The night reeked of sweat, blood, and fear.
Ajit crouched on the edge of a rooftop, his breath slow, controlled. Below, in the industrial sector of Imphal, floodlights bathed the scrapyard in harsh yellow. Rusted car frames and mountains of twisted metal cast long, jagged shadows.
And in the center of it all stood Rhinox.
Seven feet tall. Muscles layered over muscles. Skin like stone, reinforced with cybernetic plating. His horned helmet gleamed under the lights, his massive fists clenched.
Ajit had fought him before. A brute with no finesse\u2014just overwhelming force.
But tonight\u2026 tonight felt different.
Rhinox grinned, cracking his knuckles. \u201cWhere\u2019s that confidence, Naga Man?\u201d His deep voice rumbled across the scrapyard. \u201cLast time, you ran circles around me. Thought you\u2019d be more fun.\u201d
Ajit felt the hunger stir inside him.
His fingers twitched. His forearm still throbbed from the infection, the black veins hidden beneath his sleeve. His body was tired, aching. But his rage was awake.
Rhinox charged.
The ground shook under his weight, steel beams bending beneath his stomps. He swung\u2014a massive haymaker meant to shatter bone.
Ajit should have dodged.
But he didn\u2019t.
Instead, he caught the punch\u2014barehanded.
The impact rippled through his body, sending shockwaves into the ground. The force should have launched him backward, should have broken his arm\u2014but Ajit didn\u2019t budge.
Rhinox hesitated.
Ajit\u2019s grip tightened around the villain\u2019s fist. His fingers dug into the cybernetic plating, cracking it.
Something inside him smiled.
Ajit twisted\u2014hard.
There was a sickening pop. Rhinox roared in agony as his massive wrist snapped backward.
Ajit didn\u2019t stop.
He drove his knee into Rhinox\u2019s ribs\u2014once, twice\u2014then slammed an elbow into his jaw. The brute staggered.
Ajit followed, moving too fast, his strikes too brutal.
He could hear bones breaking.
Rhinox was on his knees, coughing blood, his good hand raised in surrender. \u201cNaga Man\u2014wait\u2014\u201d
Ajit didn\u2019t wait.
He grabbed Rhinox by the throat and lifted him.
The urge to finish it burned in his chest. The whisper inside him cheered.
“Yes. Don\u2019t stop. Make them fear you.”
Ajit\u2019s grip tightened.
Rhinox gagged.
And then\u2014Ajit saw his reflection in the brute\u2019s helmet.
His own eyes.
They weren\u2019t his.
They were black.
Ajit let go.
Rhinox collapsed, gasping for air, clutching his throat. Ajit stumbled back, his chest rising and falling in heavy breaths.
He clenched his fists, his mind screaming.
He had never fought like that before.
Never enjoyed it like that before.
Something inside him was changing.
And for the first time\u2014he wasn\u2019t sure if he could stop it.
“Is Naga Man out of control?”
The question blared from the news anchor\u2019s lips as Ajit sat in his dorm, staring at the television screen. The broadcast played footage from last night\u2019s fight in the scrapyard\u2014grainy, shaky camera phone clips of him.
Not the clean, precise fighter Imphal had come to know.
Not the disciplined hero.
But something else.
The first video showed him lifting Rhinox by the throat, veins bulging in his arms, his movements too vicious. The slow-motion replay zoomed in on his eyes\u2014a glimpse of the blackness that had overtaken them.
Ajit swallowed hard.
The news anchor continued, her voice sharp and biting.
“Sources claim that Rhinox suffered extensive injuries\u2014three broken ribs, a fractured wrist, and severe internal trauma. Witnesses report that Naga Man was more brutal than ever before, bordering on sadistic.”
The footage cut to an eyewitness interview. A middle-aged shopkeeper, his face filled with fear.
“I\u2019ve always supported him, but\u2026 I don\u2019t know anymore. He didn\u2019t look like a hero last night. He looked like a monster.”
Ajit\u2019s stomach twisted.
A monster.
He turned off the television and buried his face in his hands.
His pulse was still too fast. His fingers still tingled with the phantom feeling of Rhinox\u2019s throat in his grip. His muscles remembered the violence.
And a small, traitorous part of him\u2026
Had liked it.
A knock at the door.
Ajit exhaled sharply. \u201cIt\u2019s open.\u201d
Rajesh walked in, his usual easygoing energy missing. His laptop was tucked under his arm, his expression unreadable.
He didn\u2019t sit. Didn\u2019t joke.
Just stood there.
Watching.
“You saw the news?” Rajesh asked, voice quiet.
Ajit didn\u2019t answer.
Rajesh sighed and placed the laptop on the desk, tapping a few keys. The screen lit up with a paused video file.
