#24 : THE FANGS ARE SHARPENING.
Crimson Fangs Temporary Hideout – 08:16 HRS
The morning light didn't feel like victory.
But it felt like motion.
The children rescued from Agnidwar had been moved out—placed in discreet orphanages across the city under new identities. Meena had handled their files personally. She didn't say much about it, but we all knew it mattered to her. It mattered to all of us.
Sana and Raaka's legacy died with them.
Now, only one shadow remained.
The First Affiliate.
The one none of us could name. The one that had drawn blood in our house.
---
Bhandup West – Observation Tower – 09:24 HRS
Rudra and Vijay stood before the rusted tower mentioned in the Agnidwar data cache.
It was once used for power-line monitoring. Now abandoned, sealed with chains and boards that had clearly been broken and re-fastened multiple times.
"This place isn't empty," Rudra muttered.
Vijay knelt by the entrance, examining the ground. "Tire marks. Three different tread patterns."
"Deliveries?" Rudra asked.
"No. Patrols. Different sizes, back and forth… someone's keeping watch here."
They entered slowly.
The interior wasn't high-tech like Thane's zone.
This was low-budget.
But organized.
Plastic crates with rations. Lockers with uniforms—each with an ouroboros sigil stitched into the lining. Not just equipment.
Routine.
Rudra's eyes moved fast. "Check for comm links. USB ports. Anything wired."
They found an old terminal buried under blankets and dust.
Vijay pried the casing open. "It's encrypted."
Rudra plugged in a portable reader. "Not for long."
As the reader cracked through layers of code, they scouted the walls—maps. Coordinates. Photos of metro tunnels. Surveillance shots of platforms.
"You see this?" Vijay said, tapping the red-circled area. "Line 7 extension. Still under construction."
Rudra narrowed his eyes. "They're not watching this tower."
"They're watching the metro."
The encrypted file cracked open.
Inside?
A single sentence:
"Movement confirmed. Next cycle through Junction 13."
Vijay looked up. "What the hell is Junction 13?"
Rudra stared at the image of the metro tunnel again.
"We're about to find out."
---
Crimson Fangs Private Gym – 10:41 HRS
Kiyaan Malik stood alone.
No guards.
No shoes.
Just sweat, bruises, and the stench of burning rubber mats.
He was a legend. A myth. The Black Fang.
And yet, here he was—training like a rookie with something to prove.
For the first time in fifteen years.
The punching bag swung like a pendulum under his strikes. Elbows. Knees. Bare knuckle jabs.
Every blow was a name.
Every grunt—a memory of blood and betrayal.
Mourad. Darshan. Nabeel.
Dead under his watch.
He couldn't save them.
But he could avenge them.
He screamed mid-kick and snapped the bag's chain off the ceiling.
Then dropped to the floor and kept going—push-ups, then knuckle crawls, then bodyweight drills until his arms shook.
He wasn't getting back in shape.
He was becoming something else entirely.
Not a man.
Not a leader.
A weapon.
---
Crimson Fangs Training Lot – 11:28 HRS
Rudra tossed a training baton at Vijay.
"Ever fought a man who's been trained to kill from the moment he could walk?"
Vijay caught it. "Raaka was close."
"Raaka was raw power. This is different. The First Affiliate? They're precision. They're control."
Rudra stepped into the circle they'd drawn in the dust.
"You've got heart. But you need discipline."
Then he attacked.
Fast. Brutal. No holds barred.
Vijay blocked the first hit. Dodged the second. Got clipped on the third and stumbled back.
"Again."
They went at it.
Rudra didn't slow down.
Every strike was a lesson. Every block a test.
Vijay was bleeding by the sixth round. Breathing hard. But his footwork improved. His responses got tighter.
After the tenth round, Rudra stopped.
"You're not a soldier yet."
Vijay nodded, wiping blood from his lip. "Not yet."
"But you're on your way."
---
Temporary Hideout – War Room – 12:04 HRS
Meena sat in front of a blank metro layout.
I leaned over her shoulder, watching the code scroll.
"I ran the signal from the Thane ambush and cross-referenced it with the one Rudra pulled from the tower," she said. "The signal pinged from three junctions—but only one of them has maintenance activity this week."
"Where?"
She highlighted the sector.
"Ghatkopar Metro Depot. Sectioned off since last year for 'underground reinforcement.'"
"Which means no cameras," I muttered.
"And no oversight. If they're using the tunnels, it's the perfect cover."
She brought up a heat map. "Look—there's been irregular power draws in one tunnel. Just enough to be missed by city sensors. But enough to power lights. Doors. Maybe terminals."
I stared at the blinking dot.
Then turned to the team as they entered.
"We have our lead."
---
Crimson Fangs Briefing Room – 12:44 HRS
The map was up again.
And for the first time in days—something had shifted.
We weren't blind anymore.
We had a point of entry.
Ghatkopar.
The board wasn't full of crossed-out names.
It was full of targets.
---
Meanwhile – An Unknown Metro Tunnel – 12:46 HRS
The screen flickered in a dark room deep under the city.
A man watched the surveillance footage of Rudra and Vijay at the tower.
He said nothing.
Only turned to the shadows behind him.
"They've found Junction 13," he said softly.
Another voice—mechanical, distorted—answered:
"Let them come."
The screen zoomed out.
Rows of men in black gear stood in formation.
Armed.
Unmoving.
Waiting.
---
TO BE CONTINUED