A few moments earlier…
Raghu had grabbed the man in red by one leg and was smashing him into the ground with monstrous force. Each slam cracked the concrete beneath them, yet even while being thrown around, the man in red kept his arms folded tightly across his chest, his posture perfectly composed.
"Abe yaar… mujhe hi kyon milte hain aise log…"
Raghu slammed him down again.
"…jinhe ladne karne ki tameez nahin hoti?"
With a furious roar, Raghu hurled him across the warehouse, sending him crashing into a broken wall as dust and rubble burst outward.
Not giving him a moment to recover, Raghu charged straight into the debris and began throwing punch after punch at the same spot, trying to crush him completely beneath the collapsing concrete.
But hidden within the dust, the Man in Red's hand moved.
His fingers closed around a pen lying in the rubble nearby.
And with nothing more than that pen in hand, he began redirecting every punch Raghu threw at him. Each strike that should have shattered his body was smoothly deflected aside with precise movements, the pen guiding Raghu's fists away again and again while the giant monster attacked with blind fury.
The man in red let out an irritated sigh.
Then the gunshot came.
The bullet struck Raghu in the back.
He stopped attacking and turned toward Naina.
The man in red looked in her direction, grabbed his forehead in disbelief, and muttered,
"Hey Bhagwan… pehle to inko bachao… aur phir samjhao ki yeh khud apne pairon par kulhadi kyon maarte hain…"
As Raghu started walking toward Naina, the Man in Red casually stepped out from the rubble, tossed the pen aside, and picked up a heavy chunk of broken concrete from the ground.
He threw it straight at the back of Raghu's head.
The concrete struck cleanly.
Raghu staggered, then turned around in fury.
Behind him stood the man in red, completely unharmed, one hand resting behind his back while the other extended toward Raghu before curling his finger toward himself.
"Aa ja."
Raghu's bloodshot eyes burned with rage as he tore forward again, charging straight at the man in red with enough force to shake the floor beneath every step. The distance between them vanished in an instant, and the moment he got close, Raghu raised both of his massive fists high above his head and brought them crashing down together toward the Man in Red's skull, aiming to crush him completely.
The Man in Red reacted at the last possible second.
He raised a single arm above his head and crossed it into a tight guard, blocking both of Raghu's monstrous fists with one hand.
The collision sent a violent shockwave through the air, kicking up dust in every direction, but the man in red remained rooted to his spot as if the attack had meant nothing.
Raghu froze for a fraction of a second.
That moment was enough.
The man in red drove his right fist straight into Raghu's chest.
THUD!
The impact made Raghu's entire body jerk violently. Blood burst from his mouth and nose as his giant frame lifted off the ground and shot backward through the air.
But before Raghu could fall—
The man in red moved.
He launched himself after him and appeared behind Raghu midair, then swung his leg with brutal force and kicked him straight into the back of the head.
BAM!
The kick struck so hard that Raghu's giant body spun through the air like a football, flipping three or four times before crashing face-first into the ground.
BOOOOM!
Raghu's body remained face-down on the shattered floor for a few seconds before he slowly forced himself back up. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth, running down his face as his breathing grew heavier with rage. His head was still spinning from the previous kick, yet he dragged himself upright through sheer anger.
The moment he managed to stand—
He felt something tug sharply at the top of his head.
Raghu froze.
A voice came from directly above him.
"Yaar, tujhe dekh ke Ratatouille yaad aa gayi… bas topi ki kami hai."
His eyes widened.
Standing on top of his head was the Man in Red.
Balanced there effortlessly, as if Raghu were nothing more than a platform beneath his feet, casually gripping a handful of his hair while looking down at him.
Raghu roared in fury and threw a savage punch upward toward his own head, trying to smash him off instantly.
But before the fist could land, the man in red shifted slightly.
Raghu's punch missed him completely—
And slammed straight into his own face.
THUD!
Blood burst from Raghu's nose again as his head snapped backward from his own strike.
The man in red remained standing on his head without losing balance, still holding his hair as if this entire situation were mildly embarrassing for Raghu rather than life-threatening for himself.
He shook his head in disappointment.
"Are… Mummy Papa ne bataya nahin? Khud ko maarna buri baat hoti hai."