Not a news broadcast.
Security footage.
Ajit leaned in. It was the market. The night he first fought the Mongoose Men. The moment he got scratched.
The footage was grainy, but Rajesh had enhanced it. Slowed it down.
And there\u2014frame by frame\u2014Ajit saw it.
The black veins creeping from the wound.
His body healing slower than usual.
His eyes flickering\u2014just for a second\u2014from gold to black.
Rajesh turned to him, arms crossed. \u201cYou want to explain this?\u201d
Ajit\u2019s jaw clenched. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing.\u201d
Rajesh narrowed his eyes. \u201cBullshit.\u201d
Silence stretched between them.
Rajesh exhaled. \u201cAjit, something is happening to you. And you\u2019re pretending it\u2019s not.\u201d
Ajit stood, pushing past him. \u201cI don\u2019t have time for this.\u201d
Rajesh grabbed his arm. \u201cMake time.\u201d
Ajit ripped free.
Too fast.
Too strong.
Rajesh stumbled back, eyes widening.
For a second, neither of them spoke.
Then, slowly, Rajesh\u2019s voice dropped. \u201cYou almost killed Rhinox last night.\u201d
Ajit didn\u2019t deny it.
Rajesh stepped forward, his tone firm. \u201cIf you don\u2019t figure this out, it won\u2019t be a villain you kill next time.\u201d
Ajit clenched his fists. Fighting against the whisper in his head.
“Let go.”
“Let me in.”
He swallowed the words down.
\u201cStay out of this, Rajesh.\u201d
And with that, he walked out\u2014leaving behind the laptop, the footage, and the best friend who was trying to save him.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
The exam paper sat in front of him like a tombstone.
Ajit stared at the first question. His mind was blank.
The classroom was silent except for the scratching of pens, the occasional shuffle of paper. Students were hunched over their desks, brows furrowed in focus. Sharma Sir stood at the front, arms crossed, his eyes scanning the room like a hawk waiting for the weak to stumble.
Ajit\u2019s fingers tightened around his pen. He forced himself to read the question again.
“A charged particle moves through a magnetic field. Derive the Lorentz force equation and\u2014”
His vision blurred.
The words warped, shifting on the page, letters twisting into unreadable shapes. His forearm throbbed, the black veins beneath his sleeve pulsing like something alive.
His heartbeat was too loud.
“Let me in.”
Ajit clenched his jaw. Not now.
He forced his hand to move, tried to scribble something onto the page. But his mind was a fog, his thoughts fractured. His body still remembered last night\u2014the impact of his fists, the feeling of Rhinox\u2019s throat in his grip, the moment he almost didn\u2019t stop.
He glanced at the clock. Twenty minutes left.
And he had nothing.
Sharma Sir\u2019s footsteps echoed as he walked down the aisle, glancing over shoulders. Ajit gripped his pen harder, trying to force his mind to work.
“Focus. You can still\u2014”
His fingers spasmed.
The pen snapped in half.
Ink splattered across his paper. His breath hitched. His vision swam again, the classroom tilting, the walls stretching too far. For a split second, he wasn\u2019t sitting in the exam hall\u2014
He was sinking.
Back in the black ocean, the sky bleeding green, something moving beneath the waves\u2014
“You are wasting yourself.”
Ajit gasped, slamming his hands onto the desk. The classroom snapped back into focus. Sweat clung to his skin. A few students turned, shooting him confused glances.
Sharma Sir\u2019s voice cut through the silence.
\u201cAjit Singh.\u201d
Ajit looked up. The professor stood over him, his expression unreadable. His eyes flicked to the ink-stained paper, the snapped pen in Ajit\u2019s hands.
\u201cIs there a problem?\u201d
Ajit opened his mouth. Nothing came out.
Sharma Sir exhaled, shaking his head. \u201cTime\u2019s up. Hand in your paper.\u201d
Ajit swallowed, staring at the blank pages in front of him.
Slowly, he closed the booklet and passed it forward.
As Sharma Sir walked away, Ajit slumped back in his seat.
His scholarship was done.
And for the first time in his life, he didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
Ajit sat on the campus steps, staring at the sky as the first drops of rain kissed his skin. His exam paper was gone, his scholarship hanging by a thread, but his mind wasn\u2019t on any of that.
It was on the whisper. The thing inside him.
“You are wasting yourself.”
His fingers twitched against his knee. His body still remembered the fight. The way his strength had surged, how his bones had felt lighter, sharper. How he had been one second away from\u2014
\u201cAjit.\u201d
He looked up.
Rajesh and Padmini stood in front of him.
Rajesh\u2019s hands were in his pockets, his usual smirk missing. Padmini\u2019s arms were crossed, her expression caught between concern and frustration.
