The fists were raining outside.

  But there was a silent war inside too.

  Rishabh crept through the stairs, looking out for any possible enemies.

  The cabin door was wound tight with rusted chains, like a prison.

  Guarding it, Manav lazily leaned on the door, a grin plastered on his face like he was on vacation— all of this while Principal Mehra banged the door non-stop.

  Rishabh couldn't directly enter the room.

  But his mind flashed back— weeks ago, while running away from Vijay, he hid in the auditorium.

  That's when he had seen it.

  A vent directly leading to the Principal cabin.

  He ran there, taking another inhaler shot.

  He got up with a ladder, opened the screws with a metal ruler he had.

  "This can't be this easy!"

  And just when he peeked inside with his heart beating like a drum, he was shocked— various metal scraps crammed into the air duct passage, blocking it.

  At the center, there was a bright sticky note.

  "Manav was here :)"

  Rishabh's hands trembled— not with fear, but a rage to destroy something.

  He grew anxious, with eyes examining every speck of his surroundings.

  His breath was shallow, and mind racing.

  His eyes stopped on the ray of hope.

  The Chemistry Lab.

  ——————————————

  The Eternal Order formed a circle around the street— no way out and no one to stop.

  No teachers. No crowd. Just fists and rage.

  Vijay walked forward with a lazy smirk, bored of the fight moments after it began.

  Yug stood opposite to him— his shirt clinging to his battered body, his eye swollen shut.

  But a fire flickered behind all that pain.

  The stubborn desperation of a hope to win.

  Vijay rolled up his sleeves, ready to end this pointless fight at once.

  He gained momentum, running towards Yug to land on him like a boulder.

  Yug spat blood on the ground, barely able to balance his body anymore.

  He managed to pivot, dodging the unstoppable raging Bull just in time.

  And then he finally struck back.

  He landed a kick on Vijay's knee from behind.

  It lacked force. But the perfect timing made Vijay stumble— dropping to one knee.

  Vijay wasn't affected by this.

  He got up like nothing happened at all.

  "You're tougher. But a rodent's always a rodent."

  Yug still stood in a posture— strange and exhausted, but still not broken.

  "I'm not your dog anymore. I'll be a man."

  Vijay cracked his knuckles, preparing his strongest punch— the punch that took down monsters and shook Tarun.

  "Then fall like a man, Verma."

  ——————————————

  Rishabh rushed into the lab, coughing as his lungs tightened .

  He opened the chemical shelf.

  "Sulphuric… Nitric… Hydrochloric— that's it!"

  He grabbed a bottle of concentrated hydrochloric acid with safety gloves.

  He reached the duct again and splashed the acid straight to the metal.

  The metal corroded away instantly, opening the passage— the cabin's vent was visible too.

  Rishabh carefully removed the excess scrap and began to get it.

  But when he tried crawling through, it didn't fit.

  The fat on his body pushed against the walls, but couldn't enter in.

  "Why am I… like this!"

  His fury was at his peak, but he had to think calmly to save the school, and himself.

  His next destination was the sports room.

  But it was surrounded by an Eternal Order guard.

  He knew he couldn't fight— but he was prepared.

  He pulled a string attached to his hand.

  It was rigged to a nearby door— and it slammed with a bang.

  He ran towards the sound, and Rishabh used the opportunity to enter the room.

  The room smelled like sweat, with an old variety of sports equipment.

  He got what he needed— tennis balls.

  He still looked around and surprisingly, luck was on his side.

  He found an old school blueprint.

  "From the annual exhibition!"

  Just when he was about to leave, he heard a sound from behind.

  The man was back with anger.

  But Rishabh wasn't unprepared either.

  A basketball hit the man's nose, blocking his vision for a while.

  As the man turned, Rishabh swung a badminton racket with all force, snapping it on contact.

  He leaped forward to escape, but the fallen man put in a final effort, making Rishabh trip down.

  But he couldn't fall any further.

  He stumbled upon and ran, though his inhaler shattered in the scuffle.

  And while running, he managed to calculate the distance between both the vents.

