Gods of Arena
Bad Moon Rising 2

Fred peeks into the lab, hoping to find Kang. He was expecting Kang and Ana to be a lot closer, especially now that they had their chance.... Even though he wasn't in support of the relationship. "Why are you peeping? Just come in already, will you?", Ana said, as she caught him.

Romeo woke up and raised his head slowly. He hissed and closed his eyes again. "Wake me up when Kang gets back"

"Yea. Where is Kang? I thought I would find him here", Fred asked.

"He's not here. We've been waiting too", Ana replied. "He's probably working on the investigation somewhere"

"I met with him earlier and he told me of a new fighter in the hall"

"A new fighter?"

"Yes. His new roommate-"

Romeo cut in. "Is that a crime too?"

"Shut up, Romeo", Ana retorted, shooting a terrifying glare at him. Fred walked over to a table and grabbed a bottle of water, as he sat down. "So what were you going to check on him for? Do you have news?" "Why should I tell you when you could be the enemy we are trying to stop?", Fred teased.

Ana glared at him. "Stop that. Anyone can tell that he chose me to be his partner in this. I'm going to be seeing more of him than you will so you can just tell him and I can deliver the message to him"

"I actually came here just to see you two together. That thing you've got for each other can be a very stubborn one"

"Keep your voice down. He might hear you", Ana muttered, silently. "And we got nothing for each other. He hates me"

"I didn't see hate in his face, that day", Fred replied with a smile. "And you definitely can't deny what you feel for him. I didn't see it in you when Dan was around"

"I was helping Dan and he was helping me", Ana said. ".... The last time you spoke to me about any relationship with a fighter, you were against it. Did something change?"

"Nothing changed, Ana. I'm not in support of whatever you have for Kang", Fred replied, bluntly. "I'm glad he hates you, already. It's your turn to hate him back or you might be diving into King's execution"

Ana's eyes twitched. She stared down at the table, counting the seconds, as they both kept mum for the next minute. "What were you going to say to him?", Ana asked. "It's not this, is it?"

"No... no fighter should be created in this period. I confronted the fighter and he claimed Kwei created him"

"That's not possible. No fighter knows it's creator", Ana noted and sprung up. "That is definitely not a fighter. It's probably an Infiltrator with some information. We have to bring him in"

"We should probably do that but he's a fighter and Kwei actually created him", Fred said. "Before you ask how I know, I know every work of Kwei, not because he tells me, but because he has a special signature on everyone of them." "That could be a fake. Have you asked Kwei about him?"

"Yes. He admitted it. He said he already had the body in the invention machine before the explosion happened so he chose to complete his creation"

"Oh", Ana muttered and sat back on the chair. "That solves it then"

"That doesn't solve it 'cause I checked the invention machines, after the explosion, and I didn't find any body in them", Fred added. "He created the fighter newly and, with the weird information he gave to this fighter, he must have a plan" Ana leaned closer. "But if he is the enemy we are trying to stop, will you give him up?"

Fred glanced in her eyes. "I'm not going to do that to a friend", he muttered. "But we will have to protect our asses, whatever happens to these walls"

****

He could feel himself falling slowly, with countless faces floating past his head. He couldn't tell how many people he could see at once. Neither could he tell who exactly they were.... But, just like the weird familiarity he had with the man in his hallucinations, he knew them all.... He just knew them all.

"What can you see?", Chaos' voice creeped into his ears.

"Faces... different people. Who are they?"

"You won't know them all... but they will know you. Look further"

Kang tried to take a step forward. He fell forward, stumbling on nothing. He raised his head up again. A man was on his knees, staring back at him with hatred all over his face. A blade thrust right through his chest, from behind. Kang gasped in horror, as blood gushed out of the man's mouth.

'Kang!!', Ana's voice startled him from behind. He turned, quickly, and saw Ana stretching out her hand for him to grab.

"Ana?" he muttered, as he reached out to grab her hand. The image moved far from his reach swiftly, like she was being pulled by something.

'Aah!', she screamed loudly, fighting back at the hand that pulled her. A man without a face appearedz with a machete in hand.

"Ana!", Kang screamed, as the man brought the machete upon Ana, hacking her into pieces. He jerked back in horror. "This is not real, no... no"

He stepped on something, almost sliding and falling to the ground. He turned around and he was already standing on the field. A terrifying scent of blood and red meat filled his nose, as he stared down at a bloodied body of Jin. There were a pile of bodies around him. Staring down at the faces, the striking resemblance of each face with someone he knew sent a shiver down his spine. "Ana", he muttered, silently.

"What can you see?", Chaos asked again. "What are you scared of?"

"I can see everyone... Everyone is dead"

"Look up"

Kang raised his head up. He was standing on a different field. He could see uniformed warriors with weapons, approaching slowly and casually. They walked towards him like he wasn't there. They couldn't see him but he didn't try to confirm that either. Kang turned around, as they walked past him. He stiffened, for a second, petrified by the sight before him. He could see countless bodies, each vertically and brutally impaled on a stick. The warriors had stood still too, terrified by what they saw. It wasn't a natural incident. Kang stepped closer to one of the bodies.

"Look!!", one of the warriors howled, startling Kang. Kang jerked back immediately, before he could even see the face he was about to check.

"Look up, Kang", Chaos said. "Look up at the cause of all the deaths that have come and are yet to come"

Kang stared at the face of the man approaching from the distance. The bright sun prevented him from seeing clearly. The man held a head in his left hand, walking viciously towards them. From the man's build, Kang could tell he knew who it was. The familiar feeling made him a lot more anxious to know who it was. Whoever it was; he was definitely responsible for the deaths of every impaled body on that field. "Who do you see, Kang?.... Look closely"

Kang stepped closer. It was the same man he had seen in his weird visions. The wide shoulders were just the same. The grey hairs appeared the same way. The long hair almost covered his face completely. "This is the Bad Moon Rising?", Kang asked, staring confusedly. The closer the man got, the more familiarity Kang felt. He compared every feature he could see to every face he could remember.

"That is the Bad Moon Rising... but that is not what you have to see", Chaos replied. "Look, Kang.... What do you see?"

Kang took another step forward. A soft wind blew against the man's face, pushing a few strands of hair aside and exposing his face for a second. Kang's eyes opened wide. "That is me!"

His knees fell forward and he dropped weakly on the ground. "That is your purpose, Kang", Chaos said to him. "You will run from it. People will fight you and try to prevent you... but you are the basic riddle for the apocalypse. You are the ride for the doomsday.... And no matter how hard we try to fight, the end will always find it's way back to haunt"

"The Bad Moon Rising?", Kang muttered. "What is the Bad Moon Rising?"

"It's not a what, Kang. It's a who.... And I believe I'm staring at him"

Kang looked up at him. None of it seemed like a joke. "How is that possible? .... Why am I sitting at the top of a prophecy that ends humanity and good when I don't even have a Shin Zhu?"

"If I don't know the answer to that, no one does.... Every other fighter was created with a solution. You were created with a riddle. I am confused of what you really are- what your purpose really means-..... you are a complex creation and, if you are not fixed in time, you might be the enemy after all"