The cafe boys:
The room looked less like a living space and more like a war strategy chamber.
Screens glowed against the darkness.
Files.
Codes.
Team rankings.
Hidden alliances.
Old mission archives.
And right in the center of it all—
sat the pendrive.
The same pendrive that had cost three teams their dignity just to hand over information to them.
Because everyone wanted alliance with the FIRST RANKERS.
The undefeated first-rankers.
Krish spun lazily in the chair beside the table, balancing a knife on one finger.
"Tell me something."
He looked at Ram.
"Do people genuinely admire us…"
A pause.
"…or are they just terrified?"
Dev snorted lightly without looking up from the screen,
"Mostly terrified."
Shiva, sitting on the couch with his arms crossed, added calmly,
"You enjoy that too much."
Krish grinned instantly,
"Confidence is attractive, my friend."
"Arrogance isn't," Dev replied.
Krish pointed at himself proudly.
"Good thing I'm handsome enough to carry both."
Shiva actually sighed.
Ram ignored all of them.
His eyes remained fixed on the screen.
Scanning.
Calculating.
Discarding.
Rishi stood near the main system, opening one file after another.
"The pendrive contains information about nearly every active team in the circuit."
Krish leaned back further,
"Nearly?"
Rishi nodded.
"Some hidden teams are still unregistered."
That made Ram look up.
Only slightly.
"How many?"
"Very few."
Rishi paused.
"And the probability of them existing independently is extremely low."
Krish smirked faintly,
"So basically ghosts."
Dev's fingers stopped over the keyboard.
"Check the café girls again."
For a second, silence settled.
Krish's grin widened immediately.
"Interesting."
Shiva raised a brow.
"You guys are still thinking about them?"
Krish looked offended.
"Brother, one nearly broke a man's wrist in a saree."
A pause.
"How do you not notice that and ofcourse how can we miss Dev's first crush and also Ram's first date?"
Dev chuckled softly.
Even Ram's eyes shifted slightly.
Just slightly.
Rishi typed quickly.
Files opening one after another.
Photos.
Rankings.
Old competition footage.
Mission history.
Nothing.
Krish leaned forward now.
"No results?"
Rishi shook his head slowly.
"None."
Dev frowned.
"That's impossible."
"Not impossible," Shiva corrected calmly.
"Just intentional."
Krish rested his chin over his hand.
Thinking.
Actually thinking for once.
"There is a possibility of them not being..."
A pause.
"But I still think they are."
Dev nodded slightly.
"Especially the leader."
Ram's fingers tapped once against the table.
A habit he only had while processing something deeply.
"That wasn't normal reflex."
He finally spoke.
"Their observation skills were trained."
Krish smirked faintly,
"And the saree girl…"
A small laugh escaped him.
"She looked like she'd kill someone and explain it politely afterward."
Dev chuckled.
Shiva shook his head lightly.
Rishi finally closed the file.
"They're not in the system."
Silence.
Ram leaned back slowly.
"Then they're not part of this world."
Krish stared at the dark screen for another second.
Something about that answer didn't sit right with him.
But facts were facts.
No rankings.
No records.
No missions.
Nothing.
Still…
his mind flashed back to one thing.
"Don't touch her."
The fire in that girl's eyes.
Krish smirked faintly to himself.
"Shame."
Dev looked at him.
"Why?"
Krish stood up lazily.
"Because life just became slightly less interesting."
Dev leaned back in the chair, crossing his arms.
"Interesting?"
A small scoff.
"One of them almost broke a man's shoulder in public."
Krish immediately pointed toward him dramatically.
"THANK YOU."
Then to Ram,
"See? Finally someone understands art."
Shiva raised a brow.
"You call violence art?"
Krish looked offended.
"Elegant violence."
A pause.
"There's difference."
Rishi muttered while typing,
"I worry about this team sometimes."
"Only sometimes?" Dev asked dryly.
Krish suddenly leaned toward Ram with full seriousness,
"You know what's bothering me?"
Ram didn't look up.
"That you think too much despite no evidence?"
Krish clicked his tongue.
"Cruel. Unnecessary. Emotionally damaging."
Then his grin faded slightly.
"Ram I think.."
A pause.
"You should change your name.. and Shashank is not that bad."
That made the room quieter.
Shiva's laughed.
"This boy will die for sure and from our Leader's hands."
Dev added,
"Agreed."
Ram looked at him. And moved towards him.
Krish pointed instantly.
"Hey R..Ram you can't kill me, I am your bro."
Shiva said dryly,
"Why does those girls matter too much, I mean we have something more important to do?"
Ram finally closed the file.
The soft click echoed.
"Doesn't matter anymore."
His voice was calm.
Controlled.
"If they were part of this world, they'd be on the list."
