Gods of Arena
Surrounded

"Let her pack her bags. If Bane asks, we let him have it his way"

"Did she really assent to a union? Your brother has that incorrigible obstinacy" "He plans to sell her"

Kang leaned on the door, listening attentively. He could tell King was standing somewhere in the middle of the room, just by listening to the voices. He would know whenever anyone approached. "And you will let him do it?"

"I have a lot on my hands, Queen", King replied. "It's his choice"

"And it's your choice to do something about it. What happened to your new resolution?"

"It's right where it is. I am not going to interfere in my brother's business", King retorted. "Let it be, Queen... Bane is not something to mess with❞

The interrogation just had to stop where it did. Hound was back in the hall, immediately. Even if Kang wanted him back in the lab, Hound was probably trembling in the room. Kang remained leaning on the door to King's chamber. His focus had drifted from the voices. All he could hear was his own thoughts. Fred was in one of the empty labs, sulking. Kang guessed in his head. The expression he caught on Fred's face was disappointment. It was improbable that he would see Leila again before she left for the Other Side.

"You're done?"

The voice sneaked back in his ears, a lot louder than they had been. Kang jerked up immediately. King was probably about to leave the chamber.

"Leave the bags", King said softly. "You can stay the night... and leave in the morning. Is that alright?"

There was no response. She probably nodded. King's description was pretty different from what Kang saw, most of the time, - or what he heard..... or this was what Queen meant when she mentioned his NEW RESOLUTIONS.

Kang walked away, swiftly. He had heard enough for the moment. Leila didn't betray Fred's trust, neither did she play with his feelings. She didn't even know she had a husband till King spoke about it. She wasn't in control of her life. Fred needed to know that.

****

He knocked gently on the door, pushing it open. That was needless. Kang peeked in. Fred sat before a computer, focused on the screen. "I was waiting, Kang"

"Yea, I was looking for you", he walked in. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm totally alright", Fred replied, quickly. "There is something you need to see"

"Yea, I also need to tell you something about Leila❞

"Forget about it. Hound is being used to spy on you"

"What?", Kang muttered. That didn't sound right. "Hound?"

"Come on", Fred said, adjusting the computer. "I planted a camera in your room when I met with Hound. I knew he wasn't the usual type of fighter. He knew too many things."

Kang stared into the computer screen. "That's just Hound laying on the bed"

Fred closed the window and switched to a different tab. Now, they could still see Hound on the screen.

'He has not been saying anything. I will go with him to interrogate the suspect, later in the day's, Hound was speaking alone. 'What makes you think he will hide something?.... He doesn't look like someone with something up his sleeves, though. I will watch out'

"Who is he talking to?"

"It's Kwei", Fred glanced at him. "I am not sure what plan he has but I think he created Hound specifically for you."

"For me?", Kang scoffed, silently.

"I was in his lab and I came across your DNA sample. Hound has been built to understand you"

"That's why he is able to read me but he couldn't read Romeo"

"That reminds me. What's your conclusion about Romeo?"

"I told Ana to take him back to the hall before night. He is innocent", Kang muttered, still reflecting on situations where he should have suspected Hound.

On the first day, Hound was able to guess he liked Ana. Kang never mentioned the word to him before then. No fighter was given the inbuilt knowledge of the names of the Larger Figures. Hound turned out to be specific. Kwei must have been watching him for a long time. Ironically, Hound succeeded in winning Kang's trust with that, then Kang obliviously gave him a chance to know more about him. Kang fumed, as though suddenly realizing how angry he should be, storming towards the door.

"Where are you going? What will you do?"

"Someone's got a lot to explain"

****

He was literally blinded by rage, storming down the narrow path with his heart pounding heavily. He could almost hear himself fuming. He stormed into the hall. His hand was pulled, suddenly but gently. He turned swiftly. "Come on", Romeo said.

"What's it?"

"Dan is the enemy", Romeo said. "He has been talking to someone for a while. I wasn't going to say anything about it but he obviously gave my name to you to save himself"

"And you are sure he's been communicating with whoever this infiltrator is?"

"It's been happening for a while. He is always sneaky with it so I tried to find out what the meetings were about without letting him know"

Kang stared blankly. Dan was truly uneasy. He had guessed Dan was trying to protect Romeo. Romeo was also uneasy. Either of them could be hiding something. Even at the moment, Romeo could be trying to frame the man who exposed him.

