Varun was on the court.
Red aura. No expression.
Just—
Moving forward.
"Kabaddi… Kabaddi… Kabaddi…"
---
Pressure toward Shubham and Vedant—
Both tightened their positions—
Varun cut—
Toward Viraj.
Viraj felt it—
He's coming for me. How do I dodge? How do I stop him?
His mind raced—angles, timing, positioning—
Then—
Surya.
Without thinking—charged straight at Varun—
"I'll catch him—"
Varun looked at Surya—
And easily—
Used Surya's own momentum—
Shifted him aside—
And using Surya's back as leverage—
Tagged Viraj.
One touch. Clean. Deliberate.
Then Varun moved toward the line—foot touch—
Stopped.
Turned back once—
Looked at Viraj and Surya—
No taunt. No smile.
Just—
A look.
Then walked back to his side.
---
Score—
@15: 6 — @11: 5
---
Viraj—
Shocked.
The entire match replayed in his mind in a second—
Wait.
This entire game…
Someone else is controlling it. Not me. Him.
@11 made Varun look weak on purpose. In his first raid—he got caught. Deliberately. So that we believe he's weak. So that when he comes again—we don't take him seriously.
And we did exactly that.
The trick was simple—that's why we assumed no one would use it. Because anyone could understand it. And that's exactly their plan. Make us believe the trick isn't being used—and then use the same trick.
We walked straight… into their trap.
---
Viraj and Surya were walking out.
Surya looked at him and said quietly—
"Sorry. Because of me—"
"It's okay," Viraj replied.
But inside—
No. It's not okay.
To himself—
I'm getting angry. I wanted to raid. I haven't done a single one. What am I even doing here?
A pause.
No. Not now. This isn't the time to think about that. That comes later. Right now—we have to defeat @11. We have to win here.
---
Now only three players remained on the court—
Shubham. Vedant. Vishal.
It was supposed to be Surya's turn—
But he was out.
So now—
Vedant.
---
He stepped near the line.
Paused.
Looked at the entire @11 team—one by one—
There was no anger on his face now.
No frustration.
Just—
Cold.
Completely cold.
As if all the fire inside him had gone out—
And something else had taken its place.
Something—
Far more dangerous.
---
— Chapter 13 End —