Krish stared at the blank screen for another second.
Something about it irritated him.
Not knowing usually excited him.
This time…
it unsettled him.
"Still," he muttered lazily,
"Mr. Wrong date, deserved a second meeting."
Dev almost choked on water.
Shiva looked genuinely tired now.
"Did you seriously give Ram a title?"
Krish smirked proudly.
"No."
A pause.
"My bro earned it. Right Ram?"
Even Ram's lips almost moved.
Almost.
Ram finally spoke.
"We move to the next lead."
Rishi nodded instantly.
"There's an old archive beneath V Stadium."
That made Shiva look up.
"V Stadium?"
Rishi nodded again.
"Old empire records are rumored to be hidden there."
Krish stretched his arms casually.
"Well, abandoned stadiums and hidden files."
A grin.
"Sounds illegal enough to be fun."
Ram stood.
And the room naturally shifted with him.
Because leaders didn't need to announce authority.
They carried it.
"We go tonight."
QUEENS' SIDE
The complete opposite.
Warm lights.
Pinned notes.
Threads connecting photographs.
Maps.
Names.
Old articles.
Mission patterns.
And right in the center of the wall—
written boldly—
QUEENS
Below it—
multiple arrows spread in different directions.
Sia stood in front of the board silently.
Marker in hand.
Focused.
Under one arrow she wrote:
Bhumi
Then paused.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
Thinking.
Calculating.
Remembering.
Before she could write the second name—
"YOU ARE LITERALLY DELUSIONAL!"
Durga's voice exploded through the room.
Sia closed her eyes slowly.
Not irritated.
Used to it.
Saraswati entered right behind her,
"I'm delusional? YOU said Braves would lose because their captain has 'negative hairstyle energy.'"
Durga pointed dramatically.
"AND I STAND BY THAT STATEMENT!"
Radhika entered last.
Laptop in hand.
Eyes fixed on the screen.
Not even looking where she was walking.
"The hairstyle was bad," she muttered absentmindedly.
Durga gasped loudly.
"You see?! Intellectual validation!"
Saraswati looked betrayed.
"You too?!"
Radhika finally sat down, typing rapidly.
"Objectively speaking, yes."
Durga folded her arms proudly.
"I've always said I'm the smartest in this team."
Sia spoke without turning around.
"No. You've always believed that."
Devastation.
Pure devastation.
Durga stared at her dramatically.
"You know what? One day I'm leaving this team."
Saraswati immediately replied,
"No you're not."
Durga blinked.
"Why?"
"Because you'd return in two hours after realizing nobody else tolerates you."
Radhika snorted softly without lifting her eyes from the laptop.
Durga pointed at her now.
"And you! Stop hacking mysterious accounts and support me emotionally!"
"I'm decoding," Radhika corrected calmly.
Sia finally turned slightly.
"You still trying that account?"
Radhika nodded.
"There's something strange about it."
Saraswati sat beside her.
"What kind of account?"
Radhika rotated the laptop slightly.
A nearly blank profile appeared.
No name.
No history.
No activity.
Nothing.
Yet somehow—
protected beyond normal security.
"It keeps appearing around old empire records," Radhika said quietly.
Durga frowned.
"So basically creepy."
"Very," Saraswati agreed.
Sia's eyes stayed on the screen for a second longer than usual.
"Can you trace it?"
Radhika smirked faintly.
"I can trace anyone."
"I just said I will leave this team," Durga said with a tone of complain.
"And you guys didn't even care. I'm hurt."
Saraswati folded her arms calmly.
"You say that every Thursday."
Durga gasped dramatically.
"Because every Thursday this team tests my emotional stability!"
Radhika finally looked up from her laptop.
Expression completely serious.
"You never had emotional stability."
Two seconds of silence.
Durga pointed at her slowly.
"You know what?"
A pause.
"That was personal."
Sia walked past them holding files.
Without missing a beat she added,
"Accurate though."
Durga looked betrayed.
Actually betrayed.
"I live with bullies."
Saraswati smiled sweetly.
"No. You live with honesty."
Durga dropped onto the couch dramatically.
"One day when I become rich and famous none of you are invited to my mansion."
Radhika kept typing.
"You'd still call us after two hours because ghosts scared you."
Durga sat up instantly.
"I DO NOT GET SCARED."
The room went silent.
All three girls looked at her.
Sia slowly raised a brow.
"…you cried during a horror movie trailer."
Durga pointed aggressively.
"IT WAS EMOTIONAL MUSIC."
Even Radhika laughed this time.
A real one.
Small.
But enough to make the room lighter for a moment.
Then mission alert came.
And everything changed again.
PING.
All four devices lit up simultaneously.
The room changed instantly.
No more jokes.
