V Stadium was too quiet.
And places built for violence should never be that quiet.
The underground corridors stretched endlessly beneath the stadium like veins of concrete and steel. Dim emergency lights flickered above in intervals, painting the walls in shades of red and black.
Somewhere far away…
water dripped slowly.
Metal creaked.
Static buzzed through broken cameras.
And in the middle of that darkness moved four shadows dressed entirely in black.
No team symbols.
No names.
No identities.
Only masks.
Only silence.
Only purpose.
Ram walked ahead.
Always ahead.
Black gloves.
Black cap pulled low.
A mask covering half his face.
Cold eyes scanning every exit, every blind spot, every camera angle.
Behind him walked Krish, Dev and Shiva.
Each one carrying different energy.
Different danger.
Krish lazily spun a combat knife between his fingers while looking around casually.
Too casually.
Like he was touring a haunted museum instead of infiltrating an illegal underground operation.
"This place smells like bad decisions and expired noodles."
Dev sighed.
"Can you focus for five minutes?"
"I am focused," Krish replied immediately. "My focus is telling me this building should be demolished."
Shiva crouched near a rusted metal door quietly, fingers tracing an old symbol carved near the edge.
A circle.
Inside it…
the half-burnt shape of a letter.
B.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Found it again."
Ram stopped walking.
Turned.
Looked at the symbol silently.
The air between the four changed instantly.
No humor now.
No casualness.
Dev stepped closer.
"The same mark from Prague."
"And Seoul," Shiva added.
Krish's playful expression faded slightly.
"The warehouse fire too."
Silence.
Ram stared at the symbol for few seconds before speaking calmly:
"Someone wants us to follow this."
Krish leaned against the wall.
"Or someone wants us scared of it."
"No," Ram replied quietly.
"Fear leaves messier trails."
Dev crossed his arms.
"Then why keep leaving the B mark everywhere?"
Ram's gaze darkened slightly.
"Because whoever he is…"
A pause.
"…he wants Empire to remember him."
The corridor became silent again.
Only footsteps echoed now as they continued moving deeper underground.
Krish clicked his tongue.
"You know what I hate most?"
"No," Shiva replied flatly.
"But unfortunately we're about to find out."
Krish pointed dramatically around himself.
"This."
Dev frowned.
"This what?"
"This mysterious villain obsession with aesthetics."
Krish waved at the flickering red lights.
"Like brother, commit crimes normally. Why the horror movie setup?"
Even Shiva almost smiled slightly.
Ram ignored them completely.
His attention remained fixed ahead.
Always calculating.
Always listening.
Then suddenly—
he stopped walking.
The others instantly became alert.
"What happened?" Dev asked quietly.
Ram didn't answer.
A faint voice echoed from somewhere nearby.
Muffled.
Weak.
A girl's voice.
The corridor beside them had another half-open metal passage leading downward.
Ram's eyes shifted toward it.
Krish tilted his head slightly.
"You heard that too?"
Ram walked closer silently and looked through the narrow opening.
Only for one second.
Inside the dim room—
he saw chains.
Blood.
A girl tied against the wall.
Masked.
Injured.
Ram's expression didn't change.
But his fingers tightened slightly.
He stepped back immediately.
"We continue."
Krish frowned slightly.
"Ram—"
"Our mission comes first."
His tone left no room for argument.
And he walked ahead again.
Because exposure here meant disaster.
This mission was unofficial.
Illegal.
If their identities got revealed inside V Stadium ....
They could get dragged into something much bigger.
So he continued walking.
Cold.
Focused.
Controlled.
Then—
another voice echoed through the corridor.
Stronger this time.
Angrier.
"Leave them alone!"
Ram's footsteps slowed.
A different voice answered coldly:
"Kneel."
The corridor fell silent.
Even Krish stopped joking.
Then came the words that changed everything.
"A leader's ego mean nothing infront of her people,
So, congratulations you won the knees
But nver the ..."
The girl's voice shook slightly now.
Still strong.
Still refusing to break.
"Queens.
Ego is cheap.
My people are not."
Ram stopped mid-step.
Completely.
The underground silence suddenly felt heavier.
Then—
chains clinked sharply against the floor.
"Just leave them alone."
Something in Ram's eyes shifted.
Not pity.
Recognition.
Because only leaders spoke like that.
Only people willing to destroy themselves for their team sounded like that.
And Ram knew that kind of loyalty too well.
At the exact same moment—
Krish's voice came through the communicator.
More serious than before.
"Ram."
Ram stayed silent.
"We found three more rooms."
Krish's tone darkened.
"Same setup."
Dev's voice entered next.
"Drugged captives."
Then Shiva:
"Looks organized. Planned."
Still no answer from Ram.
Then slowly—
he turned back toward the chained girl's room.
Krish immediately understood.
A dangerous grin appeared beneath his mask.