  At the vent, he instantly calculated the throw speed for the ball to reach the other end.

  " 11 metres… divided by 0.39… exactly 28.2 metres per second."

  He angled his wrist and flicked the ball with surprisingly the exact speed.

  The Principal heard it, but ignored it as if it was a rodent making noise.

  "That old fool."

  Rishabh muttered— but he'd brought extras, just in case.

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  He flicked the remaining three balls— and the Principal finally acted up.

  He climbed up with his chair, and opened the duct, with all the balls falling right on his face.

  But he caught one of them— the one which had a sticky note, the one that Manav left.

  It had a message for Principal Mehra:

  "FIRE ALARM GOES OFF IN 4"

  And then… Principal Mehra turned the sticky note around.

  ——————————————

  Tarun skidded across the gravel, his fists bruised but still strong.

  Around him, three members lie groaning, unable to move one bit.

  But many were still surrounding him, their will was still unshaken.

  But Tarun didn't waste a moment.

  He dove to grab an iron rod and cracked it against one's skull— and the others broke within the time of the fall.

  The next thing Tarun did was shifting his gaze to the losing, but determined Yug.

  Yug's guard was still up, but shaking.

  Vijay didn't have to use his full strength.

  He coiled his spine like a whip, and a sharp ripple shot up from his toes— it moved into his hips, then his shoulder, and finally to his loosely hung arm.

  CRACK!

  The punch landed with deadly precision, like it was engineered for the internal snap he caused under Yug's ribcage.

  Yug's eyes widened.

  He didn't simply collapse, but he was sent flying back like a ragdoll.

  His legs lifted from the ground and as his lungs exploded air out, his body arched mid-air.

  His back collided with a wall, plaster cracked like chalk, and dust exploded up.

  The impact was on his head.

  Yug Verma was completely unconscious.

  The street went dead silent.

  Tarun froze at the sight.

  His eyes flickered with something terrifying.

  He didn't have time for the Eternal Order crap.

  He landed a punch at the last member, knocking him down instantly.

  And he ran.

  "Blue eyes… you—"

  "Hope you studied for Physics practical, Verma."

  Vijay shouted from behind, loudly laughing.

  Tarun held Yug in his arms to check his state— there was only blood behind his head.

  Upon hearing Vijay, he snapped.

  "Is that your pride, Vijay?! Then show it to someone who can strike back. You're nothing more than a wimp!"

  Vijay wasn't bothered by this.

  But Tarun's fists were shaking, with a single tear betraying his tough side.

  "You can't go down. You… wanted revenge?"

  No response from Yug.

  Tarun never thought that something like that could happen because of him.

  He activated the earpiece, and cried out.

  "Rishabh— now! I need you!"

  ——————————————

  Moments ago, Principal Mehra flipped the sticky note to get the whole message.

  "OPEN THE WINDOW!"

  His eyes turned to the massive window behind him— Rishabh barely balancing on the metal ladder.

  "It's locked."

  The Principal shouted from inside, unable to open the window in any way.

  Rishabh banged his head in anger, but he had a solution for this too.

  The bottle had some acid left in it.

  With all his efforts, he dropped some of it on the sealing chains, corroding it quickly.

  FSSHHHH!

  The latch loosened, and with just some effort, the window opened.

  Rishabh carefully leaped in— the scared Principal was ignored and he investigated the whole room.

  He began grabbing supplies, with only three minutes in hand.

  A deodorant can. A matchbox. Rubber bands. Sanitizer. Cello tape. Paperclips. Wires.

  In just a minute or two, he set up a dangerous trap to welcome Manav, leaving Principal Mehra shocked.

  "When did you learn—"

  "Later, sir."

  But Manav got a call— a call from the member Rishabh took down.

  "Someone's in here… there's trouble."

  Manav didn't take a second to react.

  He ordered the others to search the school, and himself broke open the cabin door.

  But a surprise awaited him—

  The door tugged against a hidden wire.

  SNAP!

  A clip connected to the door was set free.

  And the match ignited against the striker.

  BOOM!

  The triggered contraption causes the sanitizer to spray, making the fire even fierce.