Neither of them sat down.
\u201cYou failed the exam,\u201d Rajesh said, voice flat.
Ajit shrugged. \u201cYeah.\u201d
Padmini inhaled sharply. \u201cThat\u2019s it? Yeah?\u201d
\u201cWhat do you want me to say?\u201d Ajit muttered.
\u201cHow about the truth?\u201d Rajesh shot back. \u201cThat you\u2019re falling apart?\u201d
Ajit clenched his jaw. \u201cI don\u2019t need this right now.\u201d
\u201cYes, you do,\u201d Padmini snapped. \u201cAjit, I\u2019ve watched you spiral for weeks. And now? You don\u2019t even care?\u201d
Ajit looked away.
Padmini stepped closer. \u201cThis isn\u2019t just about school. You disappear every night. You barely sleep. You\u2019re losing fights you should win. And the ones you do win? People are starting to fear you.\u201d
Ajit\u2019s hands curled into fists.
Rajesh crossed his arms. \u201cWe saw the footage.\u201d
Ajit froze.
Rajesh\u2019s voice was quieter now. \u201cYour eyes, Ajit. In the scrapyard. They weren\u2019t your eyes.\u201d
Ajit swallowed. His mind flashed back to the moment he had seen his reflection in Rhinox\u2019s helmet\u2014the blackness slithering through his irises.
\u201cIt was just\u2014\u201d He forced a breath. \u201cStress. Adrenaline.\u201d
\u201cBullshit.\u201d Rajesh shook his head. \u201cSomething\u2019s wrong with you. And you know it.\u201d
Ajit stood abruptly, stepping past them. \u201cI\u2019m fine.\u201d
Padmini grabbed his wrist.
He flinched.
Not from her touch\u2014but from the heat beneath his skin. His muscles coiled, ready to react, to strike\u2014
He ripped his arm away too fast.
Padmini stumbled back.
The moment froze.
The look in her eyes gutted him. Not anger. Not frustration.
Fear.
Ajit\u2019s chest tightened. \u201cI\u2014\u201d
Padmini shook her head. \u201cYou don\u2019t even see it, do you?\u201d
Her voice was quiet. Hurt.
Rajesh exhaled. \u201cAjit, whatever\u2019s happening to you\u2014you can\u2019t fight this alone.\u201d
Ajit\u2019s nails dug into his palms.
“You don\u2019t need them.”
“You don\u2019t need anyone.”
He forced a smirk, his own voice feeling alien in his throat. \u201cI\u2019ve handled worse.\u201d
Then, before they could say another word, he turned and walked away.
Leaving them behind.
Leaving himself behind.
The machine watched.
Perched atop an abandoned radio tower, its golden eyes flickered in the darkness, scanning the city below with surgical precision. Data streamed through its mind\u2014a thousand calculations per second, mapping the streets, tracking movement patterns, anticipating conflict zones.
At its core, deep beneath the reinforced alloy of its chest, a singular directive pulsed:
Test the subject. Measure his limits. Break him.
Alha\u2019s fingers flexed, the servos in its wrists humming softly. It had studied every recorded instance of Naga Man\u2019s battles\u2014his strengths, his weaknesses, his evolving patterns of movement.
And now?
Now it would face him in the real world.
A new data stream opened.
Target located.
Alha turned its head, locking onto the heat signature of a lone figure moving across the rooftops.
Ajit Singh.
The experiment was about to begin.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n
Ajit moved like a shadow through the night, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. His body felt lighter than usual\u2014more efficient. The exhaustion he had felt all day had faded into something sharper, something focused. \u00a0Continue Reading<\/p>\r\n \u2190 Previous Chapter<\/a><\/p>\r\n Next Chapter \u2192<\/a><\/p>\r\n
Maybe it was the adrenaline.
Maybe it was something else.
He landed on the edge of a construction site, crouching low, scanning the city. His instincts were on fire. Something was wrong.
Then he heard it.
A low hum. Mechanical. Rhythmic. Close.
Ajit turned just in time.
A blur of silver and black slammed into him with inhuman speed.<\/strong>
Ajit barely had time to react. One second, he was crouched on the edge of the construction site\u2014the next, he was airborne. The force of the impact sent him crashing through a half-built scaffolding, metal poles snapping like twigs as he tumbled across the rooftop.
He rolled with the momentum, twisting mid-air, and landed on his feet. His muscles coiled, eyes scanning for the attacker.
Then he saw it.
A figure emerged from the shadows, stepping into the moonlight.
Seven feet tall. Human in shape, but not human at all.