"Well…"
He cracked his knuckles softly.
"Guess subtlety died tonight."
Three smoke bombs rolled across the underground floor.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
BOOM.
White smoke exploded violently through the corridor.
Alarms screamed instantly.
People started shouting.
Footsteps echoed everywhere.
Inside the room—
Sia's vision had already started collapsing under the effect of the drugs.
The world around her looked distorted.
Blurry.
Broken.
She could barely lift her head anymore.
Only shadows moved through the smoke now.
A dark figure entered the room.
Tall.
Broad shoulders.
Black clothes.
Black mask.
Walking straight toward her.
Sia's exhausted brain reacted instantly.
Another puppet.
Another one of them.
The figure reached her.
A blade flashed briefly in his hand.
CLANG.
One chain unlocked immediately.
Sia's eyes widened slightly.
But instinct moved faster than trust.
Always.
Her trembling fingers instantly moved toward her hair.
The black hairband wrapped around her wrist.
Hidden inside it—
a thin sharp blade.
In one swift movement—
she pulled it out and drove it directly into the stranger's right arm.
Straight through the bicep.
Ram's body jerked slightly.
A sharp hiss escaped him.
For the first time—
their eyes met properly.
Neither could see each other's faces clearly.
Only eyes.
His cold but steady.
Hers exhausted but still fighting.
For one strange second—
everything else disappeared.
The screams.
The smoke.
The alarms.
The blood.
Then Ram leaned slightly closer despite the blade buried in his arm.
And quietly said:
"Trust me."
Something about his voice cut through the chaos.
Calm.
Certain.
Dangerously steady.
Sia tried to stay awake.
Tried to focus.
Tried to understand.
But the drugs spreading through her bloodstream were winning now.
Her fingers slowly loosened.
The blade slipped from Ram's arm.
And the moment her body collapsed forward—
Ram caught her instantly.
Silence hit him for half a second.
Because despite everything…
he had never held a girl like this before.
Not unconscious.
Not trembling.
Not bleeding in his arms beneath a battlefield of smoke and alarms.
But there was no time to process anything.
"MOVE!" someone shouted nearby.
Ram immediately lifted Sia fully into his arms.
One arm beneath her knees.
The other supporting her back carefully despite his injured arm.
Then he ran.
Straight through the smoke.
Straight through the chaos.
Straight past falling bodies and screaming men.
The underground lights flickered violently above them while alarms screamed across V Stadium.
It looked less like an escape.
More like a war beginning.
Outside—
cold night air hit instantly.
Ram finally stopped near the abandoned garden area behind the stadium.
Hidden from cameras.
Hidden from guards.
Hidden from the world.
Moonlight spilled softly across the marble pathway and empty benches.
For the first time all night—
there was silence.
Ram carefully placed Sia against the bench.
Her breathing had become uneven now.
The drugs were affecting her badly.
His eyes moved toward the injury near her forehead.
Blood still traced slowly down one side of her face beneath the moonlight.
Something about that sight irritated him deeply.
More than it should have.
Sia struggled slightly for breath beneath the mask.
Without thinking much—
Ram reached forward and slowly removed it.
And froze.
The world stopped for exactly one second.
Her face.
The café girl.
The same sharp eyes.
The same girl from the wrong date.
The same girl he was convinced wasn't part of this world.
Ram stared at her silently.
Actually stunned for once.
"What the…"
His mind replayed everything instantly.
The café.
The fight.
The coincidence.
The second meeting.
And now this.
Three times.
No normal people crossed paths like thi.
Not around V Stadium.
Not around hidden operations.
Ram looked down at her unconscious face again beneath the silver moonlight.
Then quietly thought to himself:
This isn't coincidence anymore.
Somewhere far behind them—
V Stadium alarms continued screaming into the night.
Ram's voice came through the comms cold and absolute.
"Krish. Dev. Shiva."
A pause.
"Now."
That was it.
No explanation.
No discussion.
Just one order from their leader.
And for people like them…
that was enough.
Krish smirked beneath his mask while sprinting through the underground corridor.
"There it is," he muttered. "The emotionally unavailable batman voice."
Dev's irritated voice immediately came through the earpiece:
"Krish."
"What?"
"Don't let anyone see your face."
Krish jumped over a fallen guard smoothly before replying,
"I like fighting, Dev."
A grin entered his voice
.
"But I'm not stupid, okay?"
Shiva's calm voice entered next.
"Debatable."
Krish looked offended immediately.
"Wow. Betrayal inside the team. During a rescue mission. Beautiful."
Then he stopped.
Abruptly.
Because the corridor ahead looked different.
Too guarded.
Too protected.
At least fifteen men.
Armed.
Watching one specific room.
Krish's playful expression faded slightly beneath the mask.
"Interesting…"
he murmured softly.
This wasn't normal security.
This was protection.
