Gods of Arena
Chaos

"Jin?", Kang straightened up, staring closely at the hanging man. The only difference between the man and the Jin everything except the face. "isn't that you? What are you doing here?" "Jin?", the hanging man stared back at Kang, like he had seen something too. "Jin? Is that you?"

Kang stood still, petrified. He had no idea of what to say. He wasn't even sure if that was Jin... but it was definitely Jin. With the face he was staring at, it just had to be him. "Jin? Come on. What are you doing here?" "Oh. Just spare me with the Jin thing. What are you here for?", the man blurted, staring irritatedly.

"You're not Jin? You look just like him!"

"I am Chaos", the man replied and jerked the rope up, making himself turn. "These are my bony friends?"

Kang faked a smile and waved shortly at the skeletons. His eyes fell on the cobwebs again. "When was the last time they checked up on you? This place looks like it's not been cleaned for a decade" "Fifty years ago"

"Uh?"

"The last time I was checked up on was Fifty years ago", Chaos repeated. "I had to kill them so they can be my friends forever"

"What?!", Kang frowned.

"It's no big deal. They actually came to kill me so that was justice", Chaos pulled himself up and swung forward, towards Kang, staring with scrutinizing eyes. "You are Kang" "My name is Kang- how did you know?"

"I know a lot of things", Chaos said with a weird smile on his face. "I know many things and it's very much easier to know that which is mine. You want to know why I look like Jin?" "Yes"

Chaos pushed his head forward. "Come on", he whispered. "Come closer. It's a secret"

Kang stepped forward slowly. "This is close enough"

"Jin.... Jin was created by me", Chaos said and laughed maniacally. "I created Jin's formula, a hundred years ago. Someone found it and made him into a fighter" "A hundred years", Kang muttered, doubtfully. "How can you still be alive?"

"That's what they program you guys to believe now?", Chaos asked, frowning. "They only do that because you all die young on the Arena... but you... you won't" "How do you know I won't?", Kang asked, remembering what he actually came there for. "I don't even have a Shin Zhu"

Chaos giggled. "You have no idea what you are capable of, do you?", He asked. "Someday, you will stay in this dungeon with me for a hundred years"

Kang stepped back. "That's never going to happen", he muttered, staring around. "Not me. You've been here for how many years?"

"A hundred years"

"Who feeds you?... And how do you breathe when the door is closed?"

"I don't need all of that to survive", Chaos replied, casually. "My purpose is fulfilled when yours is fulfilled"

"My purpose?"

"Yes... your purpose. It's not something you will understand... until it's knocking on your door and you just can't keep it from opening"

Kang held his head, staring around again. There were a lot of questions in his head. He didn't want one question to take all of the time so he should probably start from the one he considers as the least mind-blowing. "When will you leave this place? I mean; how long do you plan to stay here?"

"I'm meant to be here for just a hundred years. It's over already"

"You're going to escape?..... Or King will set you free?"

"No... You will set me free", Chaos said, smiling mischievously. "You will set me free and I will walk over the ruins of Dergon Arena"

****

Fred stepped into the hall, looking around. All eyes stared back at him. The fighters stood still, wondering what he had come for, with the utmost hatred in their faces; most wishing they could attack him. Fred stepped forward, walking past many of them, as he headed straight to Kang's room. He pulled the door handle.

"No one's in there", Hound said, with a bottle in his hand. "You are a Larger Figure"

Fred stared at him. It wasn't hard to know he was the one Kang had described. Hound almost looked cartoonish, considering his eye color and the smoothness of the skin. "You are new here, aren't you?"

"I am. It's nice to meet you, Fred", Hound held out his hand.

"How did you know my name?"

"Uh...", Hound stuttered, innocently. "Kang told me. Is there supposed to be some special prefix for it? Like Mister?"

"It's alright", Fred said, taking a step forward. "Who is your maker?"

"Kwei"

Fred's eyes opened widely. No fighter knows his maker. "And who told you the name of your maker?"

"Kang did", Hound said again, still confident. "Do you have a problem with me?"

