They're trying to correct me.
"Spread," the leader says calmly.
His name flashes above his head in a sickly, pulsating crimson.
Rohan – Level 3
Two others shift with him, knuckles cracking like dry timber.
Vikram – Level 2
Sameer – Level 2
They don't rush.
They box us in, boots crunching over shards of glass and dried gore.
Karan mutters, "Yeah… these guys have done this before."
"Stay close," Meera says, her grip tightening on the iron rod.
I nod.
But my body feels off.
A fraction late.
Like my reactions come after the moment already passed.
Rohan steps forward.
"Last chance," he says.
"No," I reply.
He exhales.
Then moves.
Fast.
[SKILL: Quick Step]
He closes the gap instantly.
I swing—
Too early.
He's already past it.
His elbow drives into my side with the force of a sledgehammer.
I hear a rib snap—a wet, muffled crack.
Pain explodes, hot and blinding.
I stagger.
Breath gone, replaced by the copper taste of internal bleeding.
"Arjun!" Meera shouts.
Vikram charges her.
She swings the rod—
Misses.
He ducks.
Grabs her wrist and twists with a sickening wrench.
[SKILL: Grip Lock]
The sound of her joint popping makes my stomach turn.
She screams, a raw, jagged sound.
Karan tackles him from the side, a desperate, messy collision.
Both crash into the ground, teeth clashing, skin tearing against the grit.
Sameer circles behind me.
I turn—
too slow.
His punch lands.
Not strong.
But precise.
My jaw unhinges with a heavy thud.
My head snaps sideways, teeth slicing into the inside of my cheek.
I stumble back, spitting a thick glob of crimson onto the pavement.
"Focus!" I say to myself through a mouthful of blood.
But it's slipping.
That delay.
That half-second hesitation.
It's killing me.
Rohan steps in again.
Calm.
Controlled.
"You're already unstable," he says, his fist tightening.
"Good," I shoot back, spraying red mist. "Makes me unpredictable."
He doesn't smile.
He punches.
I block—
barely.
The impact fractures the small bones in my forearm.
I can feel them grinding together.
My arm screams.
Pain slows me.
Real.
Heavy.
Grisly.
I swing back.
Miss.
He steps aside like it's nothing.
"Too wide," he says.
Behind me—
Meera shouts, a choked-off sob of agony.
I glance—
Big mistake.
Rohan's fist slams into my chest, right over the heart.
I go down hard.
My head bounces off the asphalt, the skin of my forehead splitting open.
The ground hits like concrete.
Because it is.
I roll, coughing up dark, clotted streaks.
Try to breathe through a collapsed lung.
Karan's voice cuts in, ragged and desperate.
"Get up, Arjun!"
I push up—
Everything spins in a red haze.
Too slow.
Too heavy.
Sameer rushes me, his boot aiming for my head.
I react late.
The heavy sole catches my shoulder, tearing the muscle.
I stumble sideways.
Blood drips from my chin, masking my vision.
"Stay up!" Karan yells.
Easy for him to say.
He's still fighting Vikram.
It's a butcher's shop—shoving fingers into eyes, biting, tearing.
Barely holding.
Trading bad hits.
Messy.
Bloody.
No skill.
Just primitive force.
And Vikram's holding better.
[PASSIVE: Reinforced Skin]
Karan's punches land—
but they just split his own knuckles open against Vikram's stone-like flesh.
"Why are you so tanky?!" Karan shouts, his face a mask of bruises.
Vikram shoves him back.
Hard.
Karan slips on a patch of fresh blood and debris.
Goes down.
Meera breaks free—
barely—
She swings again.
This time—
it connects.
The rod smashes into Vikram's temple.
Skin splits. Blood sprays.
Vikram's head snaps slightly.
He staggers, a jagged gash opening along his hairline.
"Got him!" she shouts—
Too soon.
He recovers fast, face slick with red.
Grabs her arm again.
Twists.
She gasps, the sound of tearing ligaments loud in the quiet street.
Sameer grabs her from the other side, his fingers digging into the wounds.
"Let go!" she shouts.
I push forward—
My legs feel wrong.
Heavy.
Delayed.
I reach them—
Too late.
Rohan steps in front of me.
He kicks my wounded side, sending a fresh wave of agony through my shattered ribs.
"Stay down," he says.
I swing.
Wild.
Finger-nails clawing for his eyes.
He blocks easily.
Counters.
A brutal hook to my ribs.
I hear another one snap.
Sharp.
I drop to one knee, vomiting blood onto his boots.
"Arjun!" Meera shouts again.
I look up.
She's struggling.
Both of them holding her now, their grip causing the blood vessels beneath her skin to burst .
Karan tries to get up—
Vikram kicks him in the face.
His nose shatters. Blood splits out.
Messy.
Ugly.
No clean moves.
Just survival and the smell of iron.
"Let her go! I was choking on blood.
Rohan shakes his head.
"She's our's now."
My chest tightens, the pain of the broken ribs stabbing deep.
"No."
I push up again, my boots slipping in the gore on the floor.
Pain spikes.
Everything screams.
But I stand, swaying like a ghost.
Rohan watches me, unimpressed by the carnage.
"You're not built for this," he says.
"Neither… were… you," I reply, spitting a tooth onto the ground.
He shrugs.
"I adapted."
Then he moves again.
Faster.
I try to react—
Too slow.
His strike lands right on my swollen eye.
The world goes black.
I fall back again.
Vision blurs into a kaleidoscope of red and grey.
Sound dulls.
For a second—
everything slows.
I hear Meera's voice—
distant and broken.
"Arjun, don't—!"
Something in me snaps.
