CHAPTER 9

Just as Siddharth's falling, the ground erupts in a loud boom, scattering dust and sand everywhere. He is surrounded by a group of men with guns and weapons. They look serious, their eyes icy cold. Their leader approaches, booming already, "Tell me, is heaven Siddharth, or is it Rudra? We must find out!"

At that moment, one of the men whose face looks more demonic than human takes a step forward flashing a wicked grin. "He is Siddharth and he is Rudra. Make an example of him. Let's brutalize him so savagely that his screams echo through this city. We will cut off his head and hang it at the city gate for all to see.'"

The captain thinks for a moment and then says, "No, that won't do. We need to do something bigger… something memorable."

Scene Shift

Rudra's worried and angry face as he walks on a narrow lane: The steps are fast, yet the heart feeks heavy with uncertainty. When he arrives in the city center, he sees a huge crowd gathered around a giant stage. There are more shouts and jeering, **"Look! Look! Witness the spectacle! "See how a traitor is punished!"

Rudra's heart begins to race. He plucks a man from the crowd and demands, What's going on here?"

The man responds, "In our land, this is how we punish traitors — publicly, so all can learn a lesson. Today, it's Siddharth's turn." **

Rudra shoves his way through the crowd, eager to see what's going on. The moment he hits the stage, the blood in his veins turns to ice. There, centre stage, is Siddharth hanging. He is shackled around both arms and legs with iron chains. His face is bloody, his body bruised and crumpled.

A man comes forward with a hammer and nails. He drives the nails deeper into Siddharth's palms and soles, fastening him to a wooden cross. Siddharth lets out a gut-wrenching scream, but it sounds hoarse, as if he no longer has any strength to cry. His body jerks with pain, but he does not plead for mercy.

As his friend is prepped for a punishment beyond belief, Rudra can only watch in impotent rage. The leader of the group walks to the stage and yells out to the crowd, "This is what happens to those who dare defy us! Watch and remember!"

The real horror sets in when they start peeling the skin off Siddharth's body, strip by strip. There is blood pouring down like a river, staining the stage red. His body shudders, his face a mask of pain, but his spirit will not shatter. The crowd looks on in stunned silence, some horrified, others smirking at the spectacle.

The hands and feet of Siddharth were then chopped off. His body is a mangled pile of meat. The torturers do even worse, tearing out his eyes, leaving behind bloodied sockets. Rudra's eyes fill with tears, but his fists are tight with rage.

Climactic Explosion

Suddenly a big explosion goes off on stage. Everything is obscured in the cloud of smoke. All at once, panic ignites like a match dropped in gasoline and everyone is running, screaming in opposite directions. The stage is shrouded in thick smoke — so thick that nothing is visible.

The explosion fills the stage with smoke, and all hell breaks loose in the audience. People shriek and bolt in every direction, not knowing what just happened. Dark, thick smoke envelops everything, and you can't see a thing. Amid this confusion, Rudra seizes this moment and moves close to the stage. He can feel his heart pounding as he fights through the crowd, fist balled and anger flooding his mind.

Through the mist, Rudra can see the outlines of the scourgers wandering around, coughing and barking orders. Their hubris has turned to chaos. Rudra swears under his breath, "This ends now. For Siddharth, for all that they've done, they'll pay." **

The Fight Begins

A predator, taking swift, silent leaps onto the stage. He snatches a discarded dagger off the blood-soaked wooden floor. The smoke clears a little, showing a couple of the tormentors still atop the stage. When one of them sees Rudra and raises his weapon, Rudra throws the dagger precisely before he acts. The blade finds a home in the man's throat, and he instantly goes silent.

Another one of the torturers runs at Rudra with a sword — and Rudra easily dodges him, catching every strike with the energy of pure rage. He catches the man's arm, wrenches it till the bones pop, and pushes the broken sword into his chest. Blood splatters across the stage as Rudra goes right on to the next target.

The group's leader bellows, "Kill him! Don't let him escape!" Fear grips his voice and knows that Rudra is not an average man.

Rudra grabs a heavy iron rod from the floor to finish off two more men. Rudra fights as if possessed, as the crowd goads him, stunned into silence. Each swing of the rod, each hit, is infused with pain and fury at witnessing Siddharth's agony.

Rudra Tries Desperately To Save Siddharth

Finally giving a run to the tormenters as Rudra cleanses the stage, he reaches Siddharth. His friend can barely breathe, gasping in shallow gulps. Rudra, kneeling next to him, weeping. "Siddharth, I'm here. "I'll get you out of this," he says, his voice cracking with desperation.

Siddharth attempts to speak, blood dribbling out of his mouth. "Rudra… it's too late… go before they… catch you…"

Defeated, no way, not for Rudra, he shakes his head. *"No! I'll save you! I'll kill them all!" *

Before Rudra can even do more, a loud whistle cuts through the air. Tens of armed soldiers rush in on stage, their guns pointing directly at Rudra. The leader of the group, battered but still living, leans against the front of the stage, grinning. "The FBI thinks you can take us all down? Foolish boy." **

Rudra's Capture

Rudra fights with every inch of his skill and even brings down a bunch of soldiers, but eventually the sheer quantity gets the better of him. They beat him beyond the point of being able to stand. His mouth drips blood before he falls next to Siddharth's dead body.

The boss approaches, looming over Rudra. *"Look at you. The mighty Rudra, brought down to his knees. Did you really think you could help him?'" * He laughs cruelly and then kicks Rudra's battered body.

Rudra stares at him defiantly, his voice hoarse yet laced with poison. *"You won today, but this is not over. I'll return for you… I'll wipe you all out." *

The leader chuckles. "I find these words bold for a man who will soon share his friend's destiny." ** He commands the soldiers to chain Rudra with iron shackles and drag him off.

The End

As Rudra is being led away from the stage, he looks one final time back at Siddharth's lifeless form. The image sears itself into his memory — a friend who died a hero; a sacrifice that will stay with him forever.

The audience sits silently watching, their earlier excitement giving way to guilt and unease. The smoke from the explosion has long since dissipated, but the memory of the bloodshed still hangs in the air.

The stage, where once were dreams, is a graveyard of bodies and brokenness. And though he is captured, Rudra vows to rise up again. "This is not the end," he whispers to himself, as the id

claws sink into his wrists and the soldiers pull him into the shadows.