Raghu's entire body trembled with rage.
At that point, he no longer looked like a terrifying monster.
He looked like a man being bullied by physics itself.
Standing effortlessly atop Raghu's head, the Man in Red gave his hair another tug and said, "Chalo dekhte hain tumhare baalon mein Clinic Plus ki shakti hai ya nahin."
Before Raghu could even understand what he meant, the Man in Red tightened his grip.
Then—
He lifted.
Raghu's entire massive body rose off the ground by his hair alone.
For the first time, genuine shock flashed across Raghu's face.
And in the very next moment, the Man in Red swung him downward and smashed him straight into the floor.
The concrete shattered beneath the impact.
Before Raghu could recover, he was lifted again by the same grip—
And slammed down a second time.
Then again.
Each impact shook the warehouse harder than the last, broken concrete flying outward while cracks spread further across the floor.
Finally, the man in red released him and stepped back, still holding a few strands of Raghu's torn hair in his hand.
He looked at them, casually shook his hand, and said,
"Lagta hai tum Head & Shoulders ka kuchh zyada use karte ho."
For a moment, the entire warehouse fell silent.
Even the people hiding nearby forgot their fear.
They simply stared at him.
Because no matter how monstrous the fight had become—
This man somehow kept saying the most ridiculous nonsense with complete seriousness.
And that, somehow, was becoming almost as terrifying as his strength.
The man in red looked down at the battered Raghu, dusted off his hands, and said in a calm tone, "Mujhe lagta hai tera ab sone ka waqt ho chuka hai… main chalta hoon, bye."
He had barely turned to leave when a sudden flash lit up the warehouse.
His eyes shifted instantly toward the source.
At the far side of the broken warehouse, partially hidden behind stacked crates and fallen debris, Rangeela stood crouched with his phone in hand. He had tried to secretly take a picture of the masked man while everyone's attention was elsewhere. But when he quickly checked the screen, the image was nothing more than a blurry, overexposed mess.
Rangeela stared at it in disbelief and muttered angrily, "Saala… itni mehengi EMI bhar raha hoon aur photo dekh… aloo se li hai kya?"
A voice suddenly answered from directly beside him.
"Are haan, bilkul sahi keh rahe ho. Aaj kal marketing zyada hoti hai, quality kam."
"Han bilkul—"
The words left Rangeela's mouth automatically.
Then his entire body locked up.
His eyes widened.
Very slowly—
He turned his head.
And nearly screamed.
The man in red was standing right next to him.
No one had seen him move.
No one understood when he had left Raghu's side, crossed the warehouse, and reached Rangeela's hiding spot.
He was simply there now.
Standing casually beside the crate, as if he had been part of the conversation from the beginning.
For several long seconds, Rangeela's brain refused to function.
Then, with almost ridiculous gentleness, the man in red grabbed him by the collar and lifted him slightly upward, not violently, but just enough to make it clear that resistance would be a spectacularly stupid decision.
Even though the mask covered his face, Rangeela could somehow feel that the man was smiling.
And in that moment, Rangeela became completely certain that his life choices had finally caught up with him.
The man in red tilted his head slightly and asked in the sweetest voice possible,
"Are bhai sahab, zara mujhe bataenge yeh saste se Hulk ko main kaise theek karun? Kya ise bachane ka koi tarika bhi hai? Agar aap bata denge to bahut log aapko duaaen denge."
The man in red stood casually in front of Rangeela, still holding him lightly by the collar, completely at ease despite the destruction around them. Rangeela's entire body trembled in his grip, his lips quivering as he struggled to form words.
Then suddenly—
Something changed.
The fear on Rangeela's face deepened.
The color drained from his skin.
His pupils shrank violently as his eyes locked onto something behind the man in red.
Something so horrifying that his body went completely stiff.
The man in red noticed the shift instantly. His gaze narrowed slightly as he followed Rangeela's line of sight, sensing danger behind him.
But before he could turn—
Raghu was already there.
Blood covered his face, his red eyes burned with uncontrollable rage, and every muscle in his swollen body tightened as he drove his fist forward with monstrous force, aiming straight for the side of the man in red's head.
BAAAAM!
END OF THE CHAPTER