  The paper caught fire and erupted in smoke.

  Manav screamed in pain, staggering back, but unaware of the wire hitting his knees.

  The wires coil back, getting tied to his legs and letting free a broom.

  This delayed Manav's actions.

  Then—

  Principal Mehra and Rishabh sprinted with every ounce of energy they had left.

  At the exact time, the fire alarm went off.

  But it was not an alert— it was a distraction.

  A large amount of extinguisher gas released, blocking Manav's and the members' vision.

  Rishabh was out of breath, his chest fighting through the lack of an inhaler.

  Just when they crashed out of the school, Rishabh dropped on the ground like his soul left his body.

  "Hey, kid? Are you good?"

  Principal Mehra panicked, but was thankful.

  Rishabh managed to sit up, and used a plastic soda bottle as a makeshift inhaler.

  "Yeah, just doing important stuff. Go from here."

  Principal Mehra thanked Rishabh, and then ran from his life.

  But all of a sudden, Rishabh's earpiece caught another signal.

  It was Tarun's scream.

  "Rishabh— now! I need you!"

  ——————————————

  The silence that followed Tarun's scream was louder than anything else.

  Yug's body was like a corpse, but something happened.

  Those blue eyes… began to change.

  Just like in the locker, those eyes began to glow white, fading away the pupils.

  Tarun's eyes widened, astonished at the horrors he was witnessing.

  Blood flowed from the edges of Yug's eyes in a straight stream.

  All of a sudden, just before the blood dropped down, Rishabh shouted with what he had—

  "I've seen this! Just move away!"

  But it was too late.

  Yug's spine jolted up like he was possessed.

  And all it took was an effortless backhand.

  Too perfect for Yug.

  Tarun flew sideways, crashing into the wall and cracking the concrete.

  Those pitch white glowing eyes had no recognition— only merciless motion.

  Yug no more recognised the difference of a friend or a foe.

  He calmly walked forward with an expressionless face, like a puppet with invisible strings attached.

  Vijay looked interested— he cracked his knuckles in a thrilled look to fight.

  "This is it, Verma! I didn't know you had this."

  Vijay got into a stance. It was the Kadochnikov System— a Siberian martial art focused on biomechanics and efficiency, allowing minimum effort but maximum impact.

  Vijay moved with lightning speed, throwing a faint jab at Yug's torso as a distraction.

  The real blow came a heartbeat later.

  Vijay turned with a swift motion, twisting his hip and raising his legs— it was not a common roundhouse, but a brutally surgical kick.

  Vijay grinned, "This is Kadochnikov, loser!"

  But Yug? He just moved an inch away.

  ——————————————

  Kabir Mahajan stood in the shadows.

  His hands in the pocket. His face was expressionless.

  A year more in Siberia turned young Vijay into something meaner.

  He growled and lunged on Kabir with a knife, and with wild eyes.

  But Kabir didn't flinch, and turned around in one smooth movement.

  One step. And one strike— to the neck, sending Vijay to the floor.

  "You'll need to go a long way with this System."

  Vijay coughed, rubbing his sore neck.

  "But isn't it the strongest? I need power!"

  Kabir tilted his head.

  "Yeah, it is, kid. But there is only one weakness."

  Vijay got up, inquisitive of the words he heard.

  He leaned forward towards Kabir.

  Kabir's voice turned cold, mechanical.

  "It's Silat."

  "What?!"

  "Don't worry," Kabir coldly stepped back, "The user has to make it perfect, and that is impossible."

  Vijay's face curled into a smile— not of a childish joy, but a dream.

  A dream of being the one of supreme strength.

  ——————————————

  In the present, the smile on Vijay's face morphed into something startled.

  He saw something that he was taught could never exist.

  Silat is a brutal and fluid Southeast Asian martial art, focused on feints, counters and close quarter combat.

  Yug had never even heard of Silat, but his body moved like it had mastered every single deadly principle of it.

  This overwhelming martial art had never been used perfectly.

  Except for what was before Vijay's eyes.

  Yug Verma— using Silat with unimaginable perfection, instinctively.