"How about I start with you?"
Silver Fang began walking slowly toward Rouge. However, Neon wasn't there to fight—he was suddenly writhing in a most bizarre manner.
"Would you mind if I take you as a hostage? That thing's slowly losing its mind and no one can get out of here. I'm going to use you as a hostage—it's my only chance," he declared, even though the plan wasn't ideal—something was better than nothing.
Silver Fang placed his paw on Rouge, who fell helplessly to the floor, his superhuman strength overwhelmed by the sheer weight of the werewolf.
"Let me go, son of a—!" bellowed Rouge, only to be cut off by Silver Fang.
"Shut up!" the werewolf roared, as the claws on his paw brushed against Rouge's neck.
*Howl*
Neon howled as he bolted at high speed toward Silver Fang, yanking his sister away from the beast's jaws. The two tumbled and slashed at each other across the floor until Silver Fang slammed into the edge of the Cage.
(Am I really doing this?! I'm going to kill him…I can't…but…he nearly killed both me and my sister. I'm no one to judge others—but i can say, he's scum, even killed his own friend. Well, I guess I'll just let myself go…)
"Get out of the way!"
"Move aside! Special forces, coming through!"
Neon ceased resisting his instincts; his body moved on its own as his claws surged straight toward Silver Fang's forehead…
…but then his body suddenly froze.
"Stop right there! Everyone present is under arrest for participating in illegal duels without an official judge's supervision—and everyone here is an accomplice!"
A motley crowd of people—of various sizes and shapes—had stormed into the area. They had disabled the magic blocking the entrance using an advanced anti-magic device since the ordinary ones lacked sufficient power.
Gradually, Neon began to regain his senses, overwhelmed by all the rapid events that had befallen him and his sister.
What is going to happen now?
They'd gotten themselves into serious legal trouble because of their actions. He couldn't imagine the reprimand waiting for them at home—at least, they wouldn't be able to treat Neon as the failure he was any longer—and it had likely sealed the fate of his dear sister as well.
"Neon, calm down—everything will be alright, maybe..."
Rouge tried to soothe him, her words tumbling out non-stop, yet he couldn't shake the overwhelming guilt.
The transformation showed no sign of ending—in fact, Neon began to feel increasingly drowsy.
"So this is what it feels like to reach the limit of your strength," he whispered. The poor kid had suffered an abysmal disadvantage, a casualty of his family's cutthroat competitiveness.
He looked around frantically; the mysterious man had vanished.
Then, his consciousness simply collapsed.
---
"Neon, Neon, wake up—Neooooon!"
Everything was dark, and Neon could barely hear. When he opened his eyes, he saw the blurry silhouette of Rouge. For a moment, he wondered if it had all been just a dream.
Because that was the only plausible explanation—he might just wake up on the train with his sister… He was becoming quite the good dreamer.
"Wake up."
His vision cleared, and the silhouette of Rouge faded away, replaced by the vivid image of a doctor. He was lying on a hospital gurney—or at least, what looked like one.
"You've been asleep for an entire week, Neon. Is that your name?" she asked. Her hair flowed in a soft wave, and her piercing blue eyes projected a cold, exacting gaze—the very stereotype of that sultry doctor you'd find in any fanfic.
"D-damn! How do you know my name?" Neon stammered, startled.
Yet his body remained immobile—it was clear that even now, he was sedated.
"Everything's in your file. We have your records—your place of birth, your origin, even a detailed report of your life," she continued. Neon began to feel almost harassed.
"It appears this is your first criminal record. It must be tough for you; WE HAVE a lot of questions for you, dear."
"Questions? QUESTIONS?!" Neon protested.
"I'm not in the mood for an interrogation—where is my sister?! I'm leaving this place," he shouted, frustrated by the flood of unexpected information. All he wanted to know was how Rouge was doing.
"Calm down. I understand your concern, but we still have things to discuss," the doctor replied as she pressed a button. Instantly, the entire room lit up.
Neon looked around. It wasn't even a proper room—it was a completely white, sealed chamber. He was lying strapped to a cold metal gurney (at this rate, I'm going to get pneumonia), he thought; his immune system was far from robust.
But what frightened him the most were the myriad cameras filling the room. He was screwed—really, terribly screwed.
"Let's begin with the first question," the doctor said, still without introducing herself. Neon didn't even know her name.
"Looks like I've really messed up. Alright, ask me anything," he conceded. They'd caught him red-handed, but perhaps if he answered honestly, the doctor—or whoever she represented—might understand his situation.
"Do you feel any changes in your body beyond your appearance?" she inquired. Neon couldn't help but examine himself.
He had been so distracted by the chaos around him that he hadn't noticed his own reflection: his skin had turned an unhealthy, corpse-like pallor—almost as if he were like his sister. At the edge of his vision, he noticed strands of white hair cascading across his forehead.
Even though he was tied down and couldn't see his reflection on the metal surface, one thing was certain. Looking up at the doctor, he admitted,
"I feel lighter. I know I'm tied up and all, but I feel lighter."
She simply continued scribbling in her notebook before moving on to her next question.
"How did you discover that illegal duel club? We've checked your records—you had only just arrived in the city at that time. Did you get the information from any particular contact?"
That was the question he'd been dreading. What else was this woman here for if not to build a case?
Neon denied having any contact and went on, "You won't believe it, but I was just hungry—and I followed the scent of meat. As for Rouge..."
He had hoped never to have to mention his sister, wishing she hadn't been dragged into all of this; however...
"Your sister, Rouge—she's also being questioned, not far from here."
Neon could only sigh and continue.
"I don't even know when it happened, but I simply arrived at that crazy place. Ugh, even thinking about it makes me sick." The doctor merely nodded while taking notes.
"Last question: How did you get yourself into this mess? As far as I know, you were the strange werewolf captured at the scene."
Neon gulped—they had reached the main course of the interrogation. He had no choice but to answer.
"A death match, a mysterious man—I think he was a wizard—did something strange, and before I knew it, I was already in the ring." Those were his words.
"Can you tell us something about his appearance? What did he wear? What was the color of his eyes?" she pressed, intent on squeezing every last bit of information out of him.
By this point, Neon began doubting the real purpose of this woman; as a doctor, she had little more than her professional attire.
"An elegant suit… and a tie, bandages over his eyes, brown hair with streaks of purple," Neon replied nervously.
"So this guy was the cause of all this? And you only defended yourself in self-defense?" she concluded.
"Yes..."
"Unfortunately, we haven't found anyone like him among the conspirators. Also, could you explain why a huge sum of money was found in the pockets of his trousers?"
"Huh?"
Neon's mind spun round and round; he couldn't believe what had happened… really… they had framed him!