Whup… whup… whup…
The sky above Gurugram thundered with the beat of helicopter blades slicing through the dusky air. Searchlights swept across the city like restless ghosts.
Below, red and blue lights flashed in a chaotic rhythm. Police vehicles crawled through the streets like metallic rivers, sirens crying against the noise of an anxious city.
Crowds gathered in waves — thousands of people pressed shoulder to shoulder, their faces lit by the glow of burning lampposts and screens. A storm of voices rose and broke, rolling through the evening like crashing surf.
Reporters pushed forward, microphones thrust like weapons. Camera flashes burst through the smoke.
"Breaking news!" a reporter shouted, his voice hoarse. "At two a.m. last night, another hero — Night Eye — and his entire family were killed in this very building behind me!"
Gasps rippled through the mob. Anger followed, sharp and contagious.
Placards lifted like angry waves:
"There is no hero to keep us safe!"
"Who will save us now?!"
Someone screamed from the back, "If heroes can't even protect their own families, what chance do we have?"
The chant caught like wildfire, echoing off every wall.
"No heroes! No hope! No heroes! No hope!"
Fear had become its own creature, feeding on the chaos it created.
A news van screeched to a halt. Reporters spilled out, shoving microphones toward anyone who would speak.
"Do you think heroes have failed us?"
"Are they even human anymore?"
"Should UOH be held responsible?"
The people answered in fury, in tears, in confusion — a hundred voices tangled into one wordless scream.
Then — Screeeech!
A black car slid into the center of the crowd, tires spitting smoke. The mob recoiled instinctively. Doors opened.
"Blazefury…" someone whispered. Then louder, "Blazefury!"
The name cut through the noise like a blade. Heads turned. Phones lifted. The chant died, replaced by breathless awe.
Rihan — codename Blazefury — stepped out. His figure stood tall and dark against the flashing lights, heat rippling faintly around him. His coat fluttered in the wind, eyes sharp, jaw set.
"Blazefury! Sir! What do you have to say about last night?" a reporter yelled, rushing forward.
"Why are heroes' families being targeted? Is the Hero Council hiding something?"
Rihan didn't answer. His silence was heavier than the noise. Then, with a single motion, he grabbed the reporter's collar and shoved him back.
"I have nothing to say about that," he said quietly, but his voice hit like a hammer.
The reporter stumbled, then laughed mockingly. "Look at this! Heroes showing anger to us, not to the demons who kill their own kind!"
Rihan's jaw flexed. "You think this is easy? Standing here, spitting questions while others die doing what you never could?" His voice cracked, not from weakness, but fury.
The crowd's mood wavered — half with him, half against. Some shouted support. Others hurled blame.
Another reporter stepped up. "Heroes have abandoned UOH! The world's losing hope — why aren't you doing anything?"
Rihan's lips twisted into a humorless grin. "Why?" He ripped the microphone from the man's hand and flung it aside.
"Because none of you understand what it means to be a hero! Look around!" His voice rose. "Out of thousands of you, whose heart aches for the ones who died last night? None! You just want someone to blame!"
He pointed at the crowd — trembling hands, tear-streaked faces, eyes full of confusion. "When a hero wins, you cheer. When he falls, you spit on his name."
The truth in his words burned, and no one could meet his gaze.
Then the world shifted. A strange silence rolled across the city, heavy and unnatural.
The wind changed direction. Streetlights flickered, dying one by one.
And from above came a voice — deep, serene, and terrifying.
"That's why I came."
The sound echoed through every street, every soul. The crowd froze.
"I will remake this world… a world where people truly love each other."
Then laughter — cold and jagged.
"But to do that, you must all die!"
Rihan's boots lifted from the ground, wind spiraling around him. Flames licked up his arms, defying the sudden chill.
"You think slaughter will bring peace?" he shouted. "You're not a god — you're a coward!"
"Human's are disease," the voice replied. "In my new world, there will be no fear… no lies. Only purity."
Flames exploded from Rihan's fists, casting his face in red light.
"You talk about purity — but all I see is blood! You want to erase people's flaws? Then there will be nothing left to love!"
"You dare lecture your creator?"
Rihan flinched. "Creator?"
"You speak to your father like this also, Blazefury. The one whose blood burns in your veins."
Rihan's fists faltered. "Don't… talk about my father!" His voice cracked with anger and something deeper — pain.
The clouds churned like boiling smoke. Lightning split the sky open, illuminating the horror above: a rift — black and pulsing — tearing the heavens apart.
"Look around you," the voice whispered, now inside every head. "See the cowards you protect. The weak. The selfish. Do they deserve salvation?"
People sank to their knees, hands over their ears. Mothers clutched children. Reporters dropped their cameras.
Rihan looked at them — the trembling masses, the same people who doubted him moments ago. And he shouted,
"I don't protect them because they deserve it! I protect them because someone must!"
The voice chuckled, low and dark.
"So young. So certain. But your certainty ends today."
A pulse of shadow erupted from the rift. The air shook. Windows shattered.
Rihan shielded his face as the light tore open the sky.
"Today, the world will lose a hero," the voice declared. "They will watch your death from their sofas, safe behind their screens."
"NO!" someone screamed from the crowd, voice drowned by the wind.
SWISH!
A colossal fist slammed into Rihan's chest. He flew backward, crashing into a police car. Metal folded like paper.
Dust exploded. The crowd shrieked.
And then — it stepped through.
A monster. Two stories tall. Scales black as oil, muscles rippling like molten stone. Eyes glowed crimson, reflecting the fires of the burning street.
"Kill him," the voice commanded. "Make his death a message."
The creature's roar shook the earth.
It swung — CRASH! — its fist smashing the ground. The shockwave toppled barricades, sent people flying.
Rihan rolled, coughing blood, but his eyes burned brighter. "You picked the wrong city," he hissed.
Flames burst from his hands, wrapping him in a furious halo. The air shimmered with heat.
The crowd fell silent, breathless, watching the birth of defiance.
He stood straight, chest heaving. "You think heroes fight for praise? For fame? We fight because no one else will!"
The creature charged. Rihan met it head-on.
FIRE clashed with SHADOW — the explosion lighting up half the sky. Shockwaves shattered glass for blocks.
He slammed his blazing fist into its chest. The monster howled, scales melting under the heat.
But another strike came — faster, heavier. Rihan staggered, one knee hitting the ground.
"You see?" the voice boomed. "Even your fire dies!"
"No," Rihan growled. Flames reignited. "Not while I'm still breathing."
He lunged again. Blows exchanged like meteors colliding. Every impact rattled the earth.
From the sidelines, people began to rise — slowly, trembling.
A child whispered, "He's still fighting…"
An old man fell to his knees, tears in his eyes. "Maybe… heroes still exist."
Rihan drove his fist into the creature's jaw. BOOM! A shockwave rippled through the air. The monster crashed backward, roaring in pain.
Rihan's body trembled, blood dripping from his lip. He looked back at the crowd and smiled — not out of victory, but faith.
"This…" he said through heavy breaths, "is what it means… to be a hero."
Then he turned, flames spiraling skyward, and charged again into the darkness.
Above, the rift pulsed brighter — somewhere beyond it, a power watched with interest. And far away, across the quiet waters of Yamuna, a boy named Karan stirred in his sleep — unaware that his destiny had already begun to burn.