?", Dennis asked, as his eyes moved from Ana to Thomas and back to Ana again. Something was wrong and they were doing a very bad job at hiding it. It had to do with him and the look on their faces gave them away. He glanced at the computer screen in front of Thomas. His eyes caught a quick scene before Thomas closed it. "Oh shit"

"You did it", Ana said. She knew he had gotten the hint already. There was no point pretending anymore. "You killed Todd"

"Now that you know, what are you going to do about it?", Dennis asked, confidently. "I know your secret too."

"I have no secret worth hiding"

"A lot of people know about Dan already. You probably think no one heard your last conversation with him", Dennis said slowly. "I know where he is right now and how he is helping you. Trust me, King will kill you"

Ana's eyes twitched. 'How?", she thought. She didn't think anyone could have heard her conversation with Dan. Her lips sealed tightly. If she tried to say anything, she would only blurt more than she intends to keep in herself. Thomas sat on his chair. His heart was beating rapidly, as he watched the two of them

"Just so you know how, Chaos heard your conversation with Dan", Dennis continued. "He fears me more than anything so don't be surprised a mad man gave you away"

Thomas stood up, slowly. "I'm just going to step out-"

"Stand back!", Dennis howled, pointing the gun from the gold strap. "Stand the fuck back!... I have nothing against you so I'll have to kill you eventually"

"Please, I swear no one's going to hear about this-"

The door opened, just in time. Dennis brought down the gun, as they turned to see who walked in. King's bald head was staring in. He looked around, slowly, at their faces. He could tell there was something wrong. "I hope everything is alright?"

"Everything is alright, sir", Dennis answered quickly. "We were just talking about the next spin"

King stared at him for a few seconds and glanced at Thomas and Ana. "Is that true, Ana?", he asked. "Everything is alright?"

"Everything is alright, sir", Ana replied.

"Alright. I should go straight to the point then", King said. "You are needed on the Other Side, Dennis, so you might have to leave the Arena. It's urgent so I suggest you leave immediately" "Okay, sir", Dennis said and bowed his head. "I will be on my way"

.........

Romeo flicked the torch on, approaching Dan's bed slowly. He was careful not to get caught making quick moves around Dan's bed. Dan had just left the room a minute earlier. The lights were out already so he was pretty safe to go out and use the bathroom or do whatever he wanted.

Romeo looked around the bed, quickly. He was sure he had seen Dan shove a polythene bag somewhere around. He pushed the flying bed sheets aside, repeatedly, as his eyes darted around. He could tell Dan was hiding something. His hand hit something underneath the bed. He pressed it gently and felt small balls in a kind of bag. It had to be the same polythene bag he saw. The bag was wrapped with the tail of the bed sheets and shoved under the bed at a corner. He heard footsteps and jumped off the bed swiftly. The door opened and Dan brought his head in, staring at him. Romeo stared back, blankly. His look wouldn't betray him but he wasn't very good at playing innocent either.

****

It's another day. Kang undoubtedly felt a lot better, after the incident with Crane. Crane was able to leave him a message about one Chaos under King's lair. It'd be nice to get himself a Shin Zhu but definitely not the cement type. King and most of the gamblers still believe that was his ability.

"The spin is happening now"

"I know that", Kang replied, staring blankly at her. "That's why I'm up here. The others will join me in a minute"

"You're early. Then I'm assuming you know King's plan for you", Ana asked. "He likes you now. He is going to make you fight on the arena like Jin did"

Kang scoffed. "I can see that definition of 'like'. It's a weird one", he replied. "You and your king should go fuck yourselves"

"King is a psychopath. He only believes what he believes. This wasn't influenced by me"

"I didn't need to hear it from you though"

Ana nodded. "Alright", she said. "Just be careful out there"

"Ana", he called. "I'm never going to forgive you for Jin"

"You don't have to.... You're never going to understand me anyway"

The fighters rushed up the staircase, as though they were being chased out of the hall. Ana had disappeared, immediately. Kang turned and walked to his position. "Hi", Romeo greeted, walking up to him. "Where is Crane?"

"He left the Arena, yesterday".

They stared into each other's eyes for an awkwardly long time. Romeo definitely didn't understand that.

"He left the Arena, yesterday", Kang said again. "He escaped"

"So he found his way out and you know about it but you are still here?", Romeo asked, slowly, staring confusedly at the screen. "Why are there three lists on the screen?"

'Fuck! She said so', Kang thought.

He focused on the screen, counting how many times the beep ran past his face. He glanced at the other rows. From the positions of the rows on the screen, he could tell which of them would land on him. "Looks like they are planning another god-tier fighter like they did with Jin"

The beep slowed down. Kang watched it closely. It was coming straight for him. He just knew it. He closed his eyes tightly and tried to shut out every thought.

"Kang?..... Kang? Are you alright?"

Kang opened his eyes slowly. A hand waved right in front of his face. He looked past the strange face in front of him and stared at the screen. The other beeps had stopped already. He was going to fight against one top-tier and one mid-tier. "My name is Gandhi", the fighter said, holding out his hand.

