The air in the wasteland was suffocating, smelling of burnt metal and death. Veer stood amongst the ruins, his knuckles white as he gripped his weapon. Every breath felt like inhaling fire.
"Veer, Veer!"
Vansh's voice broke the heavy silence. He ran toward Veer, his eyes searching for any sign of injury. The atmosphere was thick with a dark energy, as if the loop itself was trying to crush them.
RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
"Take cover!" Veer yelled. They dove behind a massive, rusted iron gate just as bullets shredded the air.
Vansh looked out and gasped. "Ooh feesh! Man, they got regenerated!" The clones they had destroyed were rising again, their limbs twisting back into place.
Veer didn't blink. "I have been handling them for over five hours now," he said, his voice cold and robotic.
"We should use these RS-01 again!" Vansh shouted.
Veer looked at him, a small, tired smile on his face. "Yo! You still remember its name?"
The Real Duo: Khushi and Rahul
Somewhere else in the distorted maze of the loop, Khushi was moving cautiously. Her comms were dead. Silence was her only companion until she heard footsteps. She whipped her gun around.
"Hands up! Tell me straight, who do you work for?"
"Mam, calm down! It's me!" A young man stepped out, breathing hard. It was Rahul. He looked exhausted and terrified. "I work for ISA. I can bet you have come to help us. Are you Khushi? Sorry, Mam, I did not recognize you... but I know your work on the drug smuggling cases."
Khushi lowered her gun, but her eyes remained sharp. "Rahul? Where are the others? Where is Shiven?"
Rahul shook his head, trembling. "I don't know, Mam. We were all together, walking... then the fog came. When it cleared, I was alone. I've been looking for you guys for hours."
Khushi gripped her pistol. "The loop separated us. We have to find Shiven and Karan. Move!"
The Dark Fate: The Lone Karan
In a different sector of the loop, another Karan was wandering. He was shivering, his voice echoing in the empty, dripping corridors.
"WTF! Mam, how come? I should go back now!" he cried out.
Suddenly, a shadow moved in a destroyed building. A pale, distorted figure—a Clone—emerged. Before Karan could even draw his breath to scream, the creature pounced. It wrapped its cold limbs around his face, its mouth latching onto his.
Karan's eyes bulged as he felt his internal organs being sucked out of his body. Within seconds, his body was nothing but a hollow shell. He was gone.
The Shadow Group: Shiven's Side
Meanwhile, in a desolate courtyard, Shiven was standing tall, looking at the horizon. But he wasn't alone.
Beside Shiven stood Rahul and Karan. They looked normal, their uniforms clean, their expressions calm. Too calm.
"Sir, how are we going out from this loop?" Rahul asked, staring straight ahead with unblinking eyes.
Shiven snapped, his voice full of rage. "Shut up! I am not an engineer!"
Karan, standing on Shiven's other side, spoke in a hollow, monotone voice. "But we have to do something fast... we can't live here for many years."
Shiven didn't notice the strange stiffness in their movements. He didn't notice that their eyes lacked any spark of life. To him, his team was still with him. But miles away, the real Rahul was with Khushi, and the real Karan was a corpse. The things standing next to Shiven were something else entirely.
The Puppet Master: The Headquarters
Deep inside the enemy's base, the Boss watched the screens with a wicked grin. He could see Shiven walking with the two 'puppets'.
"Good morning, Sir," the Server said.
The Unknown figure laughed. "This is the start. I will ruin them. Every single member will fall. Veer will watch his world burn for what he did to us."
"Yes, Boss. They are gonna die 100%," a member said, handing over a phone.
The Boss barked an order. "Take everyone out! Now!"
Then, his voice dropped to a whisper as a new caller joined. "Hello, Mr. A... Sir, what next?"
The voice on the other side was like a freezing wind. "The Headquarter!"
Written by Veer Tyagi
A young dreamer building his own universe.
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