Its body was a sleek fusion of metal and synthetic muscle, designed for efficiency, for destruction. Dark steel plating covered its chest and arms, shifting seamlessly with its movements. Its face was expressionless\u2014a smooth, polished mask with two burning golden eyes.
Ajit\u2019s pulse quickened. He had seen this thing before.
Not in the streets. Not in the underground fight clubs.
But on Ravana\u2019s broadcasts.
\u201cAlha.\u201d
The machine cocked its head slightly. A voice\u2014perfectly calm, eerily smooth\u2014echoed from within.
\u201cTarget identified. Beginning combat analysis.\u201d
Ajit exhaled, rolling his shoulders. Of course.
Because tonight wasn\u2019t complicated enough.
Then Alha moved.
Faster than anything Ajit had ever fought.
It closed the distance in a blink, striking with pinpoint precision. Ajit barely dodged the first blow\u2014ducking just as Alha\u2019s fist shattered a steel beam behind him. Sparks rained down.
Ajit countered\u2014his fist lashed out in a blur, aiming for Alha\u2019s side.
Impact.
A direct hit\u2014but it felt like punching a wall.
Ajit winced. Shit.
Alha didn\u2019t even flinch. Its golden eyes analyzed the movement, recalibrating.
\u201cInefficient strike pattern. Adjusting countermeasures.\u201d
Ajit had a split second to process the words before Alha\u2019s hand clamped around his throat.
His back slammed into a concrete pillar. Dust exploded around him.
Alha\u2019s grip tightened. Cold. Unyielding.
Ajit gritted his teeth. His hands clawed at the machine\u2019s wrist\u2014but it didn\u2019t budge.
\u201cYou are slower than expected, Naga Man. Your reaction time has degraded by 0.7 seconds since your last recorded engagement.\u201d
Ajit\u2019s vision blurred.
His lungs burned.
Then\u2014deep inside his mind\u2014something stirred.
The whisper.
“Let me in.”
Ajit\u2019s fingers twitched.
His pulse slowed.
His vision darkened.
And just as the black veins beneath his skin flared\u2014
He snapped forward, fangs bared.
Alha barely had time to react before Ajit sank his venomous fangs into its shoulder.
The metal sizzled.
Alha\u2019s golden eyes flickered in surprise.
Then Ajit twisted, breaking free from its grip\u2014his body moving on instinct, on hunger.
He didn\u2019t retreat.
He lunged.
And for the first time since its creation\u2014
Alha hesitated.
The venom sizzled against Alha\u2019s metal frame.
Ajit could taste the corruption in his fangs, feel it seep into the machine\u2019s synthetic muscle. Not just poison\u2014something deeper. Older. Wrong.
Alha staggered back. Its golden eyes flickered, processing the anomaly.
“Unexpected variable detected.”
Ajit exhaled, rolling his shoulders. His breath came slower. His body felt lighter. Stronger. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, tasting something bitter on his tongue.
His vision flickered.
For a moment, the city was gone.
Replaced by the black ocean.
Ajit froze.
The waves churned, thick as ink. The air smelled of burning metal.
And beneath the surface\u2014something moved.
No. Not moved.
Shifted. Spread.
A shadow, vast and formless, pushing against reality itself.
“Enough whispers. You are ready.”
Ajit\u2019s knees buckled. His hands dug into the rooftop, his breath sharp. The voice wasn\u2019t at the edge of his thoughts anymore.
It was inside them.
“You felt it, didn\u2019t you? The power. The hunger.”
Ajit gritted his teeth. “Shut up.”
The whisper laughed.
“Why? You don\u2019t want to stop. Not really.”
His fingers curled into a fist. His heart pounded. He could still feel it\u2014the moment he bit Alha.
The way it had burned.
The way it had felt right.
“Naga Man.”
Ajit snapped back to reality.
Alha was still there. Still watching him.
Still scanning.
“Your vitals have destabilized. Heart rate elevated. Adrenal response increasing beyond safe parameters.”
Ajit pushed himself up, wiping sweat from his brow.
He could still hear the whisper.
Still feel it crawling under his skin.
But Alha was studying him.
Waiting.
Ajit smirked, despite the burning in his veins. \u201cDidn\u2019t expect me to bite back, huh?\u201d
Alha\u2019s golden eyes narrowed. \u201cYou are not what I was programmed for.\u201d
The machine took a step forward.
Then another.
Ajit braced himself.
But Alha stopped.
Its head tilted, as if listening to something unseen.
Then\u2014without a word\u2014it turned and leapt into the night, vanishing into the city.
Ajit exhaled sharply. His hands were still shaking. His body still felt wrong.
He looked down at his arms.
The veins beneath his skin were black.
And they were spreading.
“Soon, Ajit.”
The voice was no longer whispering.
It was screaming.<\/p>\r\n