For someone important.
Or something important.
Krish silently moved closer through the shadows near the entrance.
One guard stood outside smoking carelessly.
Before the man could even react—
Krish pulled him silently backward into darkness and knocked him unconscious in one clean movement.
No noise.
No wasted effort.
Then slowly—
Krish looked inside the room through the narrow opening.
And froze for one second.
A girl sat tied to a chair in the center of the room.
Hands bound tightly.
Head lowered slightly.
Long dark hair falling over one side of her shoulder.
He couldn't see her face.
Only her back.
Only the trembling movement of her shoulders.
And beside her—
stood someone.
Different from the others.
The atmosphere around him alone screamed danger.
Control.
Power.
Krish narrowed his eyes.
The man leaned slightly closer toward the girl.
Too close.
And Krish instantly hated it for reasons he couldn't explain.
Then he heard her voice.
Weak.
Drugged.
Yet still trying to sound strong.
"If you want…"
A shaky breath.
"…then kill me."
The room became silent.
"But leave them."
Krish's eyes darkened slightly.
The girl continued softly now:
"I'll do anything."
Something twisted strangely inside Krish hearing those words.
Not pity.
Not sympathy.
Something sharper.
Angrier.
Because surrender spoken in that tone never sounded weak.
It sounded desperate enough to break people.
The man near her smiled beneath his mask.
Slowly.
Like he enjoyed hearing her say that.
And Krish's fingers clenched instantly.
"Yeah…"
he whispered coldly.
"I officially don't like this guy."
Then—
three small metal objects rolled silently into the room.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
One guard frowned.
"What the hell—"
BOOM.
Smoke exploded violently through the entire room.
White clouds swallowed everything instantly.
Men started shouting.
Weapons raised.
Alarms screaming again.
And then—
the metal doors burst open.
Light from the corridor behind poured dramatically through the smoke.
A dark figure stepped inside slowly.
Hands in pockets.
Black clothes.
Mask.
Cap.
Absolute chaos energy.
Krish.
One guard shouted immediately,
"WHO ARE YOU?!"
Krish tilted his head slightly.
Then sighed dramatically.
"You know…"
He cracked his neck lazily.
"In movies this is usually the part where the villain gives a speech."
A man rushed toward him with a knife.
Krish moved sideways effortlessly.
Grabbed the man's arm.
Twisted.
CRACK.
The scream echoed instantly.
"But honestly?" Krish continued casually while knocking another man unconscious with one punch.
"Nobody listens to speeches anymore."
Another attacker came from behind.
Krish ducked smoothly and kicked him straight into the wall.
"So let's simplify this."
One punch.
Another body dropped.
"You kidnapped girls."
A kick.
"Big mistake."
Another body hit the floor.
"Very embarrassing career choice."
Meanwhile—
inside the smoke—
two masked men immediately rushed toward the mastermind protectively.
"Sir, we need to move!"
The mastermind didn't respond immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the girl tied to the chair.
On Radhika.
Even through the chaos.
Even through the smoke.
Then finally—
he stepped backward slowly.
Still watching her.
Like leaving irritated him.
Radhika's blurry vision barely worked anymore.
Everything looked distorted.
Voices echoed strangely.
The drugs were making reality melt around her.
Still—
through the smoke—
she could see one thing clearly.
A silhouette fighting like chaos itself had entered the room.
And for some reason…
the people attacking him looked more scared than he did.
And in the middle of that chaos—
Krish walked forward slowly like he had entered a stage instead of a battlefield.
One guard charged toward him angrily.
Krish looked almost disappointed.
Then dramatically raised one finger.
"Yada yada hi dharmasya…"
He paused.
Tilted his head.
"Leave it, man."
A lazy sigh escaped him.
"People like you don't listen to shloks anyway."
Dev's voice came in ," Will you stop giving them knowledge and come faster?"
Krish replied," It's not my fault here security is very much and it takes time cleaning the garbage."
The guard shouted and attacked.
Krish caught the man's fist mid-air effortlessly.
Then smiled beneath the mask.
Cold.
Dangerous.
"So let me explain it my way."
CRACK.
The man's arm bent unnaturally.
A scream echoed instantly.
The room exploded into violence.
Krish moved through the smoke like chaos itself.
No wasted movement.
No hesitation.
Just instinct.
One man aimed a knife toward his neck.
Krish ducked.
Elbowed his ribs.
Snatched the knife.
And stabbed it directly into another attacker's shoulder without even looking.
Meanwhile—
through the smoke—
the mastermind stepped backward immediately.
His guards surrounding him protectively.
"Sir we need to leave NOW!"
The mastermind's eyes remained fixed toward Radhika.
Possessive.
Obsessive.
Disturbingly calm.
Then finally—
he disappeared through the hidden exit.
Krish barely noticed.
At first.
Because he was still fighting casually.
Mocking.
