The Underdogs Throne

Chapter 5: The Enemy's Truth

Leo and Kira didn't talk as they walked. The quiet felt heavy between them.

After the fight at the dojo, Leo did something he never thought he would. He followed Kira. He didn't trust her completely, but something told him she wasn't just another killer from the Fang Clan. Maybe it was how she looked at Shen, or how she fought Talon instead of him.

She walked fast in front of him through the back streets of Iron-vale. Her black armor caught the light from broken street lamps. Leo stayed behind her but not too close.

They stopped at an old subway entrance. Rusty gates blocked it, and a sign said "Danger - Line Closed."

Kira looked back at him. "We're here."

"Your clan hides in a subway?" Leo asked.

She smiled, but she looked tired. "Even monsters need somewhere to live."

She opened the gate easily and led him down old stairs. Paint and green moss covered the walls. The air smelled like old metal and dampness.

At the bottom, Kira knocked three times on a metal door.

It slid open.

Inside, someone had changed the old subway station. Dim lights hung on the walls. Fang warriors walked between rooms cut into the tunnels. Training mats covered the floors. Weapons sat in neat piles.

Leo felt scared. Everyone here looked dangerous.

But they didn't look at him. They just nodded at Kira when she passed.

"She's one of them," Leo told himself. "Don't forget that."

Kira took him to a small, quiet room behind a thick curtain. It looked like a place to store things, but it felt safe.

She sat on a wooden box and pointed for Leo to sit too. He didn't. He stood with his arms crossed.

"You said you'd tell me the truth," he said.

"I will," she said, looking up at him. "But you won't like it."

"Tell me anyway."

She took a deep breath. "Your clan didn't lose because we were stronger. We didn't surprise attack you either."

Leo felt his muscles get tight. "Then what happened?"

"Someone betrayed you," Kira said. "Someone from inside your own clan. Someone close to your leaders. They told us everything. They showed us where to find the Battle Core, and we took it."

Leo's teeth clenched. "You think I'll believe that?"

"Why would I lie to you?" she asked. "You already hate me."

Leo looked away and tried to breathe slowly. "Shen told me your clan destroyed mine. He said you hunted us like wild animals."

"We did," Kira said. "But we could only do it because someone from your clan helped us."

Leo's chest felt tight.

"You said Shen knows about this betrayal," he said quietly.

"He does," she said. "If he hasn't told you, he's hiding something big."

Leo walked back and forth in the small room. He felt angry and confused. "Shen helped me. He saved me. He taught me how to fight."

"Maybe he's been lying to you this whole time," Kira said.

Leo stopped walking. His hand went to the green stone pendant around his neck. It had gotten quiet, but he felt something move in his chest, like the Core was listening.

"Why are you telling me this?" he asked. "Why now?"

Kira looked down at her hands. "Because I've watched too many people die for other people's secrets. And because..."

She stopped talking.

Leo watched her face carefully. "Because what?"

She stood up slowly. The shadows made the scar on her cheek look deeper. That long line across her face - he couldn't stop staring at it.

Then a memory came back to him.

He was very young, maybe five years old. He was hiding behind a curtain, watching fires burn outside the window. A little girl, maybe six or seven, pulled him by the hand. Her cheek was bleeding from a fresh cut.

Before they got separated, she had said something:

"Don't let go."

Leo's heart jumped. "I know you. I've seen you before."

Kira went stiff. "What?"

"You were there the night my clan fell."

Her face went white.

Leo stepped closer. "How is that possible? You're from the Fang Clan. I was Tian. But you helped me get away. Why?"

Kira didn't answer.

A loud alarm started screaming in the tunnel outside. The harsh sound bounced off the walls.

WEE-OO! WEE-OO!

"What's that?" Leo asked.

Kira grabbed his arm. "Someone saw us come here. Maybe Talon. We have to go now."

Light footsteps came from the tunnel. People were shouting.

Leo looked at the door, then back at her.

"What do we do?"

Kira stared right into his eyes. "You have to choose."

"What do you mean?"

"We run together right now, or we both die here."

He waited, not sure what to do.

The pendant got warm and pulsed hard.

Kira stepped closer and held his arm tight. "Leo, I'm the daughter of the Fang Clan's leader. I shouldn't be helping you at all. But I am."

"You're his daughter?"

"Yes. And I'm telling you something important - your real enemy might not be me. It might be someone you trust."

The shouting got louder and closer.

Kira's voice got very quiet. "Choose right now."

Leo stared at her. Everything he thought he knew felt like it was falling apart.

Was he about to walk into another trap? Or was he finally going to learn the truth?