Fred nodded slowly. 'Wow!', he thought, stepping backwards. "There is no problem at all, uh- what's the name?" "Hound!"

"There's no problem, Hound", Fred said and turned, walking out of the hall.

All eyes fell on Hound, like he had betrayed their trust. He took a sip from his bottle, walking to the door. A hand held the door handle before him. "What's up? What were you saying to him?" "What was I saying? Whose business is that? Fuck off!"

The fighter threw his heavy arm at Hound, throwing him on the ground. Hound rolled to Dylan's feet. "Just answer him. That's Dicko. He's a top-tier", Dylan whispered.

"Fuck the top-tier"

Dicko grabbed his leg suddenly. Hound pulled back aggressively, kicking at the air. An heat blast shot from his free foot, slamming Dicko into the wall. Hound sprung up, immediately, glaring with fury. Dicko had a burnt mark on his chest. He slowly detached from the wall and fell weakly on his face. Hound calmed down and walked into the room quickly, slamming the door behind him.

"You are breaking the rule", a voice spoke into his ear.

He jerked away from the door. "Stop sneaking up like that", he gritted. "Fuck your rule. I told you to assume full control. That way, I feel nothing" "Sorry about how you feel. I can't always hold the remote so I will assume control, only when I have to", the voice said again. "Alright?" "Alright"

"Getting in fights will attract the Larger Figures and ruin our mission. You have to prevent that from happening"

"If I get confronted again, I'm not going to care about that.... So you better take full control and protect yourself" "No, Hound. If you do that, you will bear the results alone"

****

Kwei yawned and turned on the bench. The door opened, slowly, interrupting his sleep. "Who's that?!", he howled, tiredly.

"Oh. You were sleeping?", Fred walked in. "I'm sorry to disturb you. The Arena has become depressing, hasn't it?"

"I don't even know what to do. All our activities have been suspended", Kwei replied and sat up. "Come on. What have you been up to?"

"Nothing, really. Kang is taking care of the investigations and I hope he's making progress. I'm just helping him out in areas I can lend my assistance. How about you?"

"As you could see, I was going to sleep... and when I wake, I sleep again"

"There is a new fighter in the hall. I was wondering who created him", Fred said, stylishly staring at Kwei. Kwei blinked frequently. Fred could sense he was going to deny it. "I found your signature on him. How did you even get the time to create a fighter while my head has been heating up so badly?"

Kwei smiled. "I had a fighter planned before all of this happened, alright? I wouldn't have gone ahead with it if I didn't already have the body in the invention machine.... I remembered I had a body there so I let it out. I'm not even sure if I actually completed him. If you look closely, he still looks like a machine"

"Yea", Fred muttered... but that wasn't right. 'I checked the invention machines, before, and they were empty', he thought but kept his lips sealed, with his false smile still on his face. 'You are up to something and I will find it'.

****

"It is your destiny to pull down the walls", Chaos said, with a mischievous grin. Kang stared with a weird look on his face; a mixture of horror and disbelief.

"The walls of this Arena?"

"Every wall you walk by"

Kang laughed in disbelief. "Sounds like I'm meant to be a badass or something", Kang replied, walking around indifferently. He had obviously lost track of time. "Oops. I don't even have a Shin Zhu"

"How do you think you win all your fights?", Chaos asked

"Luck, isn't it? I mean I feel myself using the Shin Zhu that my opponent uses. That isn't an ability, is it?"

"It is an ability that will destroy a lot of things, Kang... and a lot of things will stand in the way of your true purpose"

"If my true purpose is to destroy, why would I want it at all?"

"It's the Bad Moon Rising, Kang. The Bad Moon Rising is a riddle", Chaos replied. "You want to see with your eyes?" Kang stepped closer. "How am I going to see it?"

"Come closer, Kang", Chaos said. Kang stepped closer to him. "Come closer and you will see"

Chaos pulled at the rope that held his hands, and threw his legs up, wrapping it around Kang's neck.

"Whaaa!", Kang screamed, as he felt himself falling forward.