The sun is setting as Khan and Bhola ride into the outer edges of Agra. The old city is now half-tech, half-ruin — with neon signs flickering over ancient walls, street drones hovering overhead, and people moving with a blend of curiosity and wariness.
Bhola (whispers):
"This place feels... off."
Khan (nodding slowly):
"Red Arrow chose to live here for a reason. Stay alert."
A strange fog begins to creep in as they pass through an alley.
Suddenly, the road cracks beneath them. They fall into a chamber deep underground, filled with massive boulders and broken walls. A holographic voice echoes:
Hologram:
"Trial One – The Beast Within. Awaken what protects you."
A huge stone creature forms, roaring at them. Khan hears a distant gunshot — a trigger. His eyes glow brown.
Shurya (inside his mind):
"I'm here. Let me show them what we're made of."
Khan's muscles surge, skin hardens like rock. He charges and pummels the creature into rubble, cracking the chamber wall with one final punch.
Bhola (impressed):
"Well… I guess that answers the strength question.
As they move into the next chamber, flames erupt, and the ceiling starts collapsing.
Hologram:
"Trial Two – The Heart of Fire. Burn or be burned."
Khan drops to his knees, shaking. The heat is unbearable. Images of the burning house flash in his head. The old man. Veer.
Khan (whispers):
"Veer… I need you."
Flames wrap around his arms, forming like gauntlets. His hair flares with heat. He screams — a burst of fire shoots from his hands, forming a path forward. He punches through a wall of flame, and the fire vanishes.
Bhola (blinking):
"Okay. That's two.
Now they enter a pitch-black room. Floating lights form a massive chessboard, and drones start surrounding them.
Hologram:
"Trial Three – The Mind. Outsmart or perish."
Bhola charges, but is zapped back by a shield. Khan breathes, eyes closing. He hears the calm, commanding voice.
Captain (inside):
"Stop reacting. Start thinking."
Khan calculates every drone's movement, predicting each move. He uses Bhola's strength with strategy — collapsing the drones into each other. A final move. Victory.
Bhola (amazed):
"That brain of yours… I like that guy."
The air grows cold. They're in a glass maze now — mirrors everywhere, reflections showing their worst fears.
Hologram:
"Final Trial – The Unknown Self. Survive your illusions."
Khan sees his parents dying again. Bhola sees Ganga killing him. Khan collapses, haunted. The floor begins disappearing.
Bhola (yelling):
"This isn't real, Khan! Wake up!"
Khan tries to move, but the illusions grab him. Both are cornered. The floor opens into darkness.
Khan (terrified):
"This is it. I can't—"
A sudden flash. A red arrow strikes the ground, dispersing the illusion in an instant. The maze shatters. A figure steps from the smoke — tall, hooded in red, with a mechanical eye glowing softly.
Red Arrow:
"You've done well. Three personalities awakened… and still holding on. Impressive."
He looks at Bhola and nods.
Red Arrow:
"And you. The gentle brute. You've kept him alive. Respect."
Khan stares in disbelief.
Khan (panting):
"Red Arrow…?"
Red Arrow (smirks):
"Welcome, Khan. Welcome to your true story."
Inside a hidden underground bunker beneath the Agra ruins, Red Arrow stands before a holographic map showing Dr. Vikrant's known lab sites. Bhola, Khan, and Lucy sit at the metal table while Phantom remains in a healing pod nearby.
Red Arrow (pointing at the map):
"We need more than strength… more than tactics. If we want to face what's coming next—Dr. Vikrant's 'Monster'—we need magic."
Khan (confused):
"Magic? In this world of science?"
Red Arrow (serious):
"Science bends to will. Magic bends to soul. One among us has that soul."
Lucy:
"Who? Who knows magic?"
Red Arrow turns to Khan slowly.
Red Arrow:
"Hex."
Khan (confused and uneasy):
"Hex...? Who is that?"
Bhola chuckles gently.
Bhola (smiling):
"Time to tell you, Khan. Hex... is you. Your fourth personality. The quietest. The strangest. The most dangerous. He's the one who can control mana... pure magic."
Khan looks down, unsure whether to be curious or terrified.
Khan:
"How… how is this even possible? I never felt anything like that inside me."
Red Arrow:
"He only comes when the laws of reality bend. That's why we must prepare."
A wide desert-like zone created by Red Arrow beneath Agra, filled with gravity fields, illusion walls, and magic runes carved into the rock. The team now trains every day.
Training Begins:
Shurya's Trial
The Mountain Crush Red Arrow drops a giant metal boulder.
Shurya emerges, lifts it, and slams it into the ground, his body growing harder with every strike.
Red Arrow:
"His earth-skin is solid, but his stamina needs sharpening."
Veer's Trial
Fire Darts and Wild Winds Veer flies forward using his flame-boosted feet, creating heat waves and bursts of fireballs.
Red Arrow counters with drones and wind tunnels.
Red Arrow:
"His emotions fuel his fire. Control emotions, control the storm."
Captain's Trial
Tactical Room
A 3D map simulation where Captain uses strategy to rescue a trapped ally.
He beats the game in 6 seconds.
Red Arrow (impressed):
"He's the brain. Without him, you're just a bomb waiting to explode."
Awakening Hex – The Mana Circle
Now they shift to a quiet, stone-carved arena. Red Arrow draws a rune circle on the ground, glowing with blue mana. Khan steps in.
Red Arrow (calmly):
"Close your eyes. Breathe. Think of nothing... but possibility."
Khan tries. Memories flash — his burning home, the dead old man, Veer screaming, Shurya fighting. But no spark of magic. The circle fades.
Khan (panting, frustrated):
"It's not working. Maybe Hex doesn't exist."
Bhola (softly):
"He does. I've seen him… once. Eyes like void. Voice like a whisper from the stars."
Red Arrow:
"Then we keep trying. Until the void speaks back."
Days pass. Khan trains, grows stronger. On the 7th night, during meditation near a bonfire, a tiny spark of blue flame appears in Khan's palm — pure mana.
Red Arrow (noticing):
"There. A beginning."
Khan (staring at it, whispering):
"Hex… is that you?"
The spark vanishes. No voice. No reply.
In the hidden jungle lab, Dr. Vikrant finishes injecting something into the "Monster's" chamber. Ganga stands nearby, fully recovered. Pathan leans on a wall, watching silently.
Dr. Vikrant (coldly):
"Khan has awakened three. Good. Let them celebrate. When Hex arrives… I want to meet him personally."
Ganga (smirking):
"And what if he never wakes up?"
Dr. Vikrant:
"Oh, he will. I made sure of that… long ago."
[To Be Continued.....]