Kang shook his hands, staring confusedly. "I think the other guy is your partner. Not me"

"I know", Gandhi said, wearing an honest smile. "To be honest, I really respect you... and I'm scared too"

Kang chuckled. "Now, that's a joke. I've got two of you against me. I should be scared. Besides, you are the top-tier and I don't even have a Shin Zhu"

Gandhi leaned closer. "We actually watched you use the cement Shin Zhu"

"Yea. I don't think I actually did. I can't control it", Kang whispered back. "You really want to socialize with an opponent? Once we're on the Arena, we become enemies"

"I get that. Everyone will do anything to survive", Gandhi nodded. "They always decide for us, turn us against one another whenever they wish. Then they make us fight to death.... The thing is we don't have to be enemies. We are not on the Arena now so we can be friends here. On the Arena, we can fight to death"

Kang stared blankly. As innocent as Gandhi seemed, he could be just as dangerous. Kang was definitely not going to believe that or get too attached. Gandhi was probably trying to use his emotions against him.

****

He stood there on the field. His eyes were closed. He could hear himself breath. His heart was beating rapidly. That was the first time he was going to fight on the Arena with so much fear in him. Jin's pills were exhausted already. There was nothing for him to combat his fear.

Whoever was meant to introduce the fighters had done his part. Kang could almost hear amplified whispers. They were probably contemplating whether to remind the fighters that they could start fighting. Kang stood still waiting for the first to attack. Hopefully, Gandhi would have mercy on him.

"Fuck!", Kang muttered. He definitely shouldn't think Gandhi really meant to be friends with him. He opened his eyes slowly.

A strong blow struck his leg, sweeping him off his feet and throwing him up in the air. His eyes opened immediately. He could see Kabir coming at him. Kabir threw his hands forward, shooting out countless darts from his bare hands. Kang rolled, quickly, turning his back. The darts stabbed into his back.

He stood up, slowly, and clenched his fist. The darts slowly removed from his back. "If we go harder, you'd be dead in seconds, Kang", Gandhi said. "Come on, get up"

Kang reached for his sword and twirled it. "Alright. Let's give the people a show"

Kabir threw a dart at him. He struck it down with his sword. "Alright. Let's go hard", Kabir said and threw his arms forward again.

Kang dropped his sword and ran towards the attack. He felt the wave coming at him and grabbed the wind in his hands as though he could hold it. He turned around and threw the wave of darts right back at Kabir. Gandhi clenched his fist and enlarged his body size. "Whoa", Kang muttered. "That's what they call the expanse demi?"

Gandhi slammed his enlarged arm on the ground beside Kang, making the earth shake. Kang staggered and fell on his knees immediately. He threw his second arm at Kang, throwing him against the wall. "Get up, Kang", Gandhi said, approaching him. "Fight like the Blank. That's what the people want to see"

Kabir threw another wave of darts at Kang. Kang raised an hand, holding the darts in the air. Gandhi clenched his fist, enlarging his arms. Kang swiped his hand at Gandhi, swiftly, throwing the darts at him. "How are you able to do that?", Kabir asked, staring confusedly.

"To be honest, I have no idea", Kang replied and clenched his fist. Tiny darts protruded all over his wrist and knuckles. He shot the darts at Kabir's leg.

Kabir glanced at his hit leg, still stunned by how Kang was able to use his Shin Zhu. He raised his head up, slowly. Kang's leg flew at him, kicking him in the head.

Gandhi had gotten back up. He enlarged his body, growing up to a giant size and towering above Kang. He put his two arms together and dropped it on Kang. Kang raised his arm, swiftly and impulsively, blocking the hit immediately as though it were nothing.

He opened his eyes and pushed against Gandhi's heavy arms. He could feel his body growing and expanding. He was increasing in size, just like Gandhi, as he pushed back effortlessly. Gandhi gritted, as he struggled to remain on his feet. 'How's he doing that?', Gandhi thought.

Kang pulled Gandhi's arms apart, slowly, overwhelming Gandhi with his strength, as he kept growing in size, now a lot taller than Gandhi. Kabir had gotten up on his feet. He fumed angrily. With his fists clenched, tiny darts protruded from virtually every part of his body, ready to storm at Kang. Kang pulled Gandhi and flung him at Kabir.

Gandhi's huge body dropped heavily on Kabir, pushing the darts back into his body. Kang stared at his hand for a few seconds, stepping back. For a moment, he had lost his mind and he couldn't even tell what he was up to. 'How am I doing that?', he thought. It was amazing but weird at the same time. Gandhi raised his back, slowly pulling himself away from the darts. He rolled on the ground and glanced at Kabir on the ground. His eyes fell back to Kabir, staring with horror. There was blood all over the ground. Gandhi's body had stabbed Kabir with his own darts. He killed Kabir with his weight. "Fuck!", he muttered and glanced at Kang who still seemed awed by his own feats. "Does this count as your kill or mine? You killed him with my body"

"No, man. Totally your fault", Kang replied. "You jumped on me"

Gandhi chuckles. "You threw me, idiot."

A loud boom sounded on the Gamblers' bleachers, as fire erupted on the seats. The wave blew down into the Arena, throwing Kang and Gandhi on the ground. King and the Larger Figures stood up, quickly, getting themselves and the Gamblers to safety.... They were under attack.