Viraj was broken.
From the inside. Completely.
All his fantasies. All his ideas. All his planning.
Everything failed.
Where am I? What am I even doing? I thought all this through… and nothing worked.
---
Viran stepped in for the raid.
Toward Shubham — pressure —
Then toward Viraj and Surya —
And then —
Just wasting time.
Viran knew @11 had more points. If time ran out—
@11 would win.
So he kept moving around. Deliberately.
But—
Viran forgot one thing.
Vishal was still on the field.
---
Vishal looked at Viran—
And—
Jumped.
Straight at him.
Viran thought—
Is he crazy? I'm so close to the line. Even if he tries to grab me, I can escape. So why is he doing something this stupid?
Viran got ready to touch Vishal and get him out—
But then—
He felt something.
From behind.
Too late.
VEDANT.
Full speed. No hesitation. No thought.
Push.
Viran — out of the court.
---
Whistle.
Viran — OUT.
---
Viran stood there—
"What… was that?"
---
Viraj—
Shocked.
Vishal pretended to attack Viran… and Vedant used that moment to push him out.
But how did Vedant know Vishal was pretending?
---
Viraj went to Vishal—
"How did you do that?"
Vishal—
"I don't know."
"What do you mean?"
Vishal thought for a second—
"I didn't plan this with Vedant. It just… happened. When I was thinking about distracting Viran, I suddenly felt it. Like—this is what I have to do."
Viraj—
"What? How is that possible?"
Vishal—
"I don't know. But at that moment… my entire focus was only on Viran."
After saying that, Vishal walked toward Shubham.
---
Viraj stood alone.
What was that? Vishal felt it… and Vedant felt it too… at the same time. No plan. No signal. What was that feeling? And me… why couldn't I do anything? Why couldn't I feel it?
---
Score — @15: 14 — @11: 17
Timer —
0:30
30 seconds.
4 points needed.
---
Shubham stepped into the court.
Viraj watched from the side—
Shubham thought—
Only one defender left in @11. If I take him out—3 points for all-out + 1 point—done.
Shubham moved forward—tagged him—ran toward the line—
But—
That defender—
Showed no fear.
Not even a little.
Shubham was near the line—
The defender—
Zig-zagged.
Came from the front—
Both legs.
Locked them together—
Right near the line. So tightly—
Shubham—
Blank.
I can't bend forward. Can't fall down. Can't lift my legs. I can only move backward.
Whistle.
Shubham — OUT.
---
@11 team—
CELEBRATING.
@15 team—
Defeated.
Shubham apologized to everyone—
"Sorry guys… I couldn't do it—"
---
Viraj—
Still shocked. But his mind was working—
"He turned a limitation of the human body into a weapon. He knew no one can fully bend forward while standing. You can only do that from the back. So he locked Shubham from the front in such a way that he couldn't fall, couldn't move, couldn't escape. Only backward movement was possible. Body limits… that's his weapon."
A second.
And then—
Click.
Viraj shouted—
"You bastard—mastermind—SAGAR—was it you? The mastermind of @11?"
---
The whole @11 team was celebrating.
One person—
Sagar—
Stopped.
Looked at Viraj.
Just one look.
No expression. No taunt. No smile.
Just looked.
And then—
Walked away.
---
Viraj stood there.
A defeated team. Broken teammates. And one name now in his mind—
Sagar.
But not broken—
Something new—
A fire—
Was slowly burning inside him.
"I learned a lot from today's match."
A pause.
"Next time… I'll show you."
"Who I really am."
---
— Chapter 21 End —