Fear spikes.
My body moves.
Panic Dash triggers.
I surge forward.
Not clean.
Not controlled.
But fast.
I slam into Sameer, my shoulder digging into his gut.
He didn't expect it.
We crash into the brick wall.
His head hit the stone wall with a disgusting, fleshy sound.
His grip loosens—
Meera pulls free, her arm hanging at a wrong angle.
"Run!" I shout, the word tearing my throat.
She hesitates, looking at the blood pooling around me.
Karan grabs her arm, his face unrecognizable from the swelling.
"Move!" he yells.
They run.
Rohan turns instantly.
"Stop them!"
Vikram chases, leaving a trail of blood from his head wound.
Sameer recovers, snarling as he lunges for me.
I grab him by the throat.
Hold.
Even as he drives his knee into my ruined stomach.
He punches my face.
One. Two. Three times.
I take it.
My vision is a smear of red.
Pain.
But I don't let go.
"Go!" I shout again.
Meera looks back.
Just once.
Then she runs.
Karan with her.
Good.
Good.
Sameer shoves me off.
Hard.
I hit the ground again, sliding through the filth.
Rohan steps over me.
Watching them run.
Calculating.
Then—
he looks down at me.
"You'd trade yourself," he says.
I grin weakly, my mouth a red ruin.
"Seems like it."
He nods once.
"Then this works."
My stomach drops.
"What—"
Sameer grabs my arm and twists it behind my back until the bone groans.
Pins me.
I struggle, my muscles shredded and weak.
Too weak.
Too slow.
"Let go!" I snap.
He doesn't.
He slams my face into the dirt.
Vikram reaches Meera.
Karan tries to stop him—
They crashed into each other, and sweat and blood flew everywhere.
Messy.
Karan swings—
Misses.
Vikram shoves him aside.
Hard.
Karan falls, his head striking a rusted pipe.
Too far.
Too slow to recover.
Meera turns—
Too late.
Vikram grabs her by the hair.
Locks her arms behind her back.
"Arjun!" she screams, the sound echoing off the dead buildings.
Something inside me breaks.
I surge again—
But Sameer holds tight, his weight crushing my lungs.
"No!" I shout.
Rohan steps beside me.
Calm.
Watching the horror unfold.
"This ends now," he says.
I fought to get up, grinding my face into the gravel until my skin ripped away.
Desperate.
But my body—
isn't keeping up.
Too slow.
Too late.
Meera kicks.
Fights.
She bites Vikram's hand, drawing a fountain of blood.
But Vikram holds her.
Strong.
Steady.
He doesn't even flinch at the pain.
Karan tries to get up—
Fails. His legs give out.
"Let her go!" I yell again.
Rohan shakes his head.
"She's insurance."
"No—"
He crouches slightly.
Looks me in the eyes, inches away from my mangled face.
"You leave," he says, "or she doesn't."
Silence hits.
Heavy.
Filled with the sound of Meera's ragged breathing.
My chest tightens.
"You're serious," I say.
He nods.
"Completely."
Meera shakes her head.
"Don't—don't do it," she says quickly. "Arjun, don't—"
Karan grits his teeth, spitting out a piece of his own lip.
"…we can't win this," he mutters.
I know.
I hate it.
But I know.
My fists clench, the broken bones grinding.
My body aches.
My timing is off.
I can't save her.
Not like this.
Rohan watches me.
Waiting.
"Choose," he says.
I close my eyes.
For half a second.
Then open them.
"…we're leaving," I say.
Meera freezes.
"No," she whispers.
"I'll come back," I say quickly. "I swear."
Sameer releases me slowly.
But doesn't step back far.
Just enough.
I stand.
Every step feels wrong.
Heavy.
My socks were soaked heavy with blood, making a sickening, wet squish inside my shoes with every step.
I look at Meera.
She stares at me.
Not angry.
Not scared.
Just… trying to understand.
"Don't forget," she says softly.
That hits harder than any punch Rohan threw.
"I won't," I say.
But even as I say it—
I feel that gap again.
That missing piece.
And it scares me.
Karan pulls me.
"Now," he says.
We move.
Slow at first.
Then faster.
Then running.
We don't look back at her being dragged away.
We don't stop.
We just run.
Through broken streets.
Through chaos.
Through screams that sound like hers.
Until the voices behind us disappear.
Until it's quiet.
Too quiet.
We finally stop.
Both breathing hard, coughing up blood.
Karan leans against a wall, leaving a red smear.
"…we left her," he says.
I nod.
My chest feels hollow, like my heart was ripped out.
But worse—
I can't remember the exact moment I decided.
It's already… blurry.
"No," I whisper.
Karan looks at me.
"What?"
I shake my head.
"I'm going back."
He stares.
"…are you insane?"
"Yes."
I step forward.
My legs still hurt.
My body still slow.
But I don't stop.
Karan grabs my shoulder.
"Arjun—think."
I look at him.
"I am thinking."
And for the first time—
it's clear.
I don't care about winning.
I don't care about surviving.
Not like this.
"I'm getting her back," I say.
Karan exhales slowly, blood bubbling at his lips.
"…then we're both going to die."
I nod once.
"Probably."
We turn.
Back toward them.
Back toward the players.
Back toward a fight we already lost.
And as we start running—
my vision flickers.
Just once.
A small gap.
A missing second.
And when it comes back—
I'm already further ahead than I remember moving.
Karan stumbles behind me.
"…Arjun?"
I don't answer.
Because something feels wrong.
Not outside.
Inside.
Like I skipped something important.
And as we run back into the danger—
I realize something worse than losing Meera.
I can't remember exactly why I promised to come back.