No more teasing.
Mission alert.
Durga straightened first.
"That's early."
Saraswati frowned.
"The seven-day break isn't over."
Sia picked up the device.
Her expression sharpened immediately.
"Official mission."
Radhika stood beside her now.
Reading silently.
LOCATION: V STADIUM
OBJECTIVE:
TEAMWORK & SURVIVAL
EVALUATION
RULE:
NO WEAPONS ALLOWED
Durga blinked.
"That sounds suspiciously illegal."
Saraswati crossed her arms.
"No weapons?"
Radhika's gaze narrowed slightly.
"Why specify that unless they expect combat?"
Silence settled.
Heavy this time.
Sia looked at all three of them.
Calm.
But thoughtful.
"We can refuse unofficial fights."
A pause.
"Not official missions."
Because missions meant ranking.
And ranking meant survival.
Lose enough missions—
and teams disappeared from the game completely.
Durga exhaled dramatically.
"Well…"
A grin slowly returned.
"If we die, I'm haunting all of you equally."
Saraswati instantly replied,
"You already haunt us alive."
Radhika closed her laptop slowly.
Still thoughtful.
Still distracted by something invisible.
"That place feels wrong."
She murmured quietly.
Sia looked at the board again.
At the unfinished name beneath Bhumi.
Something inside her felt unsettled.
Not fear.
Never fear.
A warning.
But warnings didn't stop Queens.
They prepared silently.
Jackets.
Masks.
Communication bands.
And just before leaving—
Sia uncapped the marker again.
Below Bhumi—
she finally wrote another name.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Then stared at it for a second too long.
Radhika noticed.
"Something bothering you?"
Sia capped the marker.
"…No."
A pause.
"Just a feeling."
Durga immediately spoke,
"Great. Whenever leaders say 'just a feeling,' disasters happen."
Saraswati nodded seriously.
"She's right actually."
Radhika picked up her mask slowly.
Eyes unreadable.
"Too late now."
Saraswati took the device from Sia again, rereading the details.
"No weapons allowed."
Her eyes narrowed.
"That's either trust-building…"
A pause.
"…or a setup."
Durga immediately replied,
"If we get trapped because of teamwork exercises, I'm writing a complaint letter before dying."
Radhika folded her arms quietly.
Still thinking.
"The timing is strange."
Sia looked toward the board again.
At the unfinished names.
At the arrows.
At Bhumi.
"Nothing official happens without reason."
Durga sighed dramatically.
"You know, normal college girls spend holidays shopping."
Saraswati nodded.
"And eating."
Radhika added absentmindedly,
"And stalking crushes online."
Durga instantly pointed at her.
"HA! You sound experienced."
Radhika looked up slowly.
Expression blank.
"I can delete your existence digitally in twelve seconds."
Durga sat back down immediately.
"Understood. Respectfully silent."
Even Sia smiled slightly this time.
Very slightly.
Instead
Far away from the city lights—
inside a dark room glowing only with screens—
someone watched the four blinking dots moving toward V Stadium.
Silence filled the room.
Not empty silence.
Patient silence.
One screen paused briefly on one of the Queen's file.
Incomplete.
Untraceable.
A gloved hand moved slowly across the screen.
Not touching.
Hovering.
Then a quiet voice echoed in the darkness.
"So…"
A pause.
Soft.
Interested.
"You finally stepped onto the board."
Another screen shifted toward Radhika.
Then Durga.
Then Saraswati.
But it returned back to Sia's again.
" Sia, you can't have what is mine."
Stayed there longer.
"Queens."
A faint chuckle.
"Let's see how long your kingdom survives."
The blinking dots moved closer to V Stadium.
Closer.
Closer.
And the smile behind the darkness deepened slightly.
"Break the others if necessary…"
A pause.
"…but don't let her disappear."
The screens kept blinking in the darkness.
Four dots moving closer to V Stadium.
Closer to something none of them understood yet.
The man watched silently.
Patiently.
Like someone waiting for the first move in a game he had already prepared long ago.
Outside, the city still breathed normally.
Cars moved.
Lights flickered.
People laughed somewhere far away.
Completely unaware that tonight—
somewhere between old secrets and unfinished pasts—
the game was about to change.
Because certain nights do not arrive to pass quietly.
They arrive to divide lives into before and after.
And as the Queens moved toward V Stadium—
Because some nights are not meant to end peacefully.
They are meant to change everything that comes after them.
The man leaned back slowly, eyes fixed on the moving dots.
A faint smile appeared in the darkness.
"Let's see, Queens…"
A pause.
Quiet.
Cold.
"…how long your crown survives when the game stops being fair."
And far away from that room—
completely unknown to him—
another set of footsteps had already started moving toward V Stadium too.