"What are you waiting for?", Romeo asked, staring back at Kang.

"I don't know if you are being honest or not", Kang replied. "I will-"“

"Don't take me to Hound. He's a fake and you know it"

Boom!!! The floor shook beneath their feet and they staggered, almost falling to the ground. That was an explosion, obviously. Kang's eyes darted around the hall, as if trying to find where the explosion was from. The whole place still seemed to be shaking from the impact of the boom. He could barely hear anything than the phantasmal echoes in his head.

"Get in the room", he said, gesturing to Romeo.

Romeo nodded and walked back to the room, immediately. Kang turned, staring back through the passage. The explosion had to come from somewhere outside the fighters' section.

****

The soldiers appeared suddenly. He had been focused on the narrow path. "Two Grimms have been spotted heading towards the 03 Power Source", a soldier said, as they dashed past him, heading straight in the same direction he had focused

on.

"Is this the shortest route to the power source?", Kang asked, running after them.

"Just come with us"

They didn't need him to follow them but Kang was dashing after them already like someone with a plan. He followed them, impulsively, with the gold strap on his wrist and an image of the infiltrators in his head.

The whooshing sound of their speed resonated down the pathway, as the raging beasts rammed past one another like a jumbling steel container. The soldiers took a sharp turning, raising their guns immediately. Without thinking, Kang dashed in after them. The beasts looked nothing like the one that had ran into the hall. "Bring them to the Purgatory. Dead or Alive!"

King's voice echoed. The soldiers brought their guns down, immediately, pulling out another weapon. Kang stared blankly at them. The beasts were coming towards them. "That doesn't look like two", Kang muttered, as two beasts took a sharp turning towards another pathway. Two other beasts kept coming at the soldiers.

A beast jumped up at the soldiers. They swung their electroshocking rods at it, slamming it against the wall. Another beast was heading right towards Kang. He stretched out his arm and shot the beast in the head.

"King said don't shoot!", one of the soldiers said.

"There are two others and they are getting away", Kang replied, heading towards the turning ahead.

"That is a dead end. Catch them quick... and don't shoot"

The beast swung it's tail, swiftly, whipping the soldier by the face. He pulled out his gun shot it's head immediately. "King wants them alive", the other soldiers chorused, judgmentally. "There are two others. Let's catch 'em before they get away"

Kang stood still staring at the two beasts who seemed to have nowhere to go. He should have grabbed one of the stunning weapons from the soldiers. All he had with him was the gun. "Fuck!" he muttered, as he rolled the gold strap off his wrist to avoid the temptation of using the gun.

A beast dashed at him with a punch, slamming him against the wall. He sprung up, quickly. 'Weak punch', he thought. The beast swung it's arm at Kang again. Kang raised an arm, catching the attack, and swung a punch at the beast. It squealed and roared at Kang. Kang flipped, kicking at the beast's chest. It fell against the second beast. They sprung up together, diving at Kang. Kang pushed back against the air, throwing the two back against the wall on the other end. He approached them slowly, as they appeared to be weak. The beasts raised their necks, as though adjusting to lay comfortably on the ground where they were. Kang stared blankly. They looked a lot different from the first 'Grimm' he had seen. They were probably a different specie. The beasts tapped on their left wrists. A kind of implanted device rolled for a second and protruded slowly.

Pow!!! A gunshot sounded. Kang jerked back, quickly, as blood splashed all over the wall. Pow! the gunshot sounded again and the two beasts laid dead on the spot. Kang turned slowly. "Why did you do that? They were the only leads we had!"

"You see that device on their wrists?", one of the soldiers said, as the others cleared the bodies. "It's a communication device"

"A communication device?", he muttered. "I have seen that before"

"You have? Where? It might help the investigation, at least"

"I can't remember clearly", Kang replied.

"Well, if we had left them, they would have sent a message to their home Arena. We don't know what secrets they've managed to gather so we shouldn't take such risks"

"And they are Grimms?... The last time I saw one, it was on four legs and it didn't look like this"

"Oh, yea. They are not Grimms, after all.... Grimms don't have communication devices on their wrists", the soldier replied. "They might be Addax beasts"

"Addax beast", Kang muttered again, watching the soldier walk away. That device looked like the one on Ana's wrist. He had seen it more than once, when she had been careless. She was definitely hiding it. It had to be the same device jumped. Ana was hiding something.