Playing.
Destroying people without urgency.
Until—
his eyes shifted toward the chair.
Toward her.
Radhika somehow managed to stand despite the chains hanging loose from one wrist now.
Her body swayed weakly.
The drugs in her bloodstream were stronger than anyone else's.
Her vision completely blurred.
She couldn't even stand properly.
And the guards around her noticed it too.
One man grabbed her arm improperly.
Another touched her shoulder trying to hold her forcefully.
Radhika pushed weakly against them.
Trying to move away.
Trying to fight.
Still fighting.
Even half-conscious.
Krish's expression slowly disappeared.
One guard laughed.
"Look at her now."
Radhika tried to slap him weakly.
But another man suddenly struck her hard across the face.
The sound echoed sharply.
Blood appeared near her lips instantly.
And that's when Krish finally saw her face clearly.
Time stopped.
The café girl.
His eyes widened slightly beneath the mask.
Then immediately darkened.
Dangerously.
He spoke only two words into the comms.
Quietly.
Almost unbelievably.
"Ram."
A pause.
"Café."
From the other side—
all Ram gave back was a low:
"Hm."
And something inside Krish snapped.
Completely.
Nobody understood what changed.
Not the guards.
Not the men attacking him.
Not even Dev or Shiva listening through the comms.
Because seconds ago—
Krish was fighting.
Now—
he was hunting.
The playful movements disappeared.
The jokes vanished.
Even his breathing changed.
Cold.
Heavy.
Monstrous.
One attacker came toward him shouting.
Krish grabbed him by the throat mid-step and slammed him directly into the wall hard enough to crack it.
Another man aimed a rod toward him.
Krish caught it.
Snapped it in half.
Then drove the broken metal piece straight into the man's leg.
Screams filled the room.
But Krish didn't stop.
Didn't even blink.
A guard tried running away.
Krish grabbed him from behind violently and threw him across the floor like dead weight.
"You touched…"
Punch.
"…the wrong…"
Another punch.
"…girl."
Blood splattered across the smoke-covered floor.
One terrified man whispered:
"W-Who the hell are you—"
Krish slowly looked at him.
Eyes terrifyingly calm now.
"The reason your parents should've believed in population control."
Then another body dropped.
Even the remaining guards started backing away now.
Actually afraid.
Because this wasn't combat anymore.
This looked personal.
Krish's voice came through the comms again.
Cold enough to silence everyone.
"Ram."
Ram instantly understood something was wrong.
"She's bleeding."
That was it.
Only three words.
But the rage inside them was enough.
Krish finally turned toward Radhika.
She was barely conscious now.
Trying to stand.
Trying to fight invisible enemies around her.
Tears mixing with blood near her lips.
And even now—
she was whispering weakly:
"Kill me…"
A trembling breath.
"But leave them…"
Her body collapsed forward.
But before she could hit the ground—
Krish reached her.
Fast.
Too fast.
He caught her instantly against him.
One arm around her waist.
The other supporting her head carefully.
For one second-
his entire dark murderous aura disappeared.
Like someone extinguished fire with bare hands.
Radhika struggled weakly against his chest.
Still drugged.
Still terrified.
"Kill me…"
she whispered again brokenly.
"…just leave them…"
Krish looked down at her silently.
At her untied hair.
At the blood near her lips.
At the trembling hands clutching his shirt unconsciously.
And all he said softly was:
"Idiot."
The word carried no mockery this time.
Only anger.
Only relief.
Only something terrifyingly protective.
Radhika clutched his shirt tighter unconsciously.
Tears staining the black fabric near his chest
.
And Krish's hold around her tightened instantly.
Possessively.
Protectively.
Like he was silently promising the world itself wouldn't touch her now.
Then slowly—
Krish looked toward the bodies around him.
Toward the blood.
Toward the broken room.
And spoke into the comms.
"Ram."
His voice was terrifyingly calm now.
"Mark my words."
A pause.
"If anything happens to her…"
His grip around Radhika tightened slightly.
"…I will burn this whole damn stadium to the ground."
Silence.
Then Krish looked down at the unconscious girl clinging weakly to his shirt.
Her brows still slightly furrowed even after passing out.
Like she was still trying to protect someone in her dreams.
And for some reason…
that irritated him more than the blood.
"She doesn't even know when to stop fighting," he muttered under his breath.
Radhika shifted slightly against his chest unconsciously.
Fingers tightening weakly over his shirt.
Like she trusted the hold without even knowing whose arms she was in.
Krish froze for one second at that.
Something unfamiliar flickered across his face beneath the mask.
Not love.
Not softness.
Just…
something human breaking through the chaos.
Then immediately his expression hardened again.
"And find that psycho before I do," he said coldly into the comms.
A pause.
"Because right now…"
His eyes darkened toward the exit.
"…I'm not